Advancing Your Construction Career with the Right Education

Imagine a path paved with practical insights and motivational tips, guiding you towards a successful career in the construction industry. That's what you'll find in today's episode as we demystify the significance of education and certifications in this sector. Your career aspirations will influence the type of education and certifications you need, be it project management, safety, or field leadership. We'll walk you through the importance of choosing the right program and how to leverage resources like the GI Bill.

We also address common excuses people use to dodge furthering their education. Balancing a busy life while chasing your educational goals isn't a myth; it's a reality we have lived and will share with you. We'll also touch on how to sail through the sea of educational programs and certifications, so you invest your time and money wisely. You'll leave this episode with a clear roadmap to navigate your way to a successful career in construction. Don't let excuses hold you back. Tune in, and let's chart a course for success together!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome back to the Construction Veteran. Today we're going to talk about education and certifications. So, like I've said in previous episodes, your education and your certifications are really going to be dictated by what part of the industry you want to go into. There's great programs out there at lots of universities like Construction Science That'll definitely help you out in the field. There's project management degrees, there's even safety degrees. Really, it all boils down to what do you see yourself doing in the future. So I know I said something similar to this before and I'll say it again You'd be surprised by the number of people that start on their degree be it architecture, engineering, things like that when in all actuality they realized, hey, I want to be in construction management. So the certifications are a little bit of a different story, though that's definitely going to be dictated by what you're doing in the industry. So, as a superintendent, we can go and get safety certifications, we can get field leadership certifications. There's all kinds of stuff out there. But same thing with project management. You got the PMP, you've got CCM. I would suggest that, especially if you're on the owner's side. Again, man, there's so many out there it's really difficult to nail down just a few, and we'll talk in a future video. As far as you know what my mindset is on getting your education, getting certifications but I don't think either are really a bad choice. Everything's going to help you learn more about this industry.

Speaker 1: 1:36

Get yourself exposed to as much as you possibly can For people that are active duty military. Use that tuition assistance. Get as much education as you can for free before you're forced to use your GI bill. So, guys, you've got to get the excuses of why you can't get that certification or that education out of your mouth. I went through a master's program. I have three kids, I had a full-time job and my job is certainly not 40 hours a week. You know I'm a husband. I help out in our church and the community. There's ways to do it. So, especially the fact that you can do it right now for free, I mean I'd be hard pressed to find a good excuse.

Speaker 1: 2:16

One thing you've got to be really careful about is whatever certifications, whatever education that you're going after, make sure it's something legit, make sure it's certified, make sure they accept that GI bill. If you've already transitioned out of the service, there's educational folks usually on your base that can help you do all the checks and balances and make sure it's something real. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Again, I'm telling you from experience don't waste your time on stuff that's not going to help you in the long run. There are plenty of people out there that will help you with what your roadmap looks like People like me, people like you know people in the service that can help you figure out. Well, how do I get that education? How do I work towards that? What do I need to do? Work through all the paperwork. But there's plenty of people in the industry that we get motivated when we see somebody that is excited about their education, excited about furthering their career, excited about making themselves better.

Speaker 1: 3:12

All right, so to wrap it all up, really, you got a key on what you want to do in this industry. Then take the steps to go for that certification, that degree, whatever you want to. That's going to help pay off in the end. Don't go wasting your money like I did. I switched majors multiple times. So look for what you see in the industry around you or where you want to go. Look for what people have. Look at LinkedIn. See what letters are behind people's name. That might help you out. So don't waste your money, don't waste your time. Good luck, guys.