Career profile for Furniture Finisher

What does a Furniture Finisher do?

Furniture Finishers shape, finish, and refinish damaged, worn, or used furniture or new high-grade furniture to specified color or finish.

What kind of tasks does a Furniture Finisher perform regularly?

Furniture Finishers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Fill and smooth cracks or depressions, remove marks and imperfections, and repair broken parts, using plastic or wood putty, glue, nails, or screws.
Brush, spray, or hand-rub finishing ingredients, such as paint, oil, stain, or wax, onto and into wood grain and apply lacquer or other sealers.
Smooth, shape, and touch up surfaces to prepare them for finishing, using sandpaper, pumice stones, steel wool, chisels, sanders, or grinders.
Remove accessories prior to finishing, and mask areas that should not be exposed to finishing processes or substances.
Remove old finishes and damaged or deteriorated parts, using hand tools, stripping tools, sandpaper, steel wool, abrasives, solvents, or dip baths.
Treat warped or stained surfaces to restore original contours and colors.
Select appropriate finishing ingredients such as paint, stain, lacquer, shellac, or varnish, depending on factors such as wood hardness and surface type.
Mix finish ingredients to obtain desired colors or shades.
Remove excess solvent, using cloths soaked in paint thinner.
Examine furniture to determine the extent of damage or deterioration, and to decide on the best method for repair or restoration.
Stencil, gild, emboss, mark, or paint designs or borders to reproduce the original appearance of restored pieces, or to decorate new pieces.
Distress surfaces with woodworking tools or abrasives before staining to create an antique appearance, or rub surfaces to bring out highlights and shadings.
Disassemble items to prepare them for finishing, using hand tools.

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

Activities	Importance	Details
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems		Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials		Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
Handling and Moving Objects		Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events		Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Getting Information

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

Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials

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

Handling and Moving Objects

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

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

What is a Furniture Finisher salary?

The median salary for a Furniture Finisher is $32,970, and the average salary is $35,040. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Furniture Finisher salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Furniture Finishers earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Furniture Finishers earn less than $24,310 per year, 25% earn less than $27,950, 75% earn less than $39,910, and 90% earn less than $0.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Furniture Finishers is expected to change by 5.5%, and there should be roughly 2,600 open positions for Furniture Finishers every year.

Median annual salary: $32,970
Typical salary range: $24,310 - $0
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 5.5%

What personality traits are common among Furniture Finishers?

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 Furniture Finisher are usually higher in their Realistic interests.

Furniture Finishers 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 Furniture Finisher tend to value Support, Relationships, and Working Conditions.

Most importantly, Furniture Finishers moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Second, Furniture Finishers 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.

Lastly, Furniture Finishers 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 Furniture Finishers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as attention to detail, dependability, and cooperation.

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

Demands	Importance	Details
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Cooperation		Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Persistence		Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Independence		Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

Attention to Detail

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

Dependability

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

Cooperation

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

Persistence

Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.

Independence

Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

What education and training do Furniture Finishers need?

Working as a Furniture Finisher usually requires a high school diploma.

Furniture Finishers need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Furniture Finishers

28.9% did not complete high school or secondary school
36.0% completed high school or secondary school
21.7% completed some college coursework
6.1% earned a Associate's degree
4.5% earned a Bachelor's degree
2.3% earned a Master's degree
0.6% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Furniture Finishers

Furniture Finishers may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as production and processing, mechanical, or design knowledge.

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

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Production and Processing		Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Mechanical		Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Design		Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Education and Training		Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
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.

Production and Processing

Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Mechanical

Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Design

Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

Education and Training

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

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.

Important Abilities needed by Furniture Finishers

Furniture Finishers 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, Furniture Finishers need abilities such as near vision, visual color discrimination, and arm-hand steadiness in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Furniture Finishers, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Near Vision		The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Visual Color Discrimination		The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
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.
Control Precision		The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.

Near Vision

The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Visual Color Discrimination

The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.

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.

Control Precision

The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.

Critical Skills needed by Furniture Finishers

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.

Furniture Finishers frequently use skills like active listening, critical thinking, and monitoring to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Furniture Finishers, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
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.
Operations Monitoring		Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

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.

Operations Monitoring

Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

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 Furniture Finisher

Furniture Finisher

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