Carpenters: where your skills can take you
Construct, erect, install, or repair structures and fixtures made of wood and comparable materials, such as concrete forms; building frameworks, including partitions, joists, studding, and rafters; and wood stairways, window and door frames, and hardwood floors. May also install cabinets, siding, drywall, and batt or roll insulation. Includes brattice builders who build doors or brattices (ventilation walls or partitions) in underground passageways.
Usual study level (from US data): Cert II–III (TAFE, often Fee-Free; apprenticeship/traineeship routes count) · White Card (construction induction) — mandatory before any construction work
Job names and descriptions on this page come from the US government's job list (O*NET). Some use American words, for example "elementary school" for primary school.
Three moves that use what a carpenter already knows
Ranked by how much of the job's skills and knowledge carries over. Each one says what the move usually costs in study.
Solar Photovoltaic Installers
🧰 Your current job already uses checking quality, watching gauges and readings, choosing the right equipment and operating machines and controls.
🎓 A certificate or diploma. About the same level of study as your job, but in a different field: it leans on Mechanical and on Engineering and Technology, which your job does not use much. The most common level in the US is high school or less (45%).
🪪 White Card (construction induction) — mandatory before any construction work
🔎 Find courses for this job on training.gov.au ↗
Assemble, install, or maintain solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on roofs or other structures in compliance with site assessment and schematics. May include measuring, cutting, assembling, and bolting structural framing and solar modules. May perform minor electrical work such as current checks.
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
In national shortage — employers actively looking (Jobs and Skills Australia, 2025)
🧰 Your current job already uses watching gauges and readings, operating machines and controls, checking quality and choosing the right equipment.
🎓 A certificate or diploma. The most common level in Australia is a certificate or diploma (75%).
🪪 State plumbing licence or registration — mandatory for water, sewer, drainage and gas work
🔎 Find courses for this job on training.gov.au ↗
Assemble, install, alter, and repair pipelines or pipe systems that carry water, steam, air, or other liquids or gases. May install heating and cooling equipment and mechanical control systems. Includes sprinkler fitters.
Millwrights
🧰 Your current job already uses watching gauges and readings, checking quality, operating machines and controls and choosing the right equipment.
🎓 A certificate or diploma. More study than your current job. The most common level in the US is some college, a certificate or an associate degree (50%).
🪪 Some specialties need a state licence or certificate (for example electrical work) — check your state
🔎 Find courses for this job on training.gov.au ↗
Install, dismantle, or move machinery and heavy equipment according to layout plans, blueprints, or other drawings.
These are the three closest moves. The full list holds 24. Answer four quick questions — how much more study, which field, what you want more of, where you live — and the list fits you. Subscribers can plan any move.
See all 24 moves →Take the free testData sources and licences
O*NET 30.3 — This service incorporates information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JobMatcha has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
ABS ANZSCO 2022 Australian Update — Australian occupation tags are derived from the Australian Bureau of Statistics ANZSCO 2022 Australian Update correspondence tables (ABS, © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed under CC BY 4.0), bridged to U.S. occupations via U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics SOC crosswalks (public domain). Only high-confidence (>= 0.8) one-to-one chains are shown; other mappings are withheld as 'Australian data unavailable'.
Australian pay and shortage lines: Jobs and Skills Australia.