If you have been thinking about applying for a role in a construction firm, ensuring you have the necessary construction experience and skills is critical for your resume.
Fortunately, today, we’re looking at some of the key construction skills and knowledge you will need to demonstrate on your resume; hopefully, this will help you land a career in the construction industry more easily.
After all, while construction workers are in exceptionally high demand in Australia.
We also have another article about construction worker resume tips.
Do I Need Construction Experience to Apply for a Construction Job Role?
Did you know that the construction industry is Australia’s third-largest employer? However, despite this, the number of opportunities in the construction field is still incredibly high, with construction roles still often ranking on skilled labour shortages lists.
Nevertheless, construction workers still need to demonstrate relevant construction experience and knowledge even though the opportunities are out there.
Whether this is gained through construction study, work experience, or the like isn’t as important; after all, there’s always room to learn new construction skills.
However, employers – whether employing directly for a specific project or as part of a labour hire team – still want reassurance that their new hires are suitably skilled and experienced to tackle the rigours of the job.
As such, ensuring you have the necessary construction experience on your resume is integral before applying for construction roles.
Key Construction Skills You Will Need to Win a Construction Role
Before we begin looking specifically at experience in the construction industry, it’s well worth considering some of the key skills you will need to win a construction role.
Indeed, many people looking to enter the construction field are unaware of the job’s highly demanding nature, which can make their first days of construction work experience quite the shock to the system!
As such, before applying for any construction jobs – or hiring construction staff – you should always be able to demonstrate the following construction skills:
Endurance
Inevitably, working on a construction site requires a great deal of endurance. For construction labourers, this is physical in nature; meanwhile, for construction management teams, endurance may be important to allow you to work long hours at a time, which can be demanding.
After all, the construction site doesn’t sleep – in many cases, long hours are a fact of life in order to meet deadlines.
Good Hand-Eye Coordination
Good hand-eye coordination is a critical skill for all labourers when working on a construction site.
Indeed, whether you’re simply applying grout or if you’re operating heavy machinery, good hand-eye coordination directly impacts the safety of the workplace and the final quality of the project.
As such, this construction skill is one that you absolutely must be able to demonstrate.
Keen Construction Knowledge
It’s not enough to have worked on a construction site before; for many firms, keen construction knowledge is vital for all new applicants.
Indeed, over one-third of contractors experience poor results due to a lack of construction knowledge for specific tasks and work types.
As such, the value of an employee who has extensive construction experience and who can turn their hand to any job is massive.
Diagram Reading
Many activities on the construction site are managed through diagrams.
As such, if you are applying for construction roles, you will need specific construction experience in reading diagrams in order to be successful with your application.
Communication
It would be almost impossible for any commercial project to finish on time with just one or two staff working on it.
With this in mind, the vast majority of construction roles require knowledge from multiple workers – meaning you’ll be working as part of a (potentially large) team if you win a construction job.
Therefore, proving you have construction-relevant experience in working as part of a team will go a long way for most employers.
What Construction Experience Do I Need to Get a Construction Job?
At this point, we’ve outlined some of the key construction skills you’ll need to demonstrate to get a construction job – however, skills alone aren’t necessarily enough without the relevant construction industry experience.
With this in mind, when applying for construction industry jobs, we highly recommend getting experience in working with numerous different types of construction sites to demonstrate that you are able to work on many different projects.
This makes it possible for you to apply to a broader range of positions. In turn, this allows you to have free choice as to the most rewarding employer – but it also allows you to work in numerous fields.
After all, as they say, “variety is the spice of life.” As such, by demonstrating multiple abilities through your construction experience, you may be able to obtain far superior job offers accordingly.
There are so many different types of construction sites; just a handful of these include:
- Transport construction
- Waste construction
- Power generation
- Residential construction
- Commercial properties
- Educational facilities
- Agricultural construction
In addition to this, there are so many different types of construction labourers and roles.
From the management team, which has the substantial task of delegating tasks and keeping the project on schedule, to the general labourers responsible for fulfilling tasks such as machinery operation, construction, and so on, there’s a lot going on.
The more skills you can demonstrate through your construction industry experience, the more likely you are to achieve employment as a result.
Where Can I Get Relevant Construction Experience?
As we have clarified, before you begin handing out your construction resume, it’s integral that you have obtained ample experience.
However, this can leave many people feeling a bit unsure, as it’s not always clear how to obtain construction industry experience.
The most obvious option in this regard is to undergo construction work experience.
Work experience is typically unpaid, and there may be opportunities available through your school in this regard.
If not, finding construction work experience may also be possible by increasing your exposure and ensuring that construction industry representatives are able to find you.
After all, free work is a valuable incentive for many construction employers to offer work experience.
In exchange, you’ll get invaluable experience in the construction field you might otherwise be unable to obtain.
What’s more, it’s worth considering the potential for construction apprenticeships.
These may be a little harder to qualify for, since you will hold a paid role as a result (and so the pressure is greater for managers to employ the right apprentices).
However, apprenticeships offer a unique opportunity if you’re able to get them; if you can demonstrate a willingness to learn during this time, you may be able to apply for a full-time job with your employer once the apprenticeship is complete.
Remember: don’t limit your construction resume solely to construction experience.
Any other job roles where you demonstrated valuable skills for a construction job – such as closely working in a team in a retail position – will all help bolster your application and prove your merits to an employer.
Final Thoughts
Applying for a new job is always an exciting time. However, very few things are more disappointing than having your construction resume rejected multiple times over.
For many people, one of the most common reasons for this could simply be because they lack the construction knowledge and expertise to be a safe candidate for hire.
As such, with this in mind, it’s integral that you do your all to gain the relevant construction experience before you apply for a job; similarly, for construction industry businesses, hiring staff with the relevant construction experience is crucial for long-term success and performance of the firm.
Been struggling to find a team with the necessary experience? If so, then don’t worry; our experts here at Fast Labour Hire can help you find the experts with the construction experience you need for your project. Get in touch with us today!
