Site Manager

You don’t need any specific qualification to be a foreman although you do need the Site Supervision NVQ in order to get a Gold CSCS card (which may be necessary depending on where you’re working?).

Again, to become a site agent you don’t have to have any qualifications but you can improve your chances by doing the HNC in Construction Management. It’s a 2 year part time course and, assuming you don’t have the necessary qualifications, you’ll likely be accepted because of your work experience. You’ll be lucky to find an employer willing to sponsor you though but HNC/HND courses are eligible for funding under the student loan scheme.

In the short term going back on the tools and applying for any supervisory/junior management positions that come along is going to be the best course of action. Being in the right place at the right time is still the best way of getting on. Don’t be put off when employers employers say you have to have ‘this or that’ qualification either – they rarely get the ideal candidate they are hoping for.

Unfortunately there isn’t a simple route to entry for experienced workers even though common sense suggests there ought to be?

You could do the HNC in Construction Management which is 2 year part-time course. After that you could do the Degree which would be another 2 years.

Neither course has a guaranteed job at the end of it and you may be wasting your time? There is also a cost involved and you’d have to be able to attend a college at least one full day a week. This is an obvious barrier that many people have difficulty with and there are very few employers who’ll allow you the time off, especially if you are not school leaver.

Alternatively, you could consider doing the NEBOSH ‘National Certificate in Construction Health and Safety’. It isn’t a management qualification as such but your chances of getting a job in this area are very high. Once you’ve got your foot in the door somewhere you’ll be in a much better position to pursue your ultimate goal?

Other short course such as the 3 day first aid course, and CITB ‘Site Management Safety Training Scheme (SMSTS)’ will also help. You may get lucky and find a position as a site supervisor or assistant manager which could lead on to something better in the long term.

Out of the 2 I’d go for the CIoB Certificate and maybe progress to the Level 6 Diploma at a later date?

The HNC is a good course and could lead to you doing a degree in site management but CIoB membership is going to stand you in good stead career wise.

Rather than applying for assistant manager jobs you may want to approach some local building companies and contractors. Explain you want to gain experience with a view to progressing into management. It’s going to be a bit of a hit and miss approach but it has to be better than hitting a brick wall all of the time?

Longer term you could look at studying for a relevant qualification like the HNC but this isn’t going to help you much without any real experience.

I answer similar questions on a regular basis and it is a real shame that none of the main contractors and house builders are offering a route into management for those other than school leavers and graduates.

The Construction HNC would be your traditional next step. After that you could follow a number of routes, ideally the Level 6 & 7 in Construction Site Management.

The Construction Management Degree is another option.

If you do go down the HNC path it would be worth your while joining The Chartered Institute of Builders as a student and following a the route to chartered membership.

Also, since you have an interest in building services, the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers offer an alternative path.

It’s worth noting though that the main influence is going to be via work experience and being in the right place at the time. Since you’re currently employed in a relevant position it may be worth talking to your employer about your long term aims and objectives. A chat with someone at your local college will also be to your advantage.

In theory no, although it would be a good idea to familiarise yourself with the relevant health and safety legislation and, more importantly, to have some evidence you’ve done this.
The site managers safety certificate (SMSTS) would probably suffice as a minimum.

Progression from an experienced tradesman to site management is a lot more difficult than used to be the case. The big contractors and housebuilders are only interested in young graduates.

That said, your best option would be to do the Construction HNC or Building Services HNC.

Courses are often on a day release basis and take a couple of years, which can be a problem if you can’t get time off work. The HNC doesn’t guarantee you a job but it tends to be a minimum requirement. Decent HNC grades also lead on to studying for a degree in site management.

In the short term, the 3 day first aid at work certificate and 5 day CITB SMSTS course are worth doing as many employers expect you to have them.

I wouldn’t worry too much about your computer skills, you can pick these up as you go along. Doing a short course in spreadsheets or CAD may also be to your benefit though.

Getting your foot in the door is going to be your biggest challenge but often it’s a case of being in the right place at the right time.

Since you already have the IoSH certificate I think the health and safety route is probably going to be your best option. Maybe think of doing the NEBOSH National Certificate in Construction Health and Safety?

If you want to go straight into site management it’s going to be a long haul and there isn’t any route with a certain outcome. You say your employer encourages growth – why not talk to them about what you think you should be doing?

