Career Escape
Moving from janitor to brickmasons and blockmasons, by the occupational data
Both occupations are described by the same O*NET 30.3 rating system, which makes them directly comparable: the same requirements, rated for each. What follows is that comparison for janitors and Brickmasons and Blockmasons, not an opinion about whether the move is a good idea.
Can a janitor become a brickmasons and blockmasons?
The overlap here is narrower than the two job titles suggest: 35% of what O*NET 30.3 rates as important to either occupation is important to both. The requirements that carry across include Monitoring and Controlling Resources, Handling and Moving Objects, Public Safety and Security. It sits at Job Zone 2 against Job Zone 3 for janitors, meaning shorter typical entry requirements. That is a statement about entry requirements only, not about pay or standing. BLS lists high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry education here, against no formal educational credential for janitors. What would be new concentrates in work activities: Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment, Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment, Controlling Machines and Processes. BLS puts the 2025 national median wage for brickmasons and blockmasonss at $62,120 against $36,840 for janitors, a difference of 69% upward at the occupational level rather than for any individual move. BLS projects employment in the destination occupation to grow 1.1% between 2025 and 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year on average. O*NET describes the destination as follows: Lay and bind building materials, such as brick, structural tile, concrete block, cinder block, glass block, and terra-cotta block, with mortar and other substances, to construct or repair walls, partitions, arches, sewers, and other structures. This compares two occupations, not two people, and says nothing about whether any individual would be hired.
- Weighted overlap
- 35% of the requirements important to either occupation are important to both, with 0 of those shared requirements classed as distinctive rather than near-universal.
- Preparation level
- O*NET Job Zone 2, against Job Zone 3 for janitors. Typically one level of further education.
- Typical entry education (BLS)
- High school diploma or equivalent, against No formal educational credential for janitors.
- Prior experience typically expected
- None, plus apprenticeship as the typical on-the-job training category.
- Where the overlap is strongest
- Work activities, with 0 distinctive requirements important to both. Requirements that carry over include Monitoring and Controlling Resources, Handling and Moving Objects, Public Safety and Security.
- Independent corroboration
- O*NET does not list this as directly related to the source occupation; it appears one step out, related to a related occupation. The overlap measure and the relatedness file disagree here, and both are shown rather than one being quietly dropped.
Source and method
O*NET 30.3 Database, with BLS Employment Projections Table 5.4. Verified 2026-09-02. Importance ratings, Job Zones and occupational titles are read from O*NET. Typical entry education, prior experience and on-the-job training are read from BLS. The weighted overlap percentage, the distinctive-requirement counts, and the shared and new requirement lists are computed by RoleSprint from those inputs using the method published at /career-change/methodology.
Career transition data
Janitor to Brickmasons and Blockmasons
- Work activities overlapderived
- 51%
- Knowledge overlapderived
- 21%
- Transferable skills overlapderived
- 0%
- Essential skills overlapderived
- 41%
- Job Zone
- 3 to 2
- Median annual wage, 2025
- $36,840 to $62,120
- Wage differencederived
- +$25,280 (+69%)
- Projected employment change, 2025–35
- +1.1%
- Annual openings, 2025–35 average
- 4,100
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
Largest transferable capability: Handling and Moving Objects
Largest new demand: Building and Construction
Source. Job Zone and requirement ratings: O*NET 30.3. Wage, employment projections, openings and entry education: BLS Employment Projections Table 1.2, projections 2025–35, wage year 2025. RoleSprint-derived. Overlap percentages and the wage difference are calculated by RoleSprint from those published values. Limitation. These are national occupational statistics for two occupations. The wage figure is not a salary you would be offered, employment growth is not job security, and overlap is not a likelihood of being hired. Fields BLS does not publish for an occupation are omitted rather than estimated.
What carries over
Requirements O*NET rates as important for both janitors and brickmasons and blockmasonss, by domain. Most distinctive first, so the top of each list is the part that is actually worth putting on a resume.
Work activities
21 of 30 work activities important to either occupation are important to both.
