Paperhangers
Cover interior walls or ceilings of rooms with decorative wallpaper or fabric, or attach advertising posters on surfaces such as walls and billboards. May remove old materials or prepare surfaces to be papered.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Coordination
- Critical Thinking
- Time Management
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Building and Construction
- Mathematics
- Mechanical
- Administration and Management
- Public Safety and Security
- English Language
- Design
What the work involves
- Smooth strips or sections of paper with brushes or rollers to remove wrinkles and bubbles and to smooth joints.
- Place strips or sections of paper on surfaces, aligning section edges and patterns.
- Trim rough edges from strips, using straightedges and trimming knives.
- Trim excess material at ceilings or baseboards, using knives.
- Check finished wallcoverings for proper alignment, pattern matching, and neatness of seams.
- Mark vertical guidelines on walls to align strips, using plumb bobs and chalk lines.
- Cover interior walls and ceilings of rooms with decorative wallpaper or fabric, using hand tools.
- Apply adhesives to the backs of paper strips, using brushes, or dunk strips of prepasted wallcovering in water, wiping off any excess adhesive.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Artistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (54.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (20.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (23.9%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Paperhangers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 83% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 82% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 93% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 53% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 64% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 93% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 81% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 71% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 5.98%
- Contact with others about half the time: 28.31%
- Contact with others most of the time: 41.84%
- Constant contact with others: 23.87%
n = 28, Incumbent 06/2008
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 17.88%
- Fairly important: 37.19%
- Important: 26.68%
- Very important: 15.14%
- Extremely important: 3.11%
n = 28, Incumbent 06/2008
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 3.14%
- Fairly important: 13.14%
- Important: 46.07%
- Very important: 21.03%
- Extremely important: 16.63%
n = 28, Incumbent 06/2008
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 1.5%
- Very little freedom: 4.08%
- Limited freedom: 17.01%
- Some freedom: 36.36%
- A lot of freedom: 41.05%
n = 28, Incumbent 06/2008
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 7.94%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 24.28%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 25.01%
- Every day: 42.77%
n = 28, Incumbent 06/2008
Conflict situations
- Never: 23.47%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 58.38%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.52%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 8.12%
- Every day: 1.5%
n = 28, Incumbent 06/2008
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 9.1%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 60.81%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 22.11%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 7.99%
- Every day: 0%
n = 28, Incumbent 06/2008
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 30.97%
- Fairly serious: 31.05%
- Serious: 11.57%
- Very serious: 4.4%
- Extremely serious: 22.01%
n = 27, Incumbent 06/2008
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O*NET-SOC 47-2142.00 · SOC 47-2142 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8