If you’re reading BIC Magazine, you’re likely already connected to the construction industry, but what about your kids?
What would you tell a soon-to-be high school graduate unsure of their plans? Or a college student contemplating their career path after graduation?
An abundance of projects are on the horizon in the Southeast region of the U.S., many of which are slated to break ground this year or in early 2024. These projects will significantly increase the demand for construction workers. Now is the time to consider a career in the construction industry for a variety of reasons.
The paths
A career in the construction industry often comes with a presumption that you must wear hard hats and steel toed boots. That is not always the case, though. There are many paths that do require this, but the construction industry has evolved to offer many more career paths. Just to name a few: IT, business development, engineering, marketing, procurement, safety and more. A career in the construction industry can open doors and create paths that you never knew existed.
A solid foundation
There will never be a time where careers in construction are not needed. With new projects starting every day all over the country and the unavoidable need for improvements to existing structures, there will always be a need for construction workers. The corporate offices at construction companies are also ever changing. With the growing need for innovative marketing ideas, world-class IT departments and informed human resource departments, the need for “in-office” employees will continue to increase as construction companies grow.
Right-brain thinking
That bridge you take to work every day or that modern office building that just opened on the corner are all part of a city’s appearance. As a professional in the construction industry, you would be creating the impression a community leaves on residents and visitors. The way buildings are constructed defines the look of a city — modern, industrial, historical or a mixture of all three. A career in construction can give you the opportunity to use creativity on the job and quite literally shape the community in which you live, work and play.
Changing lives
A career in construction changes the lives of people every day. There is a high level of social responsibility involved in construction. We have the unique opportunity to use our skills to create life-changing buildings and structures: A new children’s hospital that was carefully crafted to bring the best possible cancer-fighting treatments to a community; a park built next to your neighborhood that will bring children joy for many years to come; a sustainable building that was built using only recycled materials and a bridge that cut a working mom’s commute time in half, allowing her to spend more time with her kids — all of these are changing lives.
Lasting rewards
Potentially, the most rewarding part of a construction project is the completed product. Seeing all the hard work you and your team put in, the obstacles overcome, the setbacks and last-minute changes all come together in one completed piece is a rewarding feeling. Not only do you feel the rewards but the community in which those projects took place do as well.
The new shopping center you helped construct or the new elementary school you ran all the electricity for will positively impact future generations for years to come. That shopping center will create jobs and increase local spending; it will be a place where families and friends will gather to celebrate life’s milestones. The new elementary school in that community will shape the lives of the future generation. For years, students will sit in those classrooms you helped create.
There are many jobs that make an impact on our communities but being able to physically see how you positively altered the way of life for a community will always leave you with a rewarding feeling.
When people think construction, they think hard hats, heavy equipment and bright orange vests, but there is so much more to construction that make it a fascinating and satisfying industry that builds the world around us.
For more information, visit abcpelican.org or call (225) 752-1415.
