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Construction Career Paths Lead to High-Paying Jobs
09.04.24
Business leaders throughout the state have been asking for more skilled trade talent to meet the current and future workforce demand in Kansas.
Now, more young people are discovering that they can get the tools to meet that need of an estimated 58,000 workers over the next five years – and they’re finding them through multiple construction career paths to high-paying, fulfilling careers.
Through industry-leading curriculum and craft-training material led by the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), young women and men are finding ways to enter the workforce at different stages – after high school, with community college or vocational-tech degrees, or after earning a four-year college degree.
This is important to make Kansas a more attractive location for businesses to launch big projects. Support from local communities, leaders and educational outlets to ensure workforce is available to meet that demand will be vital.
Construction Jobs with High School Diploma
The NCCER training in high schools opens up doors immediately for future members of the workforce. Taught by more than 200 certified instructors at high schools and community college/vo-tech institutions, the curriculum is restarting a focus on practical skills that can translate to many careers.
It’s helping reverse the decline or elimination of skilled crafts training that happened at this educational level over the past few decades as an increasingly one-size-fits-all mandate pushed young people to four-year colleges regardless of desire or needs.
At robust training programs offered in high schools throughout Kansas, young people are learning modular programs that don’t take any skills for granted. In the old days a “shop class” might have had students make a birdhouse or some other light-work project.
Today’s NCCER programs go over skills needed on any construction or job site – from blueprint reading to tape measuring – to advanced skills to take to the workforce wherever they want – including finished carpentry, heating and air conditioning (HVAC), electrical and masonry.
Parents of high school students are also getting involved, seeing how the professional careers available in fields such as carpentry, plumbing, sheet-metal working, concrete and heavy equipment operators are in high demand and offer great paying opportunities immediately. That support at home keeps young people engaged and energized. Together families are charting out successful careers to take advantage of what their communities and businesses need.
Entering the Workforce with Community College Degrees
While the NCCER programs allow students to enter the workforce with immediate skills they can continue to grow on job sites, some young people are building on that with NCCER-certified education at vo-tech and community colleges.
With the demand for leaders in the field being so great, these young people move to the head of the line for prospective careers with these advanced credentials. These skills stay with the workers for the rest of their lives, with credentials in trades such as welding, construction technology and advanced carpentry transferrable and applicable anywhere in the country.
An added benefit to further NCCER education with this career path is the ability to explore the entrepreneurial aspect of the industry. As more Baby Boomers retire, new leaders are needed to take over skilled trades businesses such as plumbing or electrical companies.
The opportunities are available for hard-working, skilled and trained young people to be their own boss and create job paths for their peers.
Four-Year College Construction Career Paths
With programs at major universities throughout Kansas, including Fort Hays State, Kansas State and Pittsburg State, young people can get more credentialed skills and tools to lead the way in the workforce.
A greater emphasis is on the next level of technology that is shaping construction and skilled trades, as well as computer-assisted robotics and automation engineering technology. Some of the biggest employers in the state – from construction firms to aviation and manufacturing companies – are seeking out these four-year-degree workers to step into leadership roles.
They can connect directly with the employers through university relationships, getting involved in hands-on programs while developing management and advanced technology skills to lead the next generation.
Each path offers high-paying opportunities and helps build up the workforce pipeline, which is needed throughout Kansas, now and in the future.