Career insights

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BRANZ surveyed students, employees and employers to get their thoughts on what the online career map for the industry needs to include.

RESULTS ARE NOW IN from a survey BRANZ conducted while developing an online interactive career development map for the New Zealand construction and infrastructure sectors.

When completed, the map will be an industry-relevant tool to assist career decisions Build 146, page 72, for an explanation of the project).

Survey sought user perspective

The online survey provided valuable insight from a range of respondents. The aim was to get the perspectives of those who would benefit from the career map and those who could contribute to its development.

Information was sought on existing careers, skill requirements, opportunities, the needs of students and trainees and further real-life examples. Over 500 responses had been received at the time of writing.

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Students’ needs identified

Secondary and post-secondary students and trainees were surveyed to understand the needs of youth and learners, their information requirements, sources of information and their biggest influences in making career decisions. Two hundred and fifty responses were received.

The key findings include the following:

● Skills match is the main attraction to a job.

● Parents and other family members are most likely to influence career decisions.

● Careers New Zealand is a commonly used website for information and recognised as having high-quality information for New Zealand-specific careers.

● Most students want real information and practical examples from talking to real people. They want to hear more about what a specific role is actually like and their options and opportunities. They also wanted to know about the current occupational outlook and realistic chances of employment.

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Career paths from employees

In addition, 162 previous and current employees in the construction and infrastructure industries were surveyed on how they got to where they are today.

The most common duties and competencies they identified were:

● problem solving and numeracy

● written communication

● oral communication

● technical expertise

● teamwork.

While these duties and competencies are highly based around soft skills development, over half the respondents said they needed a degree to obtain their position.

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What employers want

Employers in the construction and infrastructure sectors were also surveyed on the ease of finding suitable candidates, what they look for in candidates, perceived skills shortages and potential solutions to these shortages.

Of the 162 employees surveyed, 40 also identified themselves as employers.

Approximately half the employers responded with statements such as:

● personal attributes usually play a bigger part than qualifications when looking for a suitable candidate

● finding the right person is more important than the qualifications.

Although soft skills were a must in most roles, many of the more technical roles required role-specific qualifications and training.

Notably, skills shortages were reported, although this is largely role-dependent.

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Career map will ultimately be digital

The findings from the survey will be used with cross-agency research to ensure the right information is portrayed in the final map so it is relevant and useful for its target audiences.

Researchers are continuing to collaborate and work alongside industry to build a map that most effectively represents the construction and infrastructure sectors.

Initially, a static tool is being developed, but the long-term aim is to digitise the map. Each career path will have an online interactive version, developed in collaboration with industry, educators and influencers.

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For more

Visit www.branz.co.nz/careermap.

Download the PDF

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Articles are correct at the time of publication but may have since become outdated.

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