Top 12 Bricklayer Skills to Put on Your Resume
In today’s crowded job market, a bricklayer’s resume needs more than muscle and a trowel. Show range. Craftsmanship, yes, but also planning, problem-solving, safety, and a steady hand. The right mix of hard and soft skills tells hiring managers you build straight, think ahead, and finish clean.
Bricklayer Skills
- Masonry
- Troweling
- Scaffolding
- Blueprint Reading
- Mortar Mixing
- Leveling
- Brick Cutting
- Joint Finishing
- Safety Compliance
- Restoration
- Estimation
- AutoCAD
1. Masonry
Masonry, for a bricklayer, is the craft of assembling brick, stone, or block into durable structures using mortar. It’s alignment, bond, and rhythm. It’s structure and face.
Why It's Important
Quality masonry delivers strength, longevity, and clean lines. It keeps walls true, loads supported, and façades looking sharp for decades.
How to Improve Masonry Skills
Sharpen the craft with focused habits:
Keep learning: Study bond patterns, control joints, expansion joints, and movement accommodation. Know when to switch mortar types.
Reps matter: Practice uniform head and bed joints, tight perp joints, and consistent course heights.
Upgrade tools: Well-balanced trowels, sharp jointers, accurate levels, and reliable lasers speed up good work.
Modern methods: Stay current on materials, admixtures, anchors, and moisture management details like flashing and weeps.
Detail-obsessed: String lines tight, check plumb often, measure twice. Small corrections early prevent big fixes later.
Plan the day: Staging, mixing cadence, and material flow cut downtime and keep joints fresh.
Fitness and ergonomics: Lift smart, pace yourself, avoid fatigue sloppiness.
Work safe: Eye, hand, and respiratory protection; dust control; tidy, stable work zones.
How to Display Masonry Skills on Your Resume
2. Troweling
Troweling is the art of placing, spreading, and shaping mortar so bricks bed tight, joints fill properly, and finished work looks crisp.
Why It's Important
Good troweling locks units together, keeps courses level, and leaves a clean face ready for tooling. Weak troweling shows up in voids, sags, and uneven joints.
How to Improve Troweling Skills
Dial in the feel:
Right trowel, right hand: Size and balance should match your grip and the work. Comfort equals control.
Mortar consistency: Workable, not soupy; cohesive, not dry. Adjust for weather.
Apply enough: Full beds and properly buttered ends. Starved joints invite trouble.
Butter and tap: Butter the perp, set, tap to line and level. Quick, confident motions.
Check alignment: Level and line frequently. Correct as you go.
Keep it clean: Wipe edges, scrape excess, don’t smear. Clean tools, cleaner joints.
Practice across materials: Different brick, different bite. Build speed after you build accuracy.
How to Display Troweling Skills on Your Resume
3. Scaffolding
Scaffolding is the temporary structure that lets bricklayers reach, store, and move safely while building up walls and details.
Why It's Important
A stable platform means safer work, faster pace, smoother material flow, fewer mistakes. Height without hazard.
How to Improve Scaffolding Skills
Make it solid and smart:
Foundations first: Base plates, mudsills, level setup, proper ties and bracing. Inspect before each shift.
Access points: Ladders or stair towers placed where crews actually move; reduce climb time.
Fall protection: Guardrails, toe boards, netting where needed. Keep decks clear of debris.
Load planning: Don’t overload bays. Stage brick, block, and mortar for minimal carrying and safe reach.
Competent oversight: Trained eyes spot settlement, loose pins, and sketchy components fast.
Quality components: Use maintained gear. Replace bent, cracked, or corroded pieces immediately.
How to Display Scaffolding Skills on Your Resume
4. Blueprint Reading
Blueprint reading means decoding plans, elevations, sections, and details so brickwork lands exactly where the designer intended—dimensions, coursing, openings, and supports included.
