Like any job, there is always a way to further develop your career within a specific role and industry. Career development within the construction industry will oftentimes lead to professional accolades, promotions and often times increases in pay.
Unfortunately, this is not a quick an easy progress but requires consistency and dedication. Be prepared to have your determination tested, with numerous setbacks and obstacles bound to appear.
If you are willing to graft hard and work past these issues, then you will be well on your way to success.
Be Honest with Yourself and Others
The key to nearly everything in life is honesty. Not only to others, but also being honest with yourself.
Being dishonest to your employers in your job can put you and your co-workers in jeopardy, not just in regard to job security but also physical danger. Working onsite where heavy machinery and hazardous areas requires a greater level of transparency than most job fields.
Being deceptive will likely reduce the chances of your employer promoting you or recommending you to other future employers. Nobody wants to hire somebody who isn’t honest or truthful as this can make them difficult to trust and they could cause animosity within your team.
It is also important to be honest with yourself. If you are struggling or are unable to complete a task, admit this to yourself and others. By doing so, you can have the help and support to guide you through the task to prevent yourself from getting hurt or doing things wrong.
If you are at a job interview for a promotion or a new job position, be honest with the interviewer. Whilst it is good to sell yourself, don’t try to sell them someone who you are not. In the end, it will be found out and won’t not look good for you with the risk of repercussions being given. The risk is not worth it. Be yourself and that all you can be!
Envision Your Career Path
This one isn’t as important but is still something to consider and it will help you in the long run.
The reason we have said this is not as important is because our lives change all the time and often, things do not go completely to plan as we would like them too. But it is still recommended for you to create a vision of your career path and have a plan in place to follow.
This can include setting career goals and focussing on where you want to be in 1 year, 5 years, or even 10 years.
Your path can change within these target goals for worse or for better. If they do, it is always important to remember where you want to be and to keep working towards that goal. If your plans do change for the better, then take it as a bonus.
No matter what happens within your career path, always strive to end up where you want to be or somewhere better. Try to avoid running over your time goals by too much as you can get stuck in a loop.
If you have reached a certain point in your plan and you are happy, then stay at that point and call it the end of your path. Happiness is whatever you make it be.
Reach Out and Grab Them Opportunities
When an opportunity presents itself in front of you, make sure to reach out and grab it with both hands! Too often missed opportunities and lack of proactiveness will affect your positive development with the construction industry.
This is of extra import in the UK industry as there is a mass of competitive individuals who won’t let such an opportunity pass by. We never know what is around the corner or what changes can happen.
Opportunities may be offered all the time, or they may be few and far between. You may turn down opportunity after opportunity under the impression that more will be offered to you down the line.
However, the more opportunities you turn away, the less likely future employers will be willing to offer them again to you due to you not showing a lack of interest in capitalising on chances they have provided.
An approach you can take which will spur you into action it that the next opportunity presented to you will be the last of its kind. Afterall, you can’t say with certainty that the opportunity you didn’t jump on last week’s wasn’t the final one for the final year due to extenuating circumstances – in many careers job roles can fill up noticeably fast.
The opportunity which is offered to you may not be in your career path or the position you are passionate about, but it can lead to great things and great success in the long run.
See Each and Every Day as a Day to Learn Something New
Every day is a new day where you can learn new things and develop your skills. No matter where you are on your career ladder, always aim to learn something new every day.
Employers love an employee who is willing to learn new things and broaden their horizon. This shows that they are committed, and they are far more likely to climb the ladder much quicker than somebody who isn’t willing to take new things aboard.
Having the ability and commitment to take on new things will offer you many different career options and possibilities.
As years go on, technology is changing and so is the way of doing things due to health and safety along with training methods. Therefore, it is quite important you try to adapt and be open to learning new things.
Technological knowledge is paramount in most career fields now so keeping a strong and up-to-date general knowledge will make your job particularly easier.
Be A Team Player
So many different jobs require a team to work together to get the task done correctly. If you aren’t willing to be a team player within your team, you can be seen as letting them down, putting them in danger, and unwilling to progress.
Working in the construction industry can heavily rely on the team to pull together and to help one another out to ensure that the task is done to the best of all their abilities. Each person within the team has a part to play in the completion of the task. If one person lacks enthusiasm and capability of working within their team, this will affect the whole project.
Not only will it affect the project or the task you are working on, but not being a team player like the rest of them will cause you to stand out like a sore thumb to your employer. You may not be engaging with the rest of the team as well, or the team members may have raised a concern with them because of this.
You never want to be on your employer’s mind for the wrong reasons. This will never help you develop within the construction industry.
The Construction Industry Is Constantly Growing
The global construction industry is constantly growing and the space for development within will continue to grow alongside. Whether you are just starting out and you are at the bottom of the ladder, or you have been going for a few years and you would like to develop your career and venture into something different.
There is always a way and there will always be room for development. Keep working hard and you will succeed within the construction industry.
