Construction Jobs Blog

The looming stimulus bill stands ready to pump billions of dollars into construction projects across the nation, posing both opportunities and challenges to architects and builders.  In this video, president and CEO of Design + Construction  Strategies, Barbara Heller, gives her take on President Obama’s choice to have a chief performance officer, the breadth of the stimulus, technology to make the government more efficient and the lessons she’s learned working on projects involving the Pentagon and Reagan National Airport.  Also learn how green building guidelines such as LEED may be good at certifying aspirations, but lacking when it comes to measuring the benefits realized.

Heller’s firm specializes in using technology to improve efficiency in the construction industry.  She was interviewed on E&ETV’s OnPoint.

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I was reading Forbes.com today and stumbled across a column that put a smile on my face.  While researching “the effects on the economy and job market from…greater green industry,” Michael Marks came to the same realization I did a short while ago:  “lo and behold, I found a topic that is nearly universally positive.”

With housing and financial turmoil, the increase in energy costs, and disasters dominating headlines for the past few months, it may be easy to overlook the progress of green industries and the promise they hold for America’s future.  And their promise is starting to be fulfilled:

– 2007 set solar energy records:  314 megawatts of new solar-generating capacity were constructed or installed in the U.S. last year, creating more than 6,000 new jobs and adding over $2 billion to the economy

– the number of jobs in “renewable energy or energy-efficient industries” is skyrocketing, with the American Solar Energy Society estimating it at about 8.5 million, and Marks predicting it could clear 40 million by 2030

The government is stepping in as well: Continue Reading »

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All over the nation, schools, training programs, and educational institutions are searching for individuals with construction experience to become teachers.  With the impending retirement of the baby boomers, industry analysts predict that the United States will experience a significant construction labor shortage in the coming years.  To combat this, many schools and programs are reaching out to young people across the country, trying to turn out more skilled workers before the baby boomers retire.  

If you have experience in the industry, you can help reach out to young people too.  In many places, all that is required to start a teaching career is demonstrable experience in the field.  For example, here in Georgia, two years of verifiable experience will get you in the door and teaching while you work on your teaching certification; you do not need to be certified to start teaching.

In many situations, teaching jobs are more flexible than other positions.  Many community colleges or vocational training institutions have programs that are tailored for students who are working, with classes at night or on the weekends.  Depending on the program, you may be able to keep your other job and teach part-time on the side.  More conventional positions are available as well.  For example, high school construction teachers enjoy strong job security and a regular schedule.

But there are still more reasons to consider a career in education.  One of them is that being a teacher is one of the most enjoyable and fulfilling careers.  When the National Opinion Research Center asked more than 27,000 people if they were satisfied with their work, the result was that teaching made the top ten list of most satisfying careers.  Also, teaching construction makes an excellent second career.  Many former construction workers who can no longer work on-site, whatever the reason, have discovered that teaching their skills to young people is the perfect way to continue working in the industry.

To find the industry’s latest teaching careers, log on to TopBuildingJobs.com or CEFGAjobs.com if you are searching in Georgia.

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Recent news coverage of home builders has been generally negative.  Reorganization, downsizing, and bankruptcies make headlines, and the debate over a possible recession wages on.  It is easy to see why most people think housing is a mess, and in many areas the market is challenging, to say the least.  But during market corrections it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.  The fact of the matter is that in the coming years, the U.S. home building market will provide rich opportunities for growth and expansion to companies on the upside of this downturn.

In talking to recently-named President of U.S. Operations for Mattamy Homes, Steve Parker, I found a breath of fresh air from the gloom and doom of mainstream news.  And I believe that what he said is important because it accurately represents the position of a large number of smaller home builders across the nation, who reporters have passed over in decrying this historic correction.

Some smaller home builders like Mattamy are finding themselves better suited to survive the slowdown than a number of the larger, public builders. Continue Reading »

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The tech guys at TBJ just called and told me I should check out some of the work they’ve been doing lately.  Thanks to user suggestions, TopBuildingJobs.com proudly introduces two new job seeker tools:  the job location map and the similar jobs search. 

On the right hand side of every job posting is a Google map of the job’s location.  Just below the map, job seekers have the options of searching for jobs in the same state, in the same zip code, within 50 miles of the zip code, or by type of job. 

