By Sarah Fedyschyn, Resource Coordinator      

Is it time to look for a construction job? How long does it take you to find the position that helps you improve your construction career? Do you keep facing the same difficulties every time you start a search? Do you apply for jobs and never hear back? Has job hunting become a hustle you would rather avoid? Your professional development needs careful thinking and smart employment decisions. For that to happen, you need to increase your construction career opportunities and land the jobs that add value to your experience. Below, we offer some ideas on how to go about it.

Have a Plan
No career planning means no career growing. If you don’t know where you want to be with your professional career, how do you expect to get there? Think of it like this; every time you start a new construction job or every time you are about to walk on the construction site, you need to know as much information as possible in order to do your best. The same applies to your career decisions. If you don’t know what your goals are, what you need to do to meet them, and when you want to fulfill them, then you run the risk of spinning your wheels. In order to increase your construction career opportunities, you first need to know what you want to achieve.

Stay in Touch
The more educated you are about your field and the more you work on sharpening your construction skills, the more you increase your construction career opportunities. To do so, you need to stay informed about the developments that take place in your space. For example, if you are an electrician, are you subscribed to magazines that share the latest news and technical articles? As a plumber, when was the last time you checked on tools and equipment that help you do your job easier? Are there any OSHA certifications that you need to get placed on better jobs? Don’t wait to be told what you need to do to advance your construction career, but rather be ahead of the game by staying in touch with your field.

Show You Are Professional
Long gone are the days that tradespeople would apply for a construction job without an up-to-date and correctly formatted resume. The construction industry is no exception in the way hiring managers and contractors are looking for construction talent. Like candidates in other industries, you must have a well-rounded resume that lists your construction skills, speaks to your experience and helps you increase your construction career opportunities. In addition, you need to make sure that your social media accounts, like LinkedIn and Facebook, have a professional look because they give the first impression to prospective employers who visit them to get a better idea of your professionalism and personality.

Mobilize Your Network
A great way to increase your construction career opportunities is to turn to your network of contacts and bring your references into the picture. The more you get yourself out there and you connect with other tradespeople, the more potential you build to land the construction job that meets your goals. Similarly, it is important to establish strong relationships with your managers to produce solid references, which you can use for future employment. Don’t underestimate the value of building new bridges and laying the foundation that you can later use for your professional growth.

Go to the Boosters
All the points above are some of the steps you can take to increase your construction career opportunities. What is really going to help you meet your career goals is working with a construction recruiter. Construction recruiters have deep knowledge of the construction industry and its trends, and they know how to assist you in staying up to speed. In addition, they already have  the professional relationships you need to land the positions , with top-tier contractors, that fit your construction skills. No matter how early on you are in your career, a construction recruiter can introduce you to big contractors that otherwise would be impossible to gain access to.

Key Takeaways to Increasing Your Construction Career Opportunities:
1. Develop a career plan that sets the goals you want to achieve
2. Stay educated and up to speed with development in your field
3. Build a solid resume and maintain a professional social media presence
4. Keep growing your network of contacts and obtaining references
5. Work with a construction recruiter to build your construction career

About TradeSource
Founded in 1993, TradeSource is a construction labor solutions firm focused on delivering labor solutions to contractors throughout the United States. By supplying skilled tradespeople – where and when they’re needed – we help contractors grow their companies, without the associated costs and hassles of full-time hires. Likewise, we match qualified employees with rewarding and well-paying job opportunities in the construction industry. www.tradesource.com