Career profile for Painter Assistant

What does a Painter Assistant do?

Painter Assistants help painters, paperhangers, plasterers, or stucco masons by performing duties requiring less skill.

In addition, Painter Assistants duties include using, supplying, or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.

What kind of tasks does a Painter Assistant perform regularly?

Painter Assistants are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Clean work areas and equipment.
Perform support duties to assist painters, paperhangers, plasterers, or masons.
Apply protective coverings, such as masking tape, to articles or areas that could be damaged or stained by work processes.
Erect scaffolding.
Fill cracks or breaks in surfaces of plaster articles or areas with putty or epoxy compounds.
Supply or hold tools and materials.

The above responsibilities are specific to Painter Assistants. More generally, Painter Assistants are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates		Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Performing General Physical Activities		Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
Handling and Moving Objects		Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials		Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

Performing General Physical Activities

Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.

Handling and Moving Objects

Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.

Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials

Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

What is a Painter Assistant salary?

The median salary for a Painter Assistant is $31,640, and the average salary is $33,520. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Painter Assistant salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Painter Assistants earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Painter Assistants earn less than $23,200 per year, 25% earn less than $27,080, 75% earn less than $38,400, and 90% earn less than $47,550.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Painter Assistants is expected to change by 6.4%, and there should be roughly 1,200 open positions for Painter Assistants every year.

Median annual salary: $31,640
Typical salary range: $23,200 - $47,550
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 6.4%

What personality traits are common among Painter Assistants?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Painter Assistant are usually higher in their Realistic interests.

Painter Assistants typically have very strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Painter Assistant tend to value Relationships, Support, and Working Conditions.

Most importantly, Painter Assistants moderately value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Second, Painter Assistants moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Lastly, Painter Assistants somewhat value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Painter Assistants must consistently demonstrate qualities such as cooperation, dependability, and attention to detail.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Painter Assistants, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Cooperation		Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Leadership		Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Self-Control		Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Cooperation

Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Leadership

Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.

Self-Control

Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

What education and training do Painter Assistants need?

Working as a Painter Assistant may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.

Painter Assistants need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.

Educational degrees among Painter Assistants

34.3% did not complete high school or secondary school
38.8% completed high school or secondary school
16.6% completed some college coursework
4.1% earned a Associate's degree
5.0% earned a Bachelor's degree
1.0% earned a Master's degree
0.1% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Painter Assistants

Painter Assistants may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as building and construction, administration and management, or customer and personal service knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Painter Assistants might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Building and Construction		Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Administration and Management		Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Mathematics		Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Public Safety and Security		Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Building and Construction

Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Mathematics

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Public Safety and Security

Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Important Abilities needed by Painter Assistants

Painter Assistants must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Painter Assistants need abilities such as arm-hand steadiness, manual dexterity, and static strength in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Painter Assistants, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Arm-Hand Steadiness		The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Manual Dexterity		The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Static Strength		The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Trunk Strength		The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Extent Flexibility		The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Arm-Hand Steadiness

The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.

Manual Dexterity

The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

Static Strength

The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.

Trunk Strength

The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.

Extent Flexibility

The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Critical Skills needed by Painter Assistants

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Painter Assistants frequently use skills like speaking, coordination, and active listening to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Painter Assistants, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Coordination		Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking		Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Monitoring		Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Coordination

Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Painter Assistant

Painter Assistant

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