What's the most common job in Australia? Retail sales worker is the most common job in Australia. Desiree Buntsma works in retail sales, selling consumer electronics. WHO do you think is the real face of the Australian workforce? According to the official figures it's retail sales workers who have the most common job in Australia. Census data shows there are 556,403 retail sales workers in the country. Sixty-eight per cent of them are female. But what's life like for our most common worker? Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows sales assistants earn $421.60 a week on average. For full time employees, of which there are just 172,441 (or 31 per cent of all retail sales workers), the most lucrative job is in motor vehicle sales, with an average yearly earning of $68,260.40. This is followed by computing and telecommunications sales persons on $52,780, checkout operators and office cashiers on $43,482.40, and general sales assistants on $42,962.40. Wesley Ravell, 33, sells cars for a living. "The best thing about what I do is the commission - the harder you work the more money you get," he said. Mr Ravell said he couldn't see himself working on a flat salary. "With the motor industry it's quite funny, if you last for three months you'll sort of get sucked in," he said. Because of those hours you do a lot of people can't handle it, it affects their home life, especially people who have kids. Wesley Ravell works in retail selling motor vehicles. Desiree Buntsma, 27, works in a shop selling consumer electronics. "Probably my favourite part of the job is when a customer comes into a shop with a broken product and I can help them out and provide them with a solution - I feel like I've accomplished something," Ms Buntsma said. The worst part of her job is the hours and the pay. "I get $17 an hour, which works out to be under $50,000 a year," she said. I mean it could be better, but that's the cross you bear in an industry that doesn't require any formal qualification. Phil Lewis, director of the Centre for Labour Market research at the University of Canberra, isn't surprised the retail sales worker is Australia's most common job. "In an industry that has nearly all part-time workers, you will have more actual people employed," Prof Lewis said. But it's still a very important employer and it fulfils a very particular need in the economy. Prof Lewis said it provides work for people who can't or don't wish to pursue regular nine-to-five jobs, such as university students and women with children. According to the Census figures the most common full-time job is technician and tradesperson in the construction industry. There are 333,298 people employed in the role, and 99 per cent of them are male. Richard Blandy, adjunct professor specialising in employment issues at the University of South Australia, said construction was a very substantial sector of the economy. "It is a very important sector in terms of investment in building infrastructure and stuff like that," Prof Blandy said. It's been about 10 per cent [of the economy] for a long time which is quite a chunk. Prof Blandy said he's not surprised most of the workers are full-time. "They probably work longer hours than most people," Prof Blandy said. But full-time doesn't mean that they're on permanent contracts. Construction union national secretary Dave Noonan said most people in the industry were employed on a short-term contract or subcontract basis. "It's not high on job security, but you know we've got a very productive construction industry in Australia, we've got a lot of very good tradespeople," Mr Noonan said. The industry is cyclical, it goes up and down. According to the ABS, electricians are the tradespeople with the highest average yearly earnings on $81,426.80, followed by bricklayers on $70,070, carpenters on $66,003.60, roof tilers on $63,221.60 and painting trades workers on $59,051.20. Electrical engineering technicians earn $99,600.80 on average, followed by architectural, building and surveying technicians on $82,882.80 and civil engineering technicians on $63,830. Carpenter Aaron Manly, 24, works on a contract basis building townhouses in Miles, four and a half hours west of Brisbane, for the town's growing coal seam gas industry. "Brisbane at the moment's quiet, but in the mining areas there's a lot more work," Mr Manly said. He commutes to Miles on Monday mornings to work 12-hour days and drives back to Brisbane on Friday nights. "It's been for the last couple of months now but I guess you've got to do what you've got to do," he said. You just do it for the money I guess - I'm younger so it's OK but if you're quite old it would suck. Electrician Craig Ironside, 27, is one of the few tradespeople who has a permanent full-time job in the construction industry. Mr Ironside's favourite part about the job is "getting out and being hands on, not being sitting in an office all day." It's obviously pretty good to have a trade behind you, it's always something you can fall back on. Which industry do you think is the most important to Australia's economy? Tell us in the comments below.