Building

• Studying: 7%
• Employed in graduate job: 53%
• Employed in non-graduate job: 19%
• Unemployed: 15%

• Average graduate salary: £21,979
• Average non-graduate salary: £15,500

Employers of building/construction management graduates are interested in both your technical subject and your professional skills. Studying to degree level means you are able to assimilate new information quickly, analyse and critically examine various information sources and use them in decision making, research a problem in depth, and gather, summarise and present information.

View the best universities for building degrees.

Prospects

In 2010, six months after graduation, around 77% of building/construction management graduates had gone into employment. Building/construction graduates are often recruited into jobs that are directly related to their degree. Areas of work include construction and project management, design and build management, facilities management, repairs and maintenance, and building services management and inspection. Within these areas of work, they typically undertake careers as construction managers, planning managers, site engineers or project managers.

Other areas of work open to building/construction graduates include personnel management, marketing and financial management.

Where are the jobs?

The UK construction sector is an extremely diverse industry, composed of contractors, consultants, and building materials and product producers. It is dominated by small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a relatively small number of large companies. The private sector is a major source of employment. Local government and government bodies also offer employment opportunities.

Jobs directly related to your degree

A degree in building will allow you to work as a:

• Building control surveyor
• Building services engineer
• Quantity surveyor
• Site engineer
• Facilities manager
• Further education lecturer

Jobs where your degree would be useful

You could also apply your building to degree to positions such as:

• Quantity surveyor
• Site engineer
• Facilities manager
• Further education lecturer

Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it's not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Included with the permission of AGCAS and Graduate Prospects. For the latest version of this publication, see www.prospects.ac.uk. For permission to reproduce, contact copyright@agcas.org.uk. We would welcome your comments on this section of The Complete University Guide. Please email us at admin@thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk.