Can I wear sneakers for a construction tryout if I have no work boots?
Starting a physically demanding job with no prior experience or proper gear leaves people worried about wearing sneakers instead of work boots and doubting their physical endurance for long hours on ladders and roofs. These financial and preparation barriers make workers fear they won't be able to handle the physical demands or will end up wasting the company's time.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Wearing sneakers instead of work boots for the trial shift
- 2Asking coworkers what to do to stay busy
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I have absolutely no experience in roofing.”source ↗
“roofing seems to be one of the most physically demanding jobs you can do. It also has one of the highest fatality rates of any occupation, which definitely gets my attention.”source ↗
“I can imagine there's a pretty big difference between being strong enough to lift something and being able to climb ladders, stairs, scaffolding, etc. repeatedly while carrying equipment or materials and doing physical work for 8+ hours.”source ↗
“if I find out that this is realistically a job that I'm just not physically built for, I'd rather turn it down than waste the company's time or accept a job knowing that I probably won't be able to handle it.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Is it too late to switch to a trade at 45?
- 9Is it normal to have no training or supervision on a new job?
- 4Is it normal to have no work to do at a new job?
- 7How to clean your house when you get tired really fast
- 5What gear and supplies do you need to buy for a new job?
- 2Can I operate a mini skid steer with no experience?