On behalf of TBJ, thanks for your suggestions (keep ‘em coming!).  As always, TopBuildingJobs is dedicated to providing users with the best job seeking tools on the net.

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I was reading a newsletter from CareerBuilder today, and it had a piece in it that inspired me:  the “10 Worst Things to Say at Work.”  I thought it was a good piece, and definitely food for thought, but I thought they left some things out.  So I’ve augmented their list to give you 15 Things You Never Want To Say At Work.

1. “That’s not my job.”
If somebody comes to you with an issue, there’s probably a reason. It might be your responsibility to deal with it or your input is valued. Either way, use the situation to prove you’re a team player and a problem solver. Plus, it pays to earn some good office karma because you never know when you’ll need help from other colleagues.

2. “Yeah, no problem.” (If you don’t mean it.)
If you take on a task with a smile but have no intention of actually completing it, you’re going to earn a reputation as an unreliable person. If you know you can’t or won’t complete the project, be honest about it. Your colleagues are relying on you, so your decision not to follow through impacts their jobs, too.

3. “Don’t tell anyone I said this, but … “ Continue Reading »

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Last week saw a long-running investigation into Mob activities culminate in a massive crackdown by U.S. and Italian authorities.  On Thursday, numerous arrests were made on allegations of murder, gambling, drug dealing, fraud and corruption.  “The extortion in the construction industry –” reports the Associated Press, “described mostly in the indictment by an informant who paid off the mob on jobs for his trucking, cement and excavation business — prove that organized crime’s ties to construction are as strong as ever, observers say.”

The allegations spread across a number of different companies and trades, and projects tied to the corruption include Continue Reading »

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On Friday, two reports were released showing that nonresidential construction sectors continue to grow, despite the drastic correction in residential construction.  The numbers for 2007 indicate that it was a rather good year for nonresidential building.

The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce released the first report on December 2007 Construction Spending.  Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $380.4 billion in December, 1.3 percent above the revised November estimate of $375.6 billion.  Not only did private nonresidential construction grow in December, but it also grew significantly during the entire year.  The value of private, nonresidential construction in 2007 was $349.8 billion, 18.3 percent above the $295.7 billion in 2006.

As you can see on the graph, private, nonresidential construction grew steadily throughout 2007 Continue Reading »

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Many construction and homebuilding jobseekers already know that www.TopBuildingJobs.com is the largest and most comprehensive industry job board on the net.  What some of them don’t know is that TopBuildingJobs.com is also completely committed to customer satisfaction and website usability.  Thanks to readers’ suggestions, TBJ is proud to announce new formatting features for all its customers!

Jobseekers now have easy-to-use formatting tools right at their fingertips using the Quick Resume engine.  Simply log in to your account, and click the “Quick Resume” button in the middle of the page.  Now, you can micromanage the exact layout and design of your resume as easily as if you were using a word processor.  And it’s a great time to log on and edit your resume:  don’t forget that ResumeBlasts are more than 1/2 off through March 1st!

Employers now have access to these same formatting tools when posting and editing jobs, facilitating cleaner postings that are easier to write and read.

Important upgrades like this are always inspired by the same thing:  user suggestions!  Just click ‘contact’ at the bottom of TopBuildingJobs.com to leave a suggestion for the team.

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A couple weeks ago, I was working on a publicity project with a smaller, private homebuilder.  Their goal is to increase production from just under 1,000 units to about 5,000 units in the next five or so years.  I spent some time speaking with the President about the company’s future, and what he needs to do now to get it there.  I asked him what was most important for his success, and he said, “the need of the right people!”

I went on to ask him about the qualities he looked for in potential candidates.  “The right individuals,” he said, “are those that have the ambition to be part of a growing company.” 

“The people I look for are individuals with a strong passion for business, a high sense of energy and drive, and are well respected within the business.  Relationships are key, and the individuals must want and like to be part of a growing organization.”

Homebuilding jobseekers should take much of what this President said to heart.  There are great opportunities with many smaller builders right now, who have the opportunity to grab market share and experience tremendous growth on the upside of this cycle.  Those companies need a certain type of individual:  Continue Reading »

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