The advancement in technologies in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has been supported by significant growth. As companies explore the potential of future technology capabilities and identify the skills they will need to remain relevant, human capital investment is more important than ever. The evolution of the workplace simply has to parallel technological progress.

With the construction industry projected to grow by more than 120,000 jobs in the next five years, having a workforce of skilled employees is a must. Traditionally, the majority of companies would have turned to “Recruitment” as a potential solution. However, recent developments have indicated that upskilling may also be the key in bridging the industry’s digital skills gap.

Recruitment vs. upskilling

Despite the increasing number of training institutions and online courses available in the market, talent shortages and skill deficits persistently plague the industry as a whole. According to the 2018 Australian Recruitment Trends report, many companies find it very difficult to recruit skilled workers. However, the solution to this issue can be different than expected.

In addition to recruiting from outside sources, companies should also consider investing into upskilling pre-existing talent within the organisation. This approach has many benefits; companies will gain staff that are well-equipped for their assignments while employees feel valued as their professional development is evidently prioritised. Subsequently, this will positively impact on employee retention as well.

Partnering with education providers and registered training institutions is an effective way to upskill staff. With this in mind, ensure that the chosen training programs align with the business’ needs and provides value to both the employee and employer. Consider the likes of accredited training courses that would help build and maintain a highly skilled and competitive workforce.

The broad nature of upskilling allows for organisations to focus on practical training areas that directly address the companies’ needs. With training programs ranging from digital skills through to management techniques, this ensures immediate value for the organisation and enhancement of its reputation

Preparing for the future

With new technologies constantly emerging, companies need to be at the forefront in order to continue providing competitive and relevant offerings to their clients. The evolution of the AEC industry dictates a shift in which companies need to adapt to such changes. The recent development and deployment of Building Information Modelling (BIM), for example, emphasises the importance of such endeavours.

BIM’s role in the industry is only set to rise and its adoption will give aspiring professionals a rewarding and long-term career path. Increased interest in BIM has already led to the introduction of BIM-specific degree programmes. Companies that engage with BIM will find an increased rate of young talent acquisitions.

The nature of technological advancement ultimately results in a consistent disparity between technology and skills; as new technology becomes available, the workplace inevitably has to learn and acquire the necessary expertise to operate it. Instead of focusing all its efforts only on recruitment, upskilling has proven to be an effective way of building talent within the business while fostering retention.

Ultimately, a holistic approach towards the growth of employees by investing in education and training will essentially help contribute to the health of the business. Although there are cases where a specialist recruiter can source the best people from the local and overseas markets.

Reference https://itbrief.com.au/story/bridging-digital-skills-gap-aec-industry/  –  https://itbrief.co.nz/story/bridging-digital-skills-gap-aec-industry/ 

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As a complement to Ana’s insights, we now present a personal story from one of the professionals she helped – and while this relocation tale has a happy ending, it encompassed an arduous, life-changing journey for Leo Aspite and his family.

As engineering manager for a large international company, Leo had engaged Ana as a recruitment agent to help find and bring in new staff from outside the local area – then looked to her for assistance with his own situation. “Originally Ana had been looking to find people for me,” Leo remembers, “but then it became my turn to relocate, because once the local company was purchased it also purchased its New Zealand competition, closed down its Sydney office and transferred operations over there.”

Following Ana’s advice and assistance, Leo decided to relocate from Sydney to Auckland and take up a three year contract to help amalgamate the two companies. What happened next was an unexpected personal crisis.

“I relocated myself first and had been planning to bring my family over at Christmas time, because I wanted my kids to finish out the school year,” Leo says. “After I had been in NZ for six weeks, my wife – who was still in Australia – was diagnosed with cancer. This was devastating, especially because I wasn’t even in the same country.

“We had made the decision to move together as a family – financially I was going to be earning substantially more, and also it seemed like an adventure, an opportunity that had come along. My wife was half-Kiwi so she had a lot of family in NZ, which was going to make it easier for us to settle in. That was the initial attraction and also working to consolidate the two businesses into one and build a better company was exciting, and I was looking forward to being part of that. So on paper it had been an easy decision to move.” Ana got involved with providing Leo advice in relation to his next career move, the advice she provided would prove to be invaluable as it put Leo’s concerns to rest.

It was initially daunting for Leo to juggle single parenthood with his work responsibilities, which included looking after more than 30 staff many of which were sourced by Ci’s recruitment team in Sydney. Ana and her team ensured that the staff recruited matched with the specialized skillset and requirements set by Leo in NZ. Ana made certain that despite the shortage of skilled professionals, Leo was able to quickly secure a number of highly skilled contractors of which some would later become permanent staff. “We had a lot of challenges,” he recalls, “but we survived all that – I don’t know how but we did.”

