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Armed forces resettlement training, retraining courses and recruitment / jobs for ex military personnel. The Royal Navy, Army and RAF
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Overview
2.4 million 175,000 100,000 95% 50,000 Skills analysis reveals a significant shortage in managerial positions. Although the highest skills requirement is currently for workers with wood trade skills, there is also demand for managers, clerical staff, architects, engineers, and other design and technical professionals. A major concern is the lack of young entrants into an ageing workforce. According to ConstructionSkills (the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry) an average of 50,000 construction workers will be required a year over the next four years, allowing for replacement as well as new jobs, in line with workforce turnover (however, most of this increase will take place from 2011 onwards, as output begins to grow again). Construction growth is expected to shift from the north to the south and east. Building trades skills gained in the Services Apart from a handful of people employed in units to carry out minor carpentry and repair jobs, and Army pioneers who have basic building skills, all three Services rely on the Royal Engineers for construction. Non-commissioned ranks will have completed anything from NVQs at level 2 in basic training and level 3 after higher training, to an apprenticeship. Trades vary from surveyor to plant operator, and from draughtsman to bricklayer. A brief overview of craft careers Craftsmen and women are the people who actually make things. Some major skills in which they are trained include:
We will look at each of these in turn. Bricklaying This is probably the job that most people think of in connection with building trades. However, bricklayers use many different types of material to create different effects (such as ornamental walls and vaulted archways). Bricklayers also use a variety of specialist tools to spread mortar, cut bricks or blocks to size, and to check that walls are perfect. They should enjoy working outdoors and not mind working at heights. They must also be physically fit, careful, accurate and able to follow detailed instructions from architects. Bricklayers often travel around the country, and sometimes abroad. Wage rates are set annually by the Building and Allied Trades Joint Industrial Council (BATJIC). Overtime and incentives are often available, and bricklayers often progress to technical, supervisory and managerial roles. Plastering Most people know about plasterers applying wet finishes to walls, ceilings and floors; this is known as solid plastering. Fibrous plastering involves making ornamental plasterwork in a workshop – the kind you might see on the decorative ceilings of buildings. Plasterers have to be prepared to work at heights, and will spend most of their time indoors. Again, wage rates are set annually by BATJIC. Currently, demand for skilled labour outstrips supply so overtime and incentives are often available. Payment to subcontract labour tends to be on an agreed price per linear metre of partition installed, so speed and accuracy can be important. The work provides a high level of job satisfaction, with plasterers often progressing to higher roles or even owning their own companies.
Training Many of the trades discussed above are learned on the job, but the construction industry has training schemes that combine working and education to produce qualifications that the individual can build up over time to develop expertise in a particular area. While one person might start by learning the basics of a trade, and go on to become an expert in a particular part of it, another might build a portfolio in a number of skills to qualify them for supervisory and then general management. ConstructionSkills’ National Construction College is a network of colleges training and assessing construction skills throughout the UK. It is increasingly becoming necessary to hold registration or certification of competence and/or training in particular aspects of building skills to obtain employment in the industry. The industry has its own vocational qualifications, apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships, and a construction apprentice scheme for the younger entrant. Ambitious people can start by gaining vocational qualifications in any of these trades while working as a craftsman or woman, develop their skills through technical training, perhaps gaining certificates or diplomas, eventually becoming fully professionally qualified, with a degree.
 
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