Take a glance across London's skyline in any direction and you can see the importance of the construction industry to the city, a city that is constantly expanding and renewing itself. London has long been home to prestigious and ambitious building projects and at the leading edge of new and emerging construction techniques and technology.
Current large scale developments include a revolutionary new national stadium at Wembley, a new terminal that will see Heathrow Airport be comfortably the largest in the world, further expansion in the Docklands area and a huge house-building project in the Thames Gateway region. And with Crossrail, the high-speed rail link into Kings Cross and the small matter of an Olympic bid, the opportunities to work in the construction industry in the capital keep growing.
There are a diverse range of different careers available within this sector, from bricklaying to civil engineering, architect to plumber. Many of these trades and crafts are currently in heavy demand in London.
Technician engineers for Terminal 5
Laing O'Rourke Civil Engineers, a contractor for Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, recently visited one London college - the College of North West London - in their search for technical site engineers. The nationwide shortage of suitable construction civil engineers lead the company to set up a scheme to recruit students who may not have recognised qualifications yet, but who showed the potential and aptitude for the job.
The ability to work with other people as part of a team is an important part of any job in the construction industry. For any building project to be successful many different processes must be completed on time, in the correct order, and to precise plans, by many different skilled practicioners.
One of the rewards of working in this industry is the real sense of having achieved something. Your work may outlast your lifetime, it may make a difference to the environment and will directly affect people's experience of life. The transferable skills learnt in construction can lead to opportunities outside London and abroad.
There are a range of professional qualifications and training options available to you, depending on what area of the industry takes your interest. Most people interested in the crafts train and gain qualifications as they work, although there are other kinds of training schemes. To enter the industry in a craft occupation, you will need a good basic education.
Craft trainees will develop skills using their hands and specialist equipment whilst learning about construction materials and production methods. They will also have the chance to do qualifications that can take them into technical, supervisory or management occupations, possibly running their own business.
To train in a technical occupation you'll need four good GCSE passes or above or an equivalent vocational qualification. There are two main options: either you can work and go to college part-time, on a scheme such as an Apprenticeship, or you can get full-time college qualifications before joining the industry. You will have the opportuntity to complete further vocational and professional qualifications and move to supervisory or management roles.
If you are interested in more senior positions in civil engineering, structural engineering or construction management, and hope to gain a high level of responsibility in the industry, you should also consider further study in higher education.
But however you start, the industry is full of people who have worked their way up to top, and you could too.
