Construction Career

Overview

Construction touches our lives in one form or the other, be it buildings, flats, houses, apartments, roads, bridges, or tunnels. All around us we are surrounded by the results of construction work. The variety of jobs in construction, like plumbing, roofing, painting, etc. makes place for numerous employment opportunities. Construction careers are open to people with any educational qualification and interests.

Construction Career Types:

Construction careers can be generally categorized into three types: building constructors, specialty trade contractors, and civil engineering construction contractors. Each has their work cut out for them. Building constructors are involved in constructing residential, commercial, industrial, and other buildings. Civil engineering constructors build roads, bridges, tunnels, highways, and other projects. Those in specialty trade are involved in activities like plumbing, electrical work, painting, and carpentry. There are many options available while choosing a career in construction.

Construction jobs are mostly full time jobs and most people working in this sector put in more than 40 hours a week. Many times, construction jobs demand odd working hours to meet with deadlines or to handle emergencies. So you may end up working on the weekends or holidays and evenings. However, the bright side to this is the high hourly wages.

Good physical fitness standards and stamina are a must-have if you want a career in construction. Most Construction jobs are physically demanding and require physical strength and stamina to withstand strenuous working conditions and inclement weather. Some of these jobs are not for the faint-hearted as they require working with dangerous equipment and tools. Sometimes it may also involve working on temporary ledges outside the buildings in unsafe weather conditions. In view of all this, construction workers are more prone to injuries than other workers.

Many construction workers are union members and so enjoy the benefits of union contracts, better pay and also better working conditions.

Even with an entry-level job in construction your career path can easily progress to the supervisory or instructor positions or even move on to the management level. In fact, if you are independent and ambitious enough, you have the option to move on and be a sub-contractor or even start your own construction company.