The Chartered Institute of Builders (CIoB) have a good route planner for anyone interested in a management career and this may be a good place to start also?

Either route is feasible although there is a heavy bias towards younger graduates for these positions, especially amongst the big housebuilders and commercial contractors. You will have more success if you focus on smaller, specialist contractors who will value your experience much more.

It may also be worth considering what other opportunities are available as, with 12 years experience, I’m guessing you’re not that old? Although I would always recommend getting into some form of management career at the first opportunity as it’s always easier to improve your options from within the system rather than outside it.

Schemes such as you mention are pretty much aimed at new entrants, there isn’t much been done for people already working with valuable experience. It is a shame and yet it’s always the organisations responsible for this who complain they can’t get skilled people?

As someone who’s been in your position all I can say is to start applying for stuff you think you’ll be able to do and see where it takes you. A lot of positions you’ll see advertised as must have this and that qualification/experience are not getting the responses they want – you may well be the best candidate?

You may struggle with this approach if you don’t have any relevant experience. If this is a career move you are determined to make than your best route would be to study for a suitable construction qualification. The HNC in Construction Management would be ideal but you’ll need to do at least 2 years part-time study with no guarantee of any job at the end of it.

The health and safety route could be used as a bit of a shortcut though. The NEBOSH course is much shorter and doesn’t need much in the way of experience. Having a NEBOSH qualification, the SMSTS and a first aid certificate may get your foot in the door somewhere but, again, there are no sure fire certainties.

You could do the Construction HNC which will give you a grounding in all aspects of commercial construction although if you are set on a management career the Construction Management HNC is a bit more focused.

Once you have this you can start looking for openings where an HNC tends to be the minimum requirement or go on to study for a degree. You should have at least 2 A levels to be eligible for an HNC course but this is usually waived if you have sufficient industry experience.

The Chartered Institute of Builders (CIoB) have some useful guidance and you may at some point find it beneficial to apply for membership.

The Health and Safety route is another option you might want to consider and the NEBOSH Construction Certificate is a qualification that a lot of employers look for.

At 29 there is still a lot of scope for you to go in any number of directions. There isn’t a set path that will guarantee a set outcome I’m afraid and it does often depend on being in the right place at the right time.

In the current climate though employers are having to adjust their expectations and are becoming a lot more flexible, so it’s often worth applying for some junior positions even if you don’t have everything they’re asking for.

Obviously, the more roles you apply the more your chance of success.

The agencies have become gatekeepers to much of the industry and this can be frustrating if you’ve been out of the loop for a while.

Rather than registering with individual agencies I would just register with a few of the job sites where you can upload your cv and look out for roles advertised you’d be interested in. What you’ll often find is the same job being advertised with many different agencies anyway.

Obviously the wider you cast your net the more likely you’ll be to be successful. So this may mean applying for job roles that broadly match your requirements rather than restricting yourself to just ‘assistant manager’ jobs. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should always aim lower because some of the jobs you may think are out of reach may not be getting the calibre of candidate they are expecting; there are not that many well qualified people out there. I know people who’ve landed decent jobs simply by being the best applicant on the day, good luck always plays its part.

It may also be worth your while targeting employers who are not one of the big names since you will often find a less rigid mindset when it comes to finding the right person for the job. And, with any industry, it’s always easier to find a job when you’re already working in a similar role.

Your willingness to start at the bottom as a labourer is admirable but, in the current climate, is unlikely to to get you anywhere. The big contractors and surveying firms are rather blinkered when it comes to recruitment and career development so you will just find yourself repeatedly hitting a brick wall.

Your best course of action would be to contact as many surveying firms as you can and explain your situation. Concentrate on the smaller firms and one-man bands and you will, eventually, make a breakthrough.

You are correct in what you say about the SMSTS as it does seem to have a become a tick box requirement these days so it would be worthwhile doing. It may also be worth your while upgrading your blue CSCS card to a gold supervisors card; this would entail doing the Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Construction Site Supervision but should be worth it. As you are currently employed in supervisory position I think this would also be a relatively quick win.

You may want to think about going for the manager’s black CSCS card at a later date too, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it at this stage?

You may also consider adding the NEBOSH Construction Certificate to your list as this is something that a lot of employers are looking for. It can be an expensive course to take on but since you already hold the IoSH certificate I think this would be a worthwhile investment that would pay off in the long term.

