All routes lead to construction

When I started my career in construction, it was by accident. I was given work experience as a receptionist at a building surveyor’s office in the years when the girls were given the admin tasks and the boys got the [to me] interesting technical roles and I found myself getting hooked on the industry. It was through support of my colleagues and mentors that I pursued a career in construction but I look back and wonder; if I’d known more at a younger age, would I have taken to that path quicker?  When do you stop enjoying Lego, sandcastles and Minecraft? I realised that you can follow a career that you thoroughly enjoy and this can use the skills and interests that you have from your hobbies.

There was a barrier, it wasn’t clear construction was even an option for me. Even now, if you Google the term ‘construction manager’, you see hundreds of images predominantly of white men in hardhats on a building site. But working in the built environment is so much more diverse, exciting and varied than that. Wherever your interest and your skill set starts, there are so many paths open and available to you into a long and exciting career in construction. 

What I love about the built environment is how we bring all of those skills together to create change. Because we have such a mix of roles we are constantly working together and relying on each other, which makes the achievements of construction managers even more impressive! It’s what we achieve together as a strong team that motivates me.

Do you wish you could save the environment? In construction, we work hard to use sustainable resources and find better, greener ways of constructing. Our members across the globe support and educate remote communities to build urgent structures such as wells and pumps for water, schools, and hospitals.

Perhaps you want to influence the world and leave your mark? Our members have built some of the most prominent features on the landscape, from Sydney Opera House to the Petronas Towers. Others have built important structures, like bridges, that have become integral to their local communities.

For me, my passion was to restore and conserve historic structures from the past, giving them relevant and sustainable uses for the future. From finding fallen Kings in car parks to using intricate methods to allow buildings to breathe and find space in a modern setting, your work could preserve history in our industry.

For others, you may be looking to the future and, in construction, we aim to lead technological advances. We fly drones over sites to carry out surveys, we use digital imaging to predict challenges before we get on site, and I even saw an idea for 3D printing on the moon!

Construction is a broad and exciting industry to be a part of. It’s why I’ve spent over 25 years dedicated to it. If you have passion and determination, think construction and join us.