Did you have previous experience in the construction industry or why would someone hire an inexperienced desk worker for such a job? (not trying to be demeaning, just curious)
And how did you find/get the job?
It was in traffic control, there are different types of traffic control work, one type is lane closures which I did maybe 10% of the time. Another type is on large construction sites (not so much houses, more like large buildings), getting concrete trucks and the like in and out of the gated worksite safely. Which might require stopping traffic and pedestrians.
Construction jobs were and still are in demand. I did a course and assessment, it was a government requirement, it went for 3 days and cost about $1000. There is a bit of luck getting your first position. While there are lots of positions needed, most want experienced people.
I just applied to maybe 3 companies, got an interview which was basically showing up with all your PPE, radio, etc, to prove you have them and they tell you you might be tried out in a week or two. Basically they had an urgent requirement one day and all of their other traffic controllers were assigned or rejected the job so I got a go.
After 3 months I was driving a traffic control truck and either working by myself or running small crews. I loved it. Pretty much worked on different sites everyday.
It's not exactly rocket science but you do get better with experience. After a week you've pretty much got it down, and after 6 months you'd be considered experienced.
On construction sites, there might be a truck every 5 minutes but more common was hours of doing nothing but standing, but needing to keep alert for pedestrians and an unexpected truck arrival. Some people hated the boredom and didn't do a good job at keeping an eye on things, were on their phone, etc. I loved it. Different strokes for different folks.
