Helpers--Carpenters
Help carpenters by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include using, supplying, or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.
Also Known As:
Carpenter Assistant
Carpenter Helper
Carpenter's Helper
Wages
Annual wages for Helpers--Carpenters in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2033 Projected Employment
21,600
-3% Change From 2023
Explore Carpenters video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Select tools, equipment, or materials from storage and transport items to work site.
- Clean work areas, machines, or equipment, to maintain a clean and safe job site.
- Secure stakes to grids for constructions of footings, nail scabs to footing forms, and vibrate and float concrete.
- Select tools, equipment, or materials from storage and transport items to work site.
- Cut timbers, lumber, or paneling to specified dimensions.
- Hold plumb bobs, sighting rods, or other equipment to aid in establishing reference points and lines.
- Align, straighten, plumb, or square forms for installation.
- Erect scaffolding, shoring, or braces.
- Cut and install insulating or sound-absorbing material.
- Construct forms and assist in raising them to the required elevation.
- Secure stakes to grids for constructions of footings, nail scabs to footing forms, and vibrate and float concrete.
- Cut tile or linoleum to fit and spread adhesives on flooring for installation.
- Select tools, equipment, or materials from storage and transport items to work site.
- Smooth or sand surfaces to remove ridges, tool marks, glue, or caulking.
- Install handrails under the direction of a carpenter.
- Position and hold timbers, lumber, or paneling in place for fastening or cutting.
- Cover surfaces with laminated plastic covering material.
- Glue and clamp edges or joints of assembled parts.
- Drill holes in timbers or lumber.
- Cut tile or linoleum to fit and spread adhesives on flooring for installation.
- Secure stakes to grids for constructions of footings, nail scabs to footing forms, and vibrate and float concrete.
- Perform tie spacing layout and measure, mark, drill or cut.
- Perform tie spacing layout and measure, mark, drill or cut.
- Fasten timbers or lumber with glue, screws, pegs, or nails and install hardware.
- Cut and install insulating or sound-absorbing material.
- Construct forms and assist in raising them to the required elevation.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")