Building / Construction Management

Employers are interested in both your technical subject and your professional skills. Studying to degree level will mean you will be 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.

Over the course of your degree you develop a wide mix of subject-specific and technical skills, you should consider these skills developed on your course as well as through your other activities, such as paid work, volunteering, family responsibilities, sport, membership of societies, leadership roles, etc. Think about how these can be used as evidence of your skills and personal attributes. Then you can start to market and sell who you really are, identify what you may be lacking and consider how to improve your profile.

Working as a Site Manager (Construction)

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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?

Construction sector jobs overlap with a number of related specialisms. Moving into job roles in these areas can be achieved through work experience or by further specialist postgraduate study leading to professional accreditation. The private sector is a major source of employment. Local authorities and government bodies also offer employment opportunities.

For an insight into employment areas investigate:

• Construction and Property - covering activities related to commercial, industrial, residential and agricultural property;
• Education - opportunities may arise in secondary schools as teachers of design and technology or in further/higher education as lecturers or researchers;
• Engineering - main areas of overlap with building and construction are in civil engineering.

Jobs directly related to your degree

• Building control surveyor
• Building project manager
• Building services engineer
• Construction estimator
• Planning engineer
• Quantity surveyor

Jobs where your degree would be useful

• Site manager
• Site engineer
• 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.

You can find more about the skills you develop during your course, the jobs listed above, plus case studies and where to find these jobs at Prospects.

Included with the permission of AGCAS. For the latest version of this publication, see www.prospects.ac.uk. For permission to reproduce, contact copyright@agcas.org.uk