Several weeks after the family settled in to their new home, Leo was in a motorbike accident, which further tested his resolve. “At the time I just could not see past that point, but again my employer was fantastic – I worked from hospital, we even had key management meetings and interviews for new staff around my hospital bed, and everyone supported me very well.

“Sometimes when you have hardships, people rally around and when you have support, great things can happen. Not only did we survive, but the business had the biggest year in its history. So at the end of my contract we’d achieved so much.”
Having made the decision to move on at the end of his three year term, Leo then had to decide whether to return to Australia or stay on in NZ.
“We were originally only going to stay for the three years, but we grew to like it there so much we wanted to stay, and one of my key suppliers in NZ asked me to stay on and work for them.

“For the past two years I’ve worked for Stafford Engineering and we have a lot of customers in Australia so I tend now to float around all over the place. I’m their business development manager so my career has changed – I didn’t necessarily plan to go into that role but I found I quite like it. I made partner last year and I’m looking to really boost the company up over the next two to five years with an international office, which will probably be my entry point back into Australia.”

Looking back on the initially turbulent time of his relocation, Leo says the change from Australia to NZ was the least problematic aspect. “For an Australian, moving to New Zealand is more like moving interstate than it is moving overseas,” he says. “Yes, it’s a certain amount of culture shock, but it’s not the end of the world. You speak the same language and you can work out how everything works. There are some cultural differences you need to adjust to, but that’s true of anywhere.

“When you’re relocating for work, I think it’s important to research the role you’re moving to and understand the expectations associated with it. Certainly it’s a long way to move and then decide you don’t like it. I had been coming to NZ every second week over a transition period of six months, so I knew the culture, I had familiarised myself with what I was coming into.”

The cost of living was another important factor to consider. “Auckland is very much like being in Sydney, in that it’s expensive to buy and rent, so you have to determine what an affordable budget is for you. One thing that did take me by surprise was that the cost of food was 20 to 30 per cent more expensive in Auckland than in Sydney, so I had to factor that in.”

Leo adds that it’s imperative to decide upon what sort of lifestyle you want to lead in your adopted home, and make sure you choose a location that will work for you. “Where am I going to live, how far is it from work and how far am I prepared to commute each day? All those things need to be considered. In Sydney I had been commuting one and a half to two hours each way, but in moving to NZ one of the criteria I set was to live within a half-hour drive of the office.

“Now that I was a single dad, I had to be more available for the kids which meant less commuting. I needed to look at what schools were available, and also how my family was going to function because their individual needs were just as important as mine. Often when someone relocates for work, it’s harder on the rest of the family because there needs to be something in the move for them.

“In the case of my boys, their mother had passed away so I knew I had to create an environment which would support them. I was lucky to have family here which gave me a support infrastructure. And hiring a nanny meant that there would be someone to greet the kids when they got home from school, and a cooked meal ready when I arrived home from work.”

Leo says that after the initial difficulties, his sons grew to love their new home because they found lots of friends and activities. “Once you satisfy those family needs, everything gets a lot easier because you’ve ticked off the key things you need to be successful and survive. Of course there is also the fact that when you relocate, you leave a lot of family and friends behind. I’m lucky because I travel to Australia a lot so I see my relatives back there on a regular basis. If I didn’t have that, I’d have to factor in a couple of trips each year to catch up with people.”

Looking back on the time immediately after making the move, Leo vividly remembers lying in hospital following his motorbike accident and thinking how he could have chucked it all in. “That would have been a big mistake. The country is beautiful, the people are beautiful – there’s things here I didn’t expect to gain, and they’re just bonuses, which happens wherever you move to. I’ve reinvented myself, my boys have travelled a lot and have a more worldly outlook. A lot of doors have opened for them which will benefit their adult working lives, and they’ve had opportunities they simply wouldn’t have had where we lived in Australia.

“It’s all the little things you can create along the way that make the journey more pleasant, even as you’re going through the trials and tribulations of relocating, adjusting to the little cultural quirks and reinventing your lifestyle. Having the support of Central Innovation in particular Ana and the recruitment team definitely made the whole journey much easier, the support and partnership they provided is something rare in the profit driven commercial environment today. To a certain extent we had these circumstances thrust upon us, but we would never regret what we’ve done – we were able to make the best of the situation we found ourselves in, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Ana Ferreira, Recruitment Manager with more than 10 years’ recruitment and training experience across architecture, engineering and construction is very familiar with the common behaviours candidates adopt in resume preparation and interview prepping. Ana offers some insights and tips that could help make the difference between receiving an offer and someone offering to keep your resume on file “if something comes up”.

