Roofers
Just to make sure that our travels through the various jobs available is complete, here’s the information upon roofers at the BLS. There’s not a lot for us to say about this job as it most certainly does not require a college degree to do it. Far from a college degree actually, it normally doesn’t even require a high school diploma. It’s hot dirty work, usually (although depending upon the technology used, not always) requiring the spreading of hot bitumen upon the roof. There are disadvantages, work is very scarce in the northern states in winter because ice can cause serious dangers for the workers.
On the plus side there are usually enough jobs to go around: precisely because it’s hard, hot work, people continually leave it for other construction trades. Training is either purely on the job, it taking about three years to become proficient in the use of all of the different materials, or via an apprenticeship scheme in association with the union. Both provide very much the same training although the appprenticeship is better structured.
As to our EQSQ personality tests I’m not really sure how much they will help here. Certainly, few female brain skills (or empathizing ones) are used, as there is little contact with anyone other than co-workers. There’s not all that much male brain or systemizing skills required either: the technology is fairly simple, although getting more complex. The real requirements are no fear of heights whatsoever and an ability to do heavy physical labor for long periods at a time. Not so much a male brain job as a male physique one.
February 7th, 2007 at 3:50 am
One thought that stuck me upon reading this is how important emotional intelligence both in how one moves though life and in their relationships, be it personal or work relationships. I feel that having a high and balanced empathizing and systemizing quotient can not help but benefit someone in their professional endeavors, be it laying shingles on a roof or running a fortune 500 company. Although roofing may not require the exact female or male brain skills emphasized by EQSQ.com’s eq test, I can’t help but think how necessary both of those qualities would be in a physical, labor demanding job: working with others, interpreting and internalizing a foreman’s instructions, client contact, and just being meticulous and thoughtful about one’s work.
February 8th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Erin, I agree, that we’d all be far better off with the highest possible values for both, great systemizing abilities and high emotional intelligence as well.
I have to admit, given my background in economics, that while I do think that a desirable state of affairs, that’s not actually how I look at the real world. The fact is, the intelligence we’re looking for is not would make everyone better as a person and at what they do, rather, given that people do differ, which are the appropriate jobs for them?
Use the analogy of track: sure, we’d all like to be big, fast and strong with great endurance. But we’re not (those few who have all four are the decathletes), so we need to recommend to the fast that they become sprinters, the big that the hammer throw looks good, the strong, the javelin and endurance makes you a good 5,000 m runner.
You see my point?