Careers Features – Page 11

  • Features

    Okay, so there’s a downturn, but it’s never a bad time to bolt on a few extra skills …

    2008-09-26T00:00:00Z

    Despite the cloud hanging over the industry, students are continuing to pile into construction-related postgraduate courses. And, as Debika Ray discovers, it may not be as mad as it sounds

  • Features

    A game of musical jobs

    2008-09-19T00:00:00Z

    This year’s Hays/Building Salary Guide shows that more and more candidates are chasing ever fewer vacancies, and we all know what the law of supply and demand says about that … Debika Ray reports

  • Features

    Escape to victory: how SMEs can work abroad

    2008-09-05T00:01:00Z

    While many of the big consultants dodge the downturn by picking up business overseas, their smaller rivals may be feeling a little imprisoned in the UK. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Thom Gibbs unearths some escape routes that work, and some that don’t

  • Features

    GIA: Is this the UK’s grooviest building surveyor?

    2008-08-01T00:00:00Z

    The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker – if they’re after second careers, they could do worse than apply to become building surveyors at GIA. Alex Smith talks to seven employees who all have wildly different backgrounds. Photography by Steve Schofield

  • Going round again
    Features

    Top 150 Contractors and Housebuilders 2008

    2008-07-25T00:00:00Z

    It looks like we’re in for nasty weather. Problem is, most of the the industry has only known bright, bright sunshiny days. So what can the people who went through the misery of the early nineties teach them?

  • Taghazout, a small town just north of Agadir
    Features

    So Moorish: property developing in Morocco

    2008-07-25T00:00:00Z

    24-year-old James Bailey just couldn’t get enough of the sun, sea and surf in Morocco, so 18 months ago he ditched his City job to try and make waves as a property developer near Agadir. Emily Wright finds out how he’s getting on

  • Features

    How to find happiness

    2008-07-18T00:00:00Z

    A recent survey found that construction workers are more miserable in their jobs than anyone else. But fear not, here’s Building’s comprehensive guide to happiness, plus an indispensable quiz to find out how bad things really are.

  • Charrettes are the new face of collaborative planning
    Features

    We did it our way - Charettes

    2008-07-11T00:00:00Z

    Charrettes are the new face of collaborative planning, bringing together artists, architects and town planners to thrash out a development plan for an area. But do they work?

  • Features

    Working life - Housebuilder redundancies

    2008-06-20T00:00:00Z

    As housebuilders’ troubles get ever deeper, up to 35,000 employees face losing their jobs. But for those like site manager Fraser Gray, life after redundancy doesn’t have to be the dole queue. Michael Glackin reports

  • Features

    Why not work in ... South Africa

    2008-06-20T00:00:00Z

    With projects such as the 2010 World Cup football stadium, construction is booming in South Africa and the country is desperate for professionals

  • Left to right: Would-be apprentices Ashraful Hoque, Jonathan Browne, John Uter and Michael Sullivan
    Features

    Here’s another four we’ve failed – Training and apprenticeships

    2008-06-20T00:00:00Z

    Last week, the Strategic Forum set a target of training an extra 13,500 apprentices by 2010. But will the apprenticeship system we’ve got be able to cope? Not if you ask these guys … Roxane McMeeken reports

  • Jasmin Maric
    Features

    Euro 2008: the clash of nations

    2008-06-13T00:00:00Z

    Most people remember that fateful day back in March when England crashed out of Euro 2008, leaving devastated fans with nothing but a rainstorm and hours of congestion.

  • “The day of practical completion, and still so much to do“
    Features

    Working life - Sophie Campbell: Learning to swim in the deep end

    2008-06-13T00:00:00Z

    Sophie Campbell, architect at Sheppard Robson and a member of Building’s editorial advisory board, tells the story of what happened when her project leader left the firm and she had to step into his shoes

  • Features

    International markets: 10 fastest growing markets in the world

    2008-06-13T00:00:00Z

    As the economic downturn sets in at home, it might be time to consider working abroad. That’s why Building is launching a new international section, where we’ll bring you essential guides to doing business in the most exciting economies outside the UK. To kick off, this week we take a ...

  • Features

    Where’s the remote?

    2008-05-02T00:00:00Z

    Universities have latched on to the benefits of using the internet to deliver courses, says Katie Puckett. But tutors needn’t worry about being replaced by robots just yet…

  • Still a keen painter (despite getting an E in A level art)
    Features

    How they made it: Will Alsop

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    How they made it - Do things your own way, work for someone you respect, steer clear of venture capitalists, and don’t hurry lunch … Will Alsop is full of advice for budding architects. Over a leisurely afternoon drink, he shares some of it with Roxane McMeeken

  • Obiora Onura
    Features

    Building Awards: Why Obi won

    2008-04-18T00:00:00Z

    He graduated just five years ago but already Obiora Onuora is a senior engineer leading teams on projects worth £110m. It’s no wonder he clinched this year’s Newcomer of the Year at the Building Awards. Katie Puckett asked him how he got there …

  • Features

    How to make your fortune quantity surveying

    2008-04-11T00:00:00Z

    With skilled staff in short supply, QS firms are jostling to offer the most attractive corporate structures to their employees. From traditional partnerships to limited companies, Mark Leftly runs through the risks of each model and weighs these against their potential to make you a packet

  • Murray Forsyth in Sierra Leone
    Features

    Should I stay or should I go?

    2008-04-11T00:00:00Z

    There’s a lot of talk in the construction industry about opportunities to work abroad, from the allure of building Dubai’s dazzling skyscrapers to the chance to help people in countries ravaged by war or natural disaster. But what is the reality of working in foreign countries, and how does it ...

  • Taster day
    Features

    CSTT Training Day: So who knows what a QS is?

    2008-04-11T00:00:00Z

    The Chartered Surveyors Training Trust is fighting to survive with new government funding cuts