You can get into this job through: You could take a college course like: You'll usually need:How to become a road worker
College
Entry requirements
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Apprenticeship
You could do a road surfacing operative or highways maintenance operative intermediate apprenticeship.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
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- equivalent entry requirements
- guide to apprenticeships
Direct Application
You may be able to apply for jobs if you've got experience in other areas of construction work, like labouring or groundwork.
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Further information
You can find out more about training as a road worker from Go Construct.
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- knowledge of public safety and security
- knowledge of building and construction
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- customer service skills
- the ability to work well with others
- physical fitness and endurance
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- the ability to operate and control equipment
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
Restrictions and Requirements
You'll need to:
- be over 18 years of age
- have a full driving licence
You may need to join the Street Works Qualifications Register and get a safety card, depending on your job.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
As a road worker, you could:
- build, widen and resurface roads
- repair cracks, potholes and other damage
- lay pavements, kerbs and drains
- maintain roadside verges and central reservations
- paint road markings
- install crash barriers, road signs, traffic lights and street lamps
- dig trenches for cables and pipes
- operate power tools and machinery
- direct traffic around road works
- grit roads and clear snow in winter
- lead a team of workers
Working environment
You could work on the road.
Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers, physically demanding, dirty and noisy.
You may need to wear protective clothing.
Career path and progression
With experience, you could be a road works team supervisor, known as a 'ganger', or become a highways technician, helping to design road improvements.
Current opportunities
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What are the chances of getting a job?
Chances of getting a job as a roading construction worker are good due to:
- national and local government plans to spend over $5 billion on transport each year until 2028, with a focus on building and maintaining safer roads, walkways and cycleways.
- the $850 million Transmission Gully project north of Wellington, which is expected to be under construction until 2020
- roading construction workers being upskilled and moving into other roles within a company
- high staff turnover – as roading construction workers are in demand, they can easily change employer for better conditions.
According to the Census, 1,821 roading construction workers worked in New Zealand in 2018.
Spring the best time to look for roading construction work
Job opportunities for roading construction workers are best in spring and early summer, when most roading work is done.
Temp agencies useful for finding your first role
Roading construction companies often prefer to employ roading construction workers on a temporary basis to start with. Although these are usually short-term contract positions, they're likely to lead to more permanent work if you're suited to the role.
Most roading construction workers work for private companies
Most roading construction workers are employed by construction or roading companies. About 30 large companies do 90% of the roading work in New Zealand.
Sources
- Ministry of Transport, 'Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2018/19 – 2027/28', June 2018, (www.transport.govt.nz).
- New Zealand Transport Agency, 'Transmission Gully', accessed July 2018, (www.nzta.govt.nz).
- Stats NZ, '2018 Census Data', 2019.
(This information is a guide only. Find out more about the sources of our job opportunities information)
Progression and specialisations
Roading construction workers may progress to become earthmoving machinery operators or drainlayers after further training. They may also move into team leader or management roles.
- Earthmoving machine operator job information
- Drainlayer job information