Firstly, if your current employer isn’t offering any opportunity to progress then you’ll do well to start looking elsewhere. If anything it will give yo an idea of what kinds of jobs you may want to do and what the demand is.

When it comes to education there are a number of ways you could go but none offer a guarantee of a job at the end. The Construction HNC is the most common route to take if you want to move from ‘on the tools’ to a junior management or supervisory role. There are entry requirements but these are usually waived for people with a few years industry experience.

The good thing about the HNC is that it covers a wide range of subjects and, when completed, can lead to many more opportunities. This may be a junior management role or you may want proceed to doing a degree in construction management or surveying.

Health and safety is another route you may want to consider? The NEBOSH Construction Certificate is a good one to have no matter what you end up doing. It’s a relatively short course and one a lot of people in your position have undertaken.

Now you have two problems, financing the courses and having time to study while you are still working. Without a cooperative employer this can be difficult, if not impossible. The good news is that HNC courses are covered by the student loan scheme, so don’t let the cost of these courses put you off.

As a first step I would suggest you get in touch with the built environment department at your local college and arrange an interview. This will give a you a better idea of what courses you could do and what local opportunities are available. I know this may be daunting but you have nothing to worry about. Most college lecturers have come from within the industry and may well have been in the same position as you once upon a time.

If you proceed to doing a course it’s also worth noting you’ll be studying with a wide range of people from all sorts of backgrounds and age groups. Again, there are no guarantees, but it often isn’t until you start studying that you realise what your talents are and what is the best direction you should take.

At 22 there are plenty of opportunities in front of you. The worst thing you can do now is spend too much time thinking about it without actually doing anything.

Short term, the best thing you can do is start looking at opportunities for junior management or supervisory roles with local electrical contractors. This may get your foot in the door somewhere or, at the very least, give you an idea of what they are looking for in terms of qualifications and experience.

Avoid agencies if you can, you won’t find much in the way of an open attitude with these people. Apply direct to small and medium sized companies where you can deal direct with senior management. You’ll find they are more open to the idea of someone wanting to learn on the job.

The HND in Building Services Engineering is a qualification that would certainly help but it’s doesn’t come with a guarantee of a job at the end of it. You are certainly young enough that it isn’t likely to be a waste of time but you should definitely get some feedback from potential employers before taking this step.

As with anyone looking to move into management, the 3 day first aid course and CITB SMSTS are pretty much essentials – and relatively easy to do. The NEBOSH Construction Certificate is also a qualification you could look at doing to add to your repertoire. Health and safety is a big part of the industry nowadays and employers are always in need of people who are fully up to date with current legislation.

With regard to your health issues, even though it shouldn’t make any difference I would keep this to yourself if at all possible.

The danger is, without relevant experience, you may waste time and money gaining qualifications that will not help you progress to stage one. The UK construction industry does tend to pigeonhole people into set roles with little in the way of flexibility between them. The problem is compounded by the reliance on employment agencies who are just not interested in helping anyone but themselves.

By all means look into doing further studies in the UK but get yourself into some kind of role first. You will find it much easier to progress from within the industry than from outside it, regardless of what that role may be.

Yes the SMSTS will help, in terms of getting a job at least, because there are very few employers who will give you the time of day without it for just about any supervisory or management position.

No, 32 is still quite young. Your biggest hurdle will be getting your first role, after that it should just be a matter of time and opportunity.

To get your first role I would concentrate on approaching small, independent contractors rather than the big companies. Agencies will be of no help to either, so also avoid them if you can.

You are taking the right approach. There is a dire shortage of decent managers these days as many of the old-timers are hitting retirement age. Your only competition is young graduates who are being recruited by the volume house builders and chancers who are moving from job to job as they get found out.

With regards to the SSSTS or SMSTS in would recommend doing the manager’s course in all cases. There is no entry criteria, other than the extra expense, and it is the one you see most often as a requirement for employment.

If you are already embarking on the degree course than this would put you in good stead with any junior/trainee positions although you’ll need to find a cooperative employer who’s willing to allow you the time off. Regrettably, this isn’t always easy and is often the reason people never progress beyond just thinking about it. Actually being on a course with people who are already employed elsewhere can be a big advantage though.

Longer term I would apply for membership of the CIoB an daim to complete the NVQs level 4 and 5. in site management. It will be a long slog but already there is a dire shortage of suitably qualified managers with no sign the situation will improve. In a few years time you should be able to capitalise on this to your own benefit.