How Can My Construction Skills Help Me Find a Job?

The ability to build things and work with tools is vital in today’s economy. Understanding how materials go together to create something useful can be applied to positions all over the business world.

Creativity – It takes creativity to build things. If you ask three people to build the same structure, there will be unique details they each bring to it that others do not. That is creativity! On a job, understanding what is expected and then being able to bring your own flair and ideas can make things unique and more valuable.

Design – Many companies need people who can look at a design and talk about how to build it. Even if you aren’t in a role to do the building, understanding that from other roles can be helpful. For example, if customer service staff understand how a product is put together they can more effectively help their customers with a problem.

Goal-Setting – When you build something, you have to know what it should look like at the end – the end goal. Along the way you may set goals like what you want to get done today, where you want things to end up at a particular point, or how you want to approach a project. Being able to set goals and then work towards them is a job skill!

Measure – Measure twice, cut once is the old standby, but there are plenty of people out there that have no idea how to measure something. Being able to be precise doesn’t just apply to projects, either. When you talk about your skills, the ability to measure something and determine its size can carry over into other detail-oriented fields.

Process – There are people who see the end of a project and have no idea how it went from raw materials to the final product. Being able to identify the steps in a process is a skill. And while you may be saying, “I don’t always get it right the first time,” being able to walk through steps and adjust as you go or learn from your mistakes is very valuable in business!

Problem-Solving – Everyone who has ever built something knows things can go wrong. And when they do, scrapping the project is probably not your first thought. Solving those problems may involve using tools, reworking your process, or generally reworking your design. Being able to solve the problem and not just walk away is a big job skill in almost every job available.

Self-Management – There are lots of people in the world who need someone to tell them what to do and when. A person who can identify what needs to be done and then make sure they finish in the time allotted is a valuable person in any job. Sharing with a potential employer an example of a project you did can help them see you are a self-manager.

Sense of Accomplishment – You may not realize it but having an employee who can recognize their own accomplishments can be a big benefit in a company. While it is important for managers and coworkers to recognize your work, if you can see what you are accomplishing as well can help with employee morale.

Using Tools – Many people today do not know how to use tools or use them safely. Being able to use a hammer or a chain saw already can help employers understand you come ready to work and ready to learn. When talking about tool usage, be sure you can explain safety procedures that go with them. First and foremost, companies want their employees to be safe!