Skills
gain an insight into what dayto-day working life involves, and experience different areas across the industry. Those who possess good communication, great time management and organisation skills will succeed in construction. A desire to learn will help interns reap many benefits, including gaining invaluable industry knowledge, building contacts, improving their confidence and providing them with the possibility of a full-time job.
Career option The benefits for employers are clear too: in the short-term, an extra pair of hands to help out with work and in the long-term, the potential to gain a full-time employee who can really add value to the company. Unfortunately, this isn’t a route that we as an industry, have been taking. Only one per cent of employers have ever
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considered hiring an apprentice or an inexperienced member of staff, and for those who did, it was highly unlikely that there was a guaranteed job available at the end of the project. So should we really be surprised to hear that CITB data has shown that young people don’t view the construction industry as a career option? Now is the time to change this. We need to train interns in the construction industry, to ensure they develop the essential skills required, and build a desire to continue a career with us. Only that will help to stop us from running into the same issues in the future. Not only that, but changes are becoming more apparent in the construction industry that requires everyone to undergo training. Up until recently, we didn’t really ‘do’ digital – technology just didn’t affect us like it did other industries. This
is now changing however, with a technological boom on the cards. One way technology is affecting us is with the introduction of drones, changing the way we operate by eliminating human error and improving health and safety. Augmented Reality is another aspect expected to take the construction industry by storm. Also referred to as AR, this technology superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the world. Not only do we predict that this will highlight potential hazards or issues of a project before they arise, but it will also allow for a more collaborative research. Planners and architects will be able to work with clients and contractors more easily, as everyone will be able to see the bigger picture together. The other technological aspect thought to affect us is Building Information Modelling (BIM). This