Careers Features – Page 9
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FeaturesTop 250 Consultants 2009: 'As bad as it gets'
That was one consultant’s view of the year when new orders fell 25% and 20,000 QSs, engineers, architects and surveyors received P45s. Roxane McMeeken looks at what went wrong, and what hope there is for the year to come, while Martin Hewes presents this year’s tables
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FeaturesAcademic study: Free your mind
Being good at your job may not depend, it turns out, on getting years of experience under your belt. In fact, spending quality time away from site may be just what you need. Katie Puckett goes back to university to find out why
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FeaturesUnemployed graduates: We were promised jobs
But these three, like so many other construction graduates, have not found them in the industry. Building’s first annual survey of university leavers reveals just how grim things are
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FeaturesIn my day: Industry greats reminisce about their schooldays
These tykes grew up to become pillars of the construction community – despite the overheated classrooms and endless dark corridors. So how would they redesign those grim sixties cellblocks they called ‘school’?
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FeaturesDiversity in construction: transforming lives
If a job candidate isn’t white, male and able-bodied, the construction industry doesn’t seem to want to know them. So a training organisation called NET Ambitions is trying to get employers to diversify. Emily Wright talked to three people whose lives have been transformed
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FeaturesWorking life: finding 3,000 people to tunnel for Crossrail
Crossrail needs 3,000 human moles to construct 42km of tunnels and the woman over there on the right is on the look-out for them. Not easy, as the nearest academy is presently in Switzerland...
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FeaturesThe law won: QSs join the legal profession
The legal profession is one of the few still prospering, which is why so many QSs are clamouring to enter it. But how easy is it to make the switch?
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FeaturesOur young designers revisited
Jacking in your job to set up a firm of your own is a dream shared by many architects, but few take the leap in their 20s. Back in 2006 we had a BBQ with some who did. Three years later, Emily Wright reunites them to find out what happened ...
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FeaturesInternational salary guide 2009: Where in the world is the best pay?
As the recession turns sought-after consultants into international jobseekers, where can you go for some relief? Roxane McMeeken met one victim of the cuts, and Hays Construction tallied average pay packets from across the globe
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FeaturesCaptain Uranium: how to get into nuclear
Billions are going to be spent on nuclear power stations in the next 10 years, assuming, that is, we can find 33,000 recruits in a hurry. Which is where you come in...
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FeaturesWorking for the Colonel: opportunities in Libya
Forty years of isolation has left Libya desperate for reconstruction and rolling in money. So it’s spending billions on national renewal, and if you’re clever you’ll help it out. Oh, it helps if you like coffee
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FeaturesReed out loud: the RIBA's first woman president
Ruth Reed wants to change people’s views of the RIBA – and becoming the institute’s first woman president isn’t a bad place to start. She talks to Dan Stewart about her priorities for her two-year stint, the recession and how she hopes to make the RIBA less London-centric
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FeaturesJust how bad are Dubai's labour camps?
Under UAE law, workers’ camps must be clean, well lit and provide 40ft2 of living space for each resident. They are also denounced as among the most inhumane in the world. Roxane McMeeken went there to find out why
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FeaturesWork like an Egyptian: Egypt's construction opportunities
Mummies, pyramids, chaos, gastroenteritis – dump this list of Egyptian clichés and focus instead on its construction boom. Sophie Griffiths went there to find out more …
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FeaturesThe optimist: ACE's Nelson Ogunshakin
The worldwide downturn spells disaster for many British engineers. So why is ACE boss Nelson Ogunshakin still smiling?
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FeaturesStress relief: coping with the psychological impact of recession
The financial damage suffered by the industry is reflected in the emotional damage suffered by its workers. But big boys don’t cry, and they don’t seek help when they need it
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FeaturesAfter the gold rush: Getting paid in Dubai
It is claimed that the average contractor is owed £50m, while some consultants’ fees are being slashed in half. Roxane McMeeken finds out just how bad Dubai’s payment problems have become
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FeaturesJust landed: Philip Bray goes to Dubai
Who in their right mind would go to Dubai amid the current turmoil? Well Philip Bray for one. He reckons there is still excellent business to be done in the troubled emirate. Bray joined UK project management and cost consultant, Millbridge in 2008 to develop the business throughout the Middle ...
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FeaturesI've started so I'll finish: David Tuffin of Tuffin Ferraby Taylor
David Tuffin started Tuffin Ferraby Taylor when people wore loon pants and voluntarily listened to the Bay City Rollers. Several recessions later, he’s handing it over to a new generation. But isn’t that going to be a bit tricky right now?
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FeaturesPrimary capital programme: Little marvels
Primary schools are often small projects, but with £7bn-worth in the pipeline, they may be a lifeline for the industry’s SMEs