A SOLUTION TO THE SKILLS CRISIS IN SCOTTISH CONSTRUCTION
“Construction Skill Shortages”. “Skill Crisis in Construction”. “Skill Shortage is Crippling the Construction Industry”.
These are headlines in today’s press that we are all seeing on a regular basis. But how do we solve the current skill shortage throughout the construction industry in Scotland? Is the answer to incentivise contractors to increase their apprentice intake, or to increase the opportunities for graduates from engineering related degrees into construction? Well, the answer may lie with having an amalgamation of the two, but at Contract Scotland we are becoming increasingly involved in graduate recruitment to combat the current skill shortages in the Scottish construction market.
From the M&E Building Services industry perspective; the ability to attract graduates can be difficult, but often the lure for new talent can often be the opportunity to start their careers’ on a major project and learn their craft on the job. Take Amy for example; Amy’s career within the Building Services Contracting sphere started over three months ago. She began as a graduate project engineer on the new Edinburgh Sick Kids Hospital project where she is learning everything from the project management of specialist sub-contractors to the finer Mechanical engineering aspects required on a complex project like this.
How did we help Amy secure the Graduate opportunity she was looking for? By identifying the best opportunities in the market place which suited the career path that she wanted. On top of which, securing the opportunity for the right business that matched her drive and personality by knowing our clients and the industry thoroughly. At Contract Scotland, we go a lot further than this! When we meet with graduates in our offices, we do not just explore the opportunities in the Construction market and discuss a candidate’s motivations. We partake in full interview advice, training and mock interview situations so that when the real interviews take place with construction firms, our graduates are prepared and give a full and thorough representation of their skills and more importantly their personalities. This advice and support is something that both Amy and the numerous graduates who we have helped secure a start in the construction industry find invaluable.
Above and beyond this (as you can see in the photo), we keep in regular contact with all candidates that we work with including graduates to ensure that they are receiving the training, development and support they need in the early points of their careers. Also, we support both our clients and candidates to ensure this happens. We care about the graduates we place and the clients we work in partnership with. Easy to say right? At Contract Scotland, no individual works towards commission. We care about people we help and being able to make the difference to a construction professional’s career or in this case to give a graduate a kick start in their career and aid our client’s efforts to find and attract the business leaders of the future!
Whether you’re a recruiter looking for the next generation of business leaders, or you’re a graduate who wants to secure your first opportunity in M&E Building Services or Construction industry, the dedicated team at Contract Scotland can provide you with the support and expertise to help aid the skill shortages in our industry!
Originally published at www.contractscotland.co.uk on September 13, 2016.
