15 Jun 2021 | 3 mins
Overview

Your first day out on site can feel like your first day at school - everyone’s somehow already in their little groups, throwing sledges and slang like nobody’s business. With time and elbow grease you’ll be out there with the best of them, but there’s definitely a few things you can do to make sure people have only got good things to say about ya:

Here are our top unspoken rules:

 

 

Don’t borrow tools without asking, and give them back as soon as you’re done with them

A tradie’s tools are their livelihoods. They can’t do a lot of their work without them, and good tools cost some serious dosh to replace, so don’t be surprised when people are precious about loaning them out. Especially when you’re brand new, make sure someone knows what and whose tool you’re using for your work. If ya can, make sure it’s in a good condition when you return it as well. Nobody wants a dirty, greasy tool dumped back in their toolbox.

 

If you’ve made a mistake, own up to it

It’s really tempting to look super impressive and pretend like you’re nailing everything on the first go, but it’s super important to speak up if you’ve messed up. For starters, making mistakes is how you learn, and if you don’t own up, you won’t learn.

There can also be some mistakes which could be dangerous or tricky to fix all on your own, and the last thing you’ll want to do is make things worse by trying to make them better. Above everything else, don’t lie. Your bosses have been in the game longer than you have, and we promise you they’ll be much harder on you for trying to cover something up.

 

Keep your hands out of your pockets, and off ya phone!

The first few months of being an apprentice can be pretty exhausting, especially if you’re not used to doing physical work, and sometimes you just want to bliss out and scroll through TikTok tradie prank vids in a quiet corner. Just know that you might think you’re being sneaky hiding yourself off from the site, but news travels fast on site and you don’t want to get a reputation as someone slacking off.

On that note, don’t walk around with your hands in your pockets either - if you’re done with what they asked you to do, speak up and get onto the next task. There’s an old saying on site: never walk in or out of a doorway empty-handed.

Ask lots of questions

You’re getting on-the-job training, so make sure you speak up and get the knowledge you need to do a good job! Slang and jargon can fly about thick and fast on site, and you’ve got the advantage of still being new if you want to ask what someone else was talking about. Asking for a bit of extra detail always takes less time than fixing up a mistake because you weren’t sure about what you were supposed to do.

You’re only as good as your word

This is a blend of all the ones above, but working a trade, especially if you’re part of a small business (or your own one), is all about reputation. The mistake people make is thinking that it’s just about making your customers happy. If you make sure you show up on time, work hard and look out for your co-workers out on site, they’re more likely to refer you for other jobs down the track.

If you make a promise, make sure you take responsibility for making that thing happen, or own up and apologise if something goes pear-shaped.

 

How to not be a pest on site is definitely not something you get taught at school, but it’s still pretty important stuff. If you’re still after the latest on what it’s really like to work in the construction industry, look no further than our super-short course The New-Print of Construction. It's chock-full of info about how to find your niche in this super-amazing industry. It’s chock full of info about all the important things in life that don’t make it into the curriculum.