Writing Exercise by Tony Watson

 Bricklaying

       I chose the occupation of bricklayer. In Callings, Barbara Moore, was a bricklayer and I found this occupation very interesting. I chose to write about this job because my grandfather had his own concrete company, so this is something that's very close to what I have helped my grandpa do. Bricklayers are known as physically tough people who have endured years of painstakingly hard work to do a job that most people wouldn't even consider doing. 

      To start out as a bricklayer you have to have either a diploma in construction or you can go through an apprenticeship to get the skills that you need to become a successful bricklayer. To get the diploma of construction, you can go through a series of college level courses called, City & Guilds qualifications, Construction Skills awards, or BTEC level 2 certifications. Becoming certified is considered a thing of the future since past bricklayers were almost all taught through apprenticeships.  After you have completed being certified, your training is almost all on site training. This means that you learn while you work. This is the case for most construction jobs that you use your hands to work. The tools that are needed for bricklaying are trowels, measuring tapes, and brick carriers. There are many different tools that are included but the list would have went on for days. The tools have been basically the same for as long as they've been around. Trowels are used for smoothing the mortar, and everything else is self explanatory. There wasn't much on famous bricklayers, so I chose to use Barbara Moore from Callings. I chose her because she was the only woman bricklayer that I could find. I think Moore stands out as important because she crossed a barrier that many woman struggle to cross. She went out and gained the respect of men who had been doing the job their whole lives.