Why It's Important
It prevents rework. It ensures alignment with other trades. It keeps masonry within spec and true to the design.
How to Improve Blueprint Reading Skills
Build visual fluency:
Master symbols and notes: Masonry legends, lintel marks, control-joint indicators, rebar and tie callouts.
Get scales right: Read architectural and engineering scales accurately. Verify critical dimensions on site.
Connect the views: Cross-check plan, elevation, and section so heights, reveals, and projections line up.
Practice takeoffs: Coursing counts, brick quantities, joint patterns. Repetition creates speed and accuracy.
Ask early: Clarify conflicts with RFIs before you lay the first course.
Use digital tools if available: Markups, measurements, and overlays reduce guesswork.
How to Display Blueprint Reading Skills on Your Resume
5. Mortar Mixing
Mortar mixing blends cement, sand, water (and sometimes lime) into a workable paste that bonds units and seals joints.
Why It's Important
The right mix sticks, supports, and sheds water. The wrong mix crumbles, cracks, or stains. It’s that simple.
How to Improve Mortar Mixing Skills
Consistency is king:
Use proper ratios: Match mortar type (e.g., N, S) to the job’s strength and exposure needs. Measure by volume consistently.
Mix time and slake: Mix thoroughly, allow a short rest, then remix for uniform color and workability.
Batch smart: Mix quantities you can place within about 2 to 2.5 hours, less in hot/windy conditions. Discard when it loses life.
Water temperature: Warm water in cold weather, cool water in heat to control set.
Clean equipment: Mixers, paddles, and tubs free of old material prevent contamination and weak joints.
Retemper carefully: A light retemper within pot life is fine; don’t rescue dead mortar.
How to Display Mortar Mixing Skills on Your Resume
6. Leveling
Leveling means courses are true, walls are plumb, and corners stay crisp from the first brick to the cap.
Why It's Important
It protects structural integrity and delivers clean, even lines. Uneven work telegraphs everywhere—doors, windows, flashing, the lot.
How to Improve Leveling Skills
Build accuracy into every move:
Start right: True footing/sill, accurate layout, tight string lines. The first course sets the fate of the wall.
Use the right instruments: Calibrated spirit levels, plumb bobs, and lasers. Check them regularly.
Story poles and gauges: Mark course heights and openings to keep consistency without constant recalculation.
Touch the line, don’t push it: Adjust with the trowel, not brute force. Small taps, fast checks.
Slow down at corners: Build leads carefully; they steer everything that follows.
How to Display Leveling Skills on Your Resume
7. Brick Cutting
Brick cutting trims units to fit corners, arches, patterns, and tight spaces using brick sets, angle grinders, or saws.
Why It's Important
Precise cuts mean snug fits and tidy lines. Sloppy cuts shout from the wall and can invite cracks or water paths.
How to Improve Brick Cutting Skills
Cut clean, cut safe:
Choose the tool: Masonry saw for accuracy and volume; grinder for quick field trims; brick set for quiet, simple cuts.
Mark twice: Use a square and clear marks on multiple faces for straight, predictable cuts.
Control dust: Wet cutting or shrouded tools with vacuums. Wear respiratory protection rated for silica.
Maintain blades: Sharp, appropriate diamond blades reduce chipping and heat.
Practice scraps: Test cuts on off-cuts to dial speed and pressure before the real piece.
Measure twice, cut once: It never gets old because it’s always true.
How to Display Brick Cutting Skills on Your Resume
8. Joint Finishing
Joint finishing shapes mortar joints to a consistent profile, seals them against weather, and elevates the look of the work.
Why It's Important
It boosts weather resistance, reduces water intrusion, and delivers that uniform, professional finish.
How to Improve Joint Finishing Skills
Timing and touch:
Right mortar, right place: Choose compatible mortar for strength, color, and exposure.
Workable window: Strike when the mortar is thumbprint-hard—no smearing, no tearing.
