What Skills are Needed for a Career in Construction?

If you’re considering a career in construction, there are some valuable skills you should have under your belt to make you a standout candidate.

Whether you’re looking to begin your career in construction or are thinking about transferring into the construction industry from your current career, there are plenty of opportunities available. Check out the desirable skills below to discover if a career in construction could be your perfect match…

Skills for a Career in Construction

Technical Skills

Of course, technical skills underpin the construction industry as a whole. Your ability to read and interpret blueprints, for example, will be paramount for carving out a successful career in this industry. Similarly, you’ll need in-depth knowledge of materials, building codes and regulations to ensure you feel at home working on projects of all kinds.

The great news is, once you’ve acquired the technical skills needed for a successful construction career, they can take you anywhere – you’ll be able to traverse projects, sectors and differing roles with ease.

Practical and Trade Skills

Being skilled in a particular trade is an incredibly valuable attribute to have under your belt when it comes to securing a role in the construction industry.

Whether you’re skilled and experienced in carpentry, welding, masonry, electrical work, concrete or plumbing, this will stand you in good stead for securing and maintaining a role in this industry. Again, these skills will allow you to work on a wide range of exciting projects throughout your career.

Communication Skills

Communication skills are an essential part of any industry, but particularly in construction. In this field, projects are often on a large scale, and you may find yourself working with teams comprised of hundreds of skilled professionals. From project managers to contractors, manual labourers to health and safety teams, your communication with every one of your team members is key.

If you’ve worked on projects previously that have required high levels of communication and collaborative skills, you’ll be an excellent candidate for a successful career in construction.

Project Management Skills

The beauty of kickstarting a career in the construction industry is that many of the skills are transferable from other industries. Take project management, for example. If you’ve overseen projects in other roles, no matter the industry, you can utilise these skills to secure a project management role in construction.

These skills may include strong organisational skills, interpersonal skills and leadership skills, all of which will set you apart from the masses when looking to secure a construction role.

Technology Skills

Technology is always evolving, which means the construction industry is constantly adapting to these new developments. Most recently, technologies like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Building Information Modelling (BIM) have become popular within the construction industry.

If you’re technologically minded and can quickly adapt to and utilise new technologies, your skills are well suited to a career in construction.

Your Construction Career

Remember, whatever skills you possess and wherever you are on your career journey, a career in construction could be the perfect match for you.

Get in touch with our recruitment team today to kickstart your construction career.