A high school diploma or GED is usually preferred. Applicants for apprenticeships must be at least 17 years old. They take courses in blueprint reading, layout, sketching and basic math. Apprentices usually start by carrying materials, mixing mortar, and building scaffolds. After a month of doing basic tasks, apprentices learn to lay, align, and join bricks and cement blocks.
Apprentices learn to work with both stone and brick.
This allows them to be certified to work with more than one masonry material. Apprentices generally learn more techniques than those who learn their skills on the job. These workers start as helpers, laborers, or mason tenders. Like apprentices, they start by carrying materials, mixing mortar, and building scaffolds. When the opportunity arises, they are taught to spread mortar, lay brick, or set stone.