Pick the profile: Concave for weather resistance, V-joint for crisp shadows, flush when specified.
Clean as you go: Brush crumbs, avoid face smears, and finish with consistent pressure.
Keep tools tidy: Clean jointers produce smoother, tighter joints.
Practice consistency: Same depth, same pressure, same speed—course after course.
How to Display Joint Finishing Skills on Your Resume
9. Safety Compliance
Safety compliance means following rules, training, and site practices that keep people uninjured—PPE, fall protection, equipment use, housekeeping, and dust control among them.
Why It's Important
Because the job is physical, fast, and often at height. Safe habits and compliant setups stop falls, crush injuries, and exposure to hazards like respirable silica.
How to Improve Safety Compliance Skills
Make safety part of the workflow:
Training: Tool handling, lifting, silica controls, hazard recognition, and emergency response.
PPE: Hard hat, gloves, eye and hearing protection, and appropriate respiratory protection for cutting and mixing.
Site controls: Secure scaffolds, tidy platforms, guarded edges, clear access, and proper material staging.
Inspections: Routine checks of scaffolding, cords, mixers, and saws. Fix hazards immediately.
Dust and silica: Wet methods or HEPA vacs, exposure monitoring when required, and compliant work practices.
Feedback loop: Report near misses, review incidents, and improve procedures continuously.
How to Display Safety Compliance Skills on Your Resume
10. Restoration
Restoration brings aged brickwork back to health—cleaning, replacing damaged units, repointing, and preserving character, often on historic buildings.
Why It's Important
It extends the life of structures, protects heritage details, and keeps façades safe and sound without erasing history.
How to Improve Restoration Skills
Respect the original, then match it:
Material knowledge: Identify brick type, porosity, and firing. Match mortar strength, color, and texture—often lime-rich for older work.
Tuckpointing mastery: Remove failing mortar without scarring units; pack new mortar firmly; tool to match legacy profiles.
Gentle cleaning: Start mild; avoid harsh acids or aggressive blasting that damage faces.
Document details: Record existing joint profiles, coursing, and patterns before you start; replicate, don’t reinvent.
Hands-on learning: Workshops, mentorship, and mockups build judgment fast.
How to Display Restoration Skills on Your Resume
11. Estimation
Estimation calculates materials, labor, and time—brick counts, mortar volumes, accessory hardware, and realistic durations.
Why It's Important
Good estimates prevent overruns and shortages, keep budgets honest, and anchor schedules in reality.
How to Improve Estimation Skills
Turn guesswork into data:
Track past jobs: Actual quantities, crew size, productivity rates, and conditions. Build your own benchmarks.
Know your units: Brick sizes, joint thickness, waste factors, and mortar yield. Factor cuts and specials.
Digital takeoffs: Use measurement and takeoff tools for speed and repeatability when available.
Site factors: Access, heights, weather, and staging can swing productivity; price them in.
Continuous learning: Short courses in estimating or project management sharpen accuracy.
Peer review: Compare notes with other estimators or foremen; refine assumptions.
How to Display Estimation Skills on Your Resume
12. AutoCAD
AutoCAD is CAD software for precise 2D/3D drawings. For bricklayers, it helps plan layouts, visualize patterns, and coordinate details before the first batch of mortar is mixed.
Why It's Important
It tightens measurements, clarifies quantities, and reduces on-site surprises. Clear drawings, cleaner builds.
How to Improve AutoCAD Skills
Make the software work for masonry:
Custom tool palettes: Brick bonds, coursing rules, typical details—ready at a click.
Dynamic blocks: Parametric lintels, bond beams, and openings that resize without redrawing.
Automation: Simple scripts to count units, label courses, or generate sections save real time.
Data extraction: Pull quantities and specs directly from drawings for estimates.
3D where it helps: Model complex corners, corbelling, arches, or patterns to spot clashes early.
How to Display AutoCAD Skills on Your Resume
