One Industry · No Limits

Introduction

What exactly is a career?

The dictionary defines the word “career” as “the general course or progression of one's working life”.

So whilst you may start your career with one type of occupation, you may well progress through a number of others before you retire from your working life. And the building and construction industry has over 130 different occupations from which you can select to progress your working life and build a satisfying, rewarding career.

Accentuate the positive!

When choosing an occupation to start your career, think carefully about all the things that you like doing and that you’re good at doing, in and out of school. Combining your talents with paid work is a good start to any career!

For instance, if you have a good eye for design and enjoy working with technology, you might enjoy drafting. If you’ve got great hand skills, like working in teams and being in the outdoors, then a building trade may be a good place for you to start. If you’re a keen problem solver, are good at maths and science, then you might like to study engineering, architecture or town planning.

There’s no point thinking about journalism if you don’t like writing, and it’s probably not a good idea to work towards being a forensic scientist if you faint at the sight of blood. If you like being outdoors and having variety in your life, you’d probably be unhappy in your work if you were stuck behind a desk every day of your working life.

So, a good idea when making initial selections for a career is to accentuate the positive things in your life and eliminate those that you know aren’t for you in the long term.

Research

Take a bit of time to do some research. Read about a range of different occupations. Talk to your parents and careers advisors at school – and if you can, talk to people who are in the jobs you’d like to do. Ask them questions about the good and bad parts of their work and also what personal qualities have helped them along the way.

Find out what qualifications and experience you may need to start that career. Do you need to do extra study after finishing school? An apprenticeship? Cadetship? Diploma? Degree? Remember that a career is a progression over your whole working life, so think about the opportunities for obtaining extra qualifications along the way.

Ask your careers advisor about courses and subjects that can help you maximise your opportunities in the fields of your interest – there are some great Structured Workplace Learning Courses in Year 11 & 12 where you can get excellent work experience and Certificate qualifications that can help you get the right job straight from school.

And when thinking about that long term career path, don’t limit yourself to just what you want to be, think about what you would like your future lifestyle to be like. Some important things to consider are

Leisure time – for friends, family and fun
Working conditions
Potential income
Variety
Opportunity for advancement
Location
Travel opportunities and skill portability
Availability and sustainability of work in your chosen field

Future plans

Remember that a career is “the general course or progression of your working life”. Think about what you want to achieve and draw a bit of a mud map of how you might get there. Have a look at some of the career pathways in building and construction and find out what’s possible.

	Introduction What exactly is a career? The dictionary defines the word “career” as “the general course or progression of one's working life”. So whilst you may start your career with one type of occupation, you may well progress through a number of others before you retire from your working life. And the building and construction industry has over 130 different occupations from which you can select to progress your working life and build a satisfying, rewarding career. Accentuate the positive! When choosing an occupation to start your career, think carefully about all the things that you like doing and that you’re good at doing, in and out of school. Combining your talents with paid work is a good start to any career! For instance, if you have a good eye for design and enjoy working with technology, you might enjoy drafting. If you’ve got great hand skills, like working in teams and being in the outdoors, then a building trade may be a good place for you to start. If you’re a keen problem solver, are good at maths and science, then you might like to study engineering, architecture or town planning. There’s no point thinking about journalism if you don’t like writing, and it’s probably not a good idea to work towards being a forensic scientist if you faint at the sight of blood. If you like being outdoors and having variety in your life, you’d probably be unhappy in your work if you were stuck behind a desk every day of your working life. So, a good idea when making initial selections for a career is to accentuate the positive things in your life and eliminate those that you know aren’t for you in the long term. Research Take a bit of time to do some research. Read about a range of different occupations. Talk to your parents and careers advisors at school – and if you can, talk to people who are in the jobs you’d like to do. Ask them questions about the good and bad parts of their work and also what personal qualities have helped them along the way. Find out what qualifications and experience you may need to start that career. Do you need to do extra study after finishing school? An apprenticeship? Cadetship? Diploma? Degree? Remember that a career is a progression over your whole working life, so think about the opportunities for obtaining extra qualifications along the way. Ask your careers advisor about courses and subjects that can help you maximise your opportunities in the fields of your interest – there are some great Structured Workplace Learning Courses in Year 11 & 12 where you can get excellent work experience and Certificate qualifications that can help you get the right job straight from school. And when thinking about that long term career path, don’t limit yourself to just what you want to be, think about what you would like your future lifestyle to be like. Some important things to consider are Leisure time – for friends, family and fun Working conditions Potential income Variety Opportunity for advancement Location Travel opportunities and skill portability Availability and sustainability of work in your chosen field Future plans Remember that a career is “the general course or progression of your working life”. Think about what you want to achieve and draw a bit of a mud map of how you might get there. Have a look at some of the career pathways in building and construction and find out what’s possible.