Invest in yourself. “Successful job seekers prepare and invest in themselves, this simply means understanding and defining exactly what you want from your next role, other than money” says Ana. With an increased number of job seekers prying on the same job it pays to prepare your resume with your chosen career path in mind. Do your own industry research, are there growing trends?  There is growing demand with a niche trend developing in robotics and a growing demand for those with the practical skills is increasing. Seek to understand what technical or soft skills are necessary, is it time to update your skills? As an advantage evaluate your skills set every 5 years so that you are always prepared for industry change and be an asset for a company. It takes time to understand what your career goals are both short and long term. To start ask yourself, what did I like in my previous role? What is it I am hoping to achieve in my next role?

Invest in the position. Once your career goals are established be selective with the roles you choose and focus on them. Too many job seekers still believe it is a numbers game and think an interview opportunity will appear if the same resume is sent to every company within a selected location. Numbers game is detrimental and Ana offers a word of caution, “the industry isn’t as big as you think so there is potential for your resume to spread to all the recruitment agencies for the wrong reasons”.   It is important to focus on the selected roles and take the time to ensure your resume shows the potential employer that you have exactly what it takes to be successful in the position you are applying for. “A common habit of job seekers is to simply list skills and their work history without trying to engage the person reading” says Ana. The number one purpose of a resume is to get an interview so aim to create a resume that the employer won’t overlook or discard.  Ask yourself, would I keep this?

Invest in the interview. There is an old saying that opportunities belong to those who are prepared. “First impressions matter and are important so take the time to invest in yourself, the company and the interview”. Knowing how to dress for the role, have the ability to pitch your achievements and career goals and drive conversation around industry knowledge at interviews could be crucial in landing yourself that dream role. So take some time to hone your introduction, and then tweak it depending upon the audience. Don’t forget to also evaluate your weaknesses, this is common topic during interviews and is what many job seekers ignore so prepare for it.

The unknown advantage. There can be many advantages from engaging an industry trained consultant when trying to take the next step in your professional architectural or manufacturing career. There are a few selected industry based recruitment agencies that are at the forefront of industry news, trends and skill demands that are gathered directly from working closely with their customer database and affiliate organisations. A lot of job seekers don’t consider recruitment agencies directly when seeking new job opportunities however you may discover this could be a hidden advantage as in most cases it is free to join. Recruitment agencies are tasked to deliver a level of service to various sized and elite industry clientele that don’t advertise on regular job sites, so having this type of exposure may be an advantage. There are also a limited number that operate in conjunction with a training academy to ensure that candidates are site-ready and have the appropriate training and qualifications. These specialised agencies have the capacity to deliver a course that may give you the competitive edge to answer when opportunity knocks on the door.

Having changed over the last century from a workforce highly dependent on agriculture and manufacturing to today’s economy where service-based industries are on the rise, it is no surprise that the current landscape of employment in Australia has changed significantly in the last 5 years.

Key takeout’s from the report include the significance of technology and training in employability, with “Australian’s needing to be literate, numerate and digitally literate. These capabilities will be basic requirements for most jobs.”

Strong growth is projected for the Construction industry, being the third largest industry in Australia and the vast majority of new jobs expected in Construction Services.

While there is a forecast decline in employment in the Manufacturing sector there is expected to be growth in some subsectors such as Food Product Manufacturing, Rail Transport and Agricultural Machinery and there are a number of specific roles with forecast growth for example in Professional, Scientific and Telecommunications.

The report does caution there are challenges for some industry sectors with digitisation, automation and new jobs requiring creativity, complex judgement, advanced reasoning, social interaction and emotional intelligence.

Head of Recruitment at Central Innovation, Ana Ferreira, says that future candidates in manufacturing and construction will need to be willing to be flexible in order to remain employable and ensure they are constantly improving on their skill set.

“For example, employers should consider focussing on employing candidates that have the required design and industry knowledge for the company and then provide training in the required software – we have seen a number of companies succeed when adopting this strategy.”

“With the technological advancements in Manufacturing and Construction there is a need for candidates to be up to date with a range of technology solutions and a much more varied skill set. For example in Manufacturing we are finding that there is now a much greater need for specialisation in advanced manufacturing and new technology. With Central Innovation also providing training in a number of software packages, we are acutely aware of the upskilling many designers require.”

Click to download the full report.