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Boyd Worsham is President and CEO of the National Center for Construction Education and Research, a non -profit foundation. Opinions are typical of the author.
Ask any high school student, such as a construction career and most will imagine a hard hat, hammer and maybe a ladder or truck. What they will not imagine is a header who manages the crews, a superintendent who oversees billionaire projects or a company owner who hires his own teams.
This is not because these papers do not exist. It is because no one told that student about them.
The construction industry speaks a lot of opportunity and good reason. These are high -remuneration jobs that do not require a degree of four years. But we do not always tell the whole story. Too many students listen, “be a plumber” or “be a welder”, as if it were the roof and not the first step.
Boyd Worsham
Permission granted by NCCER
Here is the truth: construction is not a dead end. It is one where people can build something better for themselves, their families, their future. This is where someone can start working with their hands and get up to run a whole company. But students cannot choose what they do not know that exists. And right now, we are giving them an incomplete image.
Even with More interest in shopsMany young people still do not see construction as a long -term race. Perception, not reality, is driving its decisions. It is not because opportunities are not there, but because of what they think are opportunities. They are working on old ideas, not real.
Sure, 85% of adolescents say operations are a good choice but Only 16% plan to pursue themAccording to a recent study commissioned by Stanley Black & Decker. Almost half have never talked to someone who works in the industry and many underestimate their salary and career potential.
This is not just a messaging problem, it is a mentality problem. If students are just feeling about a first job, it’s not uncommon for them to assume that there is nothing later. They cannot choose what they do not know that exists.
Tell the whole story
To change this perception problem, we must first tell the whole story. Yes, in most cases, young people enter the shops learning a boat, but many later become supervisors, estimators, project managers, executives and even business owners. We need to stop showing only the entrance point and start showing the many ways. Craft professionals can gain promotions, start companies and mentors. They can build lives, not just structures.
Second, we need more significant conversations in schools. On race days, the guest speakers and visits to the workplace are a beginning. But what if all CTE students know three professionals: a craft professional, a superintendent and a company owner? This is how the progression is shown.
Instead of saying “construction is a good job,” we need to show how this job fits in a career. A young man may be excited about learning a skill, but he will be inspired more when he can see a future.
Even with the Interest of “tool’s generation” In the countryside, there are still new workers yet to meet increasing demand. Associated builders and contractors report that the industry needs almost 439,000 additional employees this year. Fill in these papers means doing more than delivering job descriptions. We need to tell stories that resonate.
We stop assume that students do not want to know more. We ask: Do you want to run a job? Manage a team? Do you have a company? We talk about how someone comes there and who has already done so. Construction is full of these success stories. We just have to make them visible so that students can make informed decisions.
And we do not sell short people who want to stay in the craft. Not everyone wants to manage others or run a company and it’s fine. With the industry in which it is the country, we need craft professionals with experience on the field to do the job. From housing to roads, the country faces an increase in building needs that cannot be satisfied without a strong and qualified labor at all levels.
Catching the moment
Right now there is a real optimism in the industry. More companies are thinking about how to treat and retain people, not just hiring them. There are more industry associations instead of competing. It feels like a moment of alignment and we must take advantage of it by attracting more talented individuals to the races that change their lives in construction.
When students see a future instead of the first step, they participate in another level. They stay longer, work harder and finally drive.
The construction has a powerful story to tell. It is a story of opportunity, growth and success of the real world. But until we tell the whole story, we will continue to see that the students move away.
We give them something to run.