- Monitoring and Controlling Resources3.1 for janitors, 3.1 here
- Handling and Moving Objects3.6 for janitors, 4.2 here
- Performing General Physical Activities3.8 for janitors, 3.9 here
- Developing and Building Teams3.5 for janitors, 3.4 here
- Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others3.3 for janitors, 3.9 here
Knowledge
2 of 8 knowledge areas important to either occupation are important to both.
- Public Safety and Security3.4 for janitors, 3.1 here
- Administration and Management3.1 for janitors, 3.0 here
Essential skills
2 of 4 essential skills important to either occupation are important to both.
- Speaking3.0 for janitors, 3.0 here
- Active Listening3.0 for janitors, 3.0 here
Numbers are O*NET Importance, on a 1 to 5 scale. A requirement counts as important at 3.0 and above, which is the threshold the whole comparison uses.
What would be new
Requirements important for brickmasons and blockmasonss and not important for janitors. This is the part you would have to be able to evidence, and it is usually the real obstacle rather than the job title.
Work activities
6 work activities rated important here and not for janitors.
- Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment3.2 here, 2.9 for janitors
- Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment3.7 here, 2.3 for janitors
- Controlling Machines and Processes3.3 here, 2.8 for janitors
- Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates3.2 here, 2.8 for janitors
- Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information3.5 here, 2.9 for janitors
Knowledge
6 knowledge areas rated important here and not for janitors.
- Building and Construction4.8 here, 1.2 for janitors
- Design3.1 here, 1.1 for janitors
- Production and Processing3.1 here, 1.8 for janitors
- Mechanical3.0 here, 1.8 for janitors
- Mathematics3.5 here, 1.6 for janitors
Transferable skills
4 transferable skills rated important here and not for janitors.
- Quality Control Analysis3.0 here, 2.0 for janitors
- Operations Monitoring3.0 here, 2.3 for janitors
- Coordination3.1 here, 2.8 for janitors
- Time Management3.0 here, 2.8 for janitors
Essential skills
2 essential skills rated important here and not for janitors.
- Monitoring3.0 here, 2.8 for janitors
- Critical Thinking3.1 here, 2.8 for janitors
Practical caveats for this move
Specific to this pair, and worth reading before treating any of the above as a plan.
- Brickmasons and Blockmasons sits a Job Zone below janitors. Shorter entry requirements are not the same as an easier hire: employers filling a lower Job Zone role sometimes screen out candidates whose background sits above it.
- BLS records no prior experience in a related occupation as typical for this role, which makes the requirement lists above the more useful guide to what a posting will ask for.
- O*NET does not list this destination as directly related to your current occupation. It reached this map through the requirement overlap, one step out. That is a weaker corroboration than a directly related occupation, and it is shown rather than hidden.
- None of this accounts for licensing, geography, pay, hiring volume, or whether you would want the work. Occupational data describes the job. It does not describe the market for it, and it does not describe you.
How this move compares with the alternatives
This page is one move. The Opportunity Atlas puts every destination mapped from janitors side by side on skills overlap, day-to-day work, wage, projected growth, openings and the size of the training step.
It does not rank them, because the dimensions genuinely disagree: measured across every transition published here, how much your skills carry over and how much your knowledge carries over are close to unrelated. You choose which one matters and it orders by that.
Compare the alternatives in the Opportunity AtlasThe destination occupation, as O*NET describes it
Lay and bind building materials, such as brick, structural tile, concrete block, cinder block, glass block, and terra-cotta block, with mortar and other substances, to construct or repair walls, partitions, arches, sewers, and other structures.
O*NET-SOC 47-2021.00. Full title: Brickmasons and Blockmasons. Where this page uses the shorter phrase “brickmasons and blockmasons”, that is a common name for readability, not a separate occupational classification.
This page includes 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. RoleSprint has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Analysis generated 2026-09-02 from the O*NET 30.3 Database. Entry education, work experience, and on-the-job training are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections Table 5.4, Education and training assignments by detailed occupation, 2024, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What to do next
Occupational data compares two jobs. It cannot tell you whether one specific employer would consider you, and this is the point where most people stop reading data and start applying blind.