For many years when school leavers were considering career options, the discipline of construction management was often overshadowed by career opportunities in other areas such as medicine, accountancy and law.
For a long time, construction management was based specifically around coordinating site-based activities. In recent years this has changed considerably, as construction management has developed to become a broader school that is offering exciting and diverse career opportunities. Today, progressive construction managers are involved in a wide spectrum of areas such as:
Business development: Generating a pipeline of new business for a construction company generally used to be the responsibility of the Directors, but this has now changed. A lot of contractors are now training their staff to help develop and deliver marketing strategies. Typically, 10 years ago in a large company a construction manager would have been busy organising labour, plant and materials for projects on site. Today, that same person is still doing that role but might also be project managing the implementation of, for example, the Investors in People accreditation to help develop what is every company’s most valuable asset – its people.
Management contracting: Recently I project managed the manufacture, supply and installation of new exhibits and theming sets in the Discovery Exhibition area at W5 – the interactive science discovery centre at the Odyssey in Belfast. I utilised technical, project management, IT and communication skills and prepared financial forecasts, all within a tight timescale. I also identified the original business opportunity and compiled the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) as well as the successful tender, which lead to the award of the contract. This is an example of using initiative to transfer construction management skills to a ‘non-traditional’ sector, to help secure and manage new business for a company.
The common theme here is that business skills are increasingly becoming a requirement that construction managers and construction students need to be developing. It is important to recognise that developing business skills should not be looked upon as an onerous task, but rather looked upon as an opportunity.
I have conducted many presentations in schools to promote the construction industry as an exciting career opportunity. We need more dynamic, mobile, forward-thinking young people who want to embrace the digital revolution that is underway. Those who get involved will discover a challenging, yet very rewarding industry that will offer them an exciting future.
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