Construction Careers - List Of Options For Job Seekers

If construction is the field you wish to enter into, what type of advancement is available?

Construction is a major part of out society today. New structures are erected all the time; bridges, housing units, factories, educational facilities and office buildings. Construction workers are involved in structure improvements, innovations, maintenance and repairs, as well as additions to existing structures and renovations to old structures. This list is endless, as is the advancement in a career of construction.

There are three major areas of the construction industry...general contractors, specialty trade contractors, and civil engineering and heavy construction contractors.

General or building contractors construct industrial, commercial and residential buildings. These construction workers start from the blueprint given to them from the designer and end with a fully functional and solid building or structure. They not only work clocely with the designer of a specific building or structure, they also work closely with the specialty trade contractors. Occasionally, labors of the general or building contractors will advance to the specialty trade contractors. Construction workers will aso specialize in specific or types of construction, such as underground construction, trucking hazardous materials or equipment to designated sights.

Specialty trade contractors are responsible for electrical work, painting, corpentry and plumbing related construction. Some specialty trade contractors work specifically on the foundation or basement structures. There are different levels in the specialty trade contractors. The bottom level of specialty trade contractors is being an apprentice. The next level is becoming a skiilled trade journeyman. Then the highter level is supervisor.

The third major area of constraction is civil engineering and heavy construction contactors. These perform a large range of jobs; highways, demolition sites, shaft and tunnel excavation and heavy construction sites. Crewmembers work with other laborers to identify, distribute supplies and materials, as well as control traffic within the work zone.

To achieve advancement in a construction career, many labors specialize in specific areas; such as, construction ewuipment operators, by apprenticeship programs or on the job skills training. Equipment operators use machinery to transport heavy materials, earth and other construction materials on site. Some equipment operated is used for clearing the land for buildings, roads and shopping malls. other equipment would apply concrete and asphalt to highways and roads. There are trench diggers, cement trucks, tracto and trailer operators.

Career advancement for construction workers will offer formal training programs. One such program is the operating engineer apprenticeship program; another trains in blueprint reading for the structure, electrical and plumbing. It is expected the job outlook in the advancement of a career in construction will remain positive for the next seven years.