The night before

Open the job in the app and read it once more. The address, who to report to, and the contact number are on it now that you are hired. Put the address in your maps app while you are still sitting down, not in the truck at 6 in the morning.

Look at the drive time and add fifteen minutes. Charge your phone. Set two alarms. Put your gear by the door so leaving takes two minutes.

What to wear

Work pants and a shirt with sleeves. Boots, not sneakers, on any site with tools or equipment. Nothing loose or hanging if you will be near machinery.

Check the weather and dress for the whole day, not the morning. A hot afternoon on a roof and a 40 degree start are the same day in the spring.

What to bring

Pack the night before so you are not deciding at the door.

• Your ID.
• Boots, gloves, and eye protection.
• Water, more than you think, and food for the day.
• Any hand tools you said you would bring.
• Your phone, charged, with the job open in the app.
• A hard hat and a vest if the employer said the site requires them.

Getting there

Ten minutes early is on time. On time is late, because the crew is already getting their instructions.

Park where they told you to park. If nobody told you, park on the street rather than in a driveway or a customer spot.

If you are going to be late, message the moment you know, not when you were supposed to arrive. Fifteen minutes of warning is a small problem. Silence is the thing that gets people cut.

The first ten minutes

Find the person you report to and say your name and what you are there for. Then ask where they want you to start. That is it. That is the whole thing most people get wrong by standing around waiting to be told.

Put your phone away. A phone in your hand in the first hour is the single fastest way to look like someone who will not last the day.

During the day

Work at a pace you can hold until the end. Sprinting for an hour and fading at noon reads worse than a steady day.

Ask before you change how something is being done. On a site you just met, the way they are doing it is usually the way the customer paid for.

If something is not safe, stop and say so. A good employer wants to hear it. An employer who gets angry about it has told you whether to come back.

At the end of the day

Put tools back, sweep up, and leave the site better than you found it. It takes five minutes and it is the thing people remember.

Before you leave, confirm the pay and how it is coming, and ask if they need anyone tomorrow. Asking is how a one day job turns into three.

Getting asked back

Employers rehire on three things. You showed up, you were easy to work with, and they did not have to watch you.

Every finished job builds your track record here, and the employer can leave you a review. That record is what gets you picked for the next job before anyone even messages you.