How to Choose the Construction Career That Is Right for You

Guest Blogger #365, Entry #948, February 8, 2012

When most people consider the field of construction, they imaging buff guys in hard hats carrying wooden slats, hauling loads of bricks, riveting steel girders, or operating heavy machinery; in other words, hard manual labor. And while a fair number of “unskilled” workers are required to get any construction project underway, there are a lot of other people working behind the scenes to ensure that building projects are done right. So if you’re interested in doing your part to create new structures in your own town or around the world, here are a few career options in the construction industry that the average person might overlook.

Is a career in construction right for you?

Image via: California Homes Sales

Site managers

These are the people that manage a building site on a day to day basis, ensuring that all employees know their goals and that they proceed in a manner that is safe and effective. The interesting thing about this position is that it doesn’t require any type of degree. Although there are people who go to school and specialize in construction management, anyone with the proper skill and experience can move up to this level.

Project managers

Project managers are educated individuals who take a construction project from a design on paper to a real-world structure. They often have a background in a related field such as engineering or surveying (unlike, say, corporate project managers) and they are responsible for setting goals and time lines and seeing that they are met and that costs are not exceeded. These are also the people that act as a liaison between clients and site managers, relaying important information in both directions.

A construction career as a project manager may be for your

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Quantity surveyors

These are sort of like the accounting wizards of the construction industry in that they look at plans for building projects, assess the quantities involved (materials, labor, legal, and so on) and come up with a cost. In many cases their job is ongoing as they will have to find ways to deal with overages in order to stay within the overall budget throughout.

Engineers

There are actually several types of engineering that may be required on any given construction project. A building services engineer, for example, will handle mechanical, electrical, and building health issues, a structural engineer can ensure that the building is within safety guidelines while still meeting design goals, and a civil engineer will deal with ensuring that new buildings meet environmental standards and work with existing structures through every stage of planning and inception. Although these job descriptions have been pretty pared down, you can see that many fields of engineering are required to ensure that any given construction project goes off without a hitch.

A career in home construction can be rewarding

Image via: Sf Gallery House

Architectural design

Every building project has to start with a plan, and the architect is the person who provides it, by way of a building design. Unfortunately, this position usually requires no small amount of schooling, featuring a background in both artistic and technical pursuits. But you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg in order to obtain a degree for a construction job. Thanks to top online MBA programs you can now work towards degrees in management, engineering, and even architectural design with far less expenditure of money and time than you would with traditional schooling.

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