• Competitive Salaries • Comprehensive Benefit Packages • Free Education In A Lifelong Profession • Opportunity For Advancement • Tremendous Personal Satisfaction

A Career not just a job

Webster’s Dictionary defines career as a profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling; a pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement.

This aptly describes the construction trades. Professionals working in one of the five general construction trades are men and women who are always challenged to improve themselves, and who take their profession very seriously.

Formula for a Great Career

Here are some factors that make a career in the construction trades a wise choice for many young men and women.

Doing Something Worthwhile

Job satisfaction in the construction industry is extremely high and it’s not only because of the excellent salary and benefits.

Construction professionals get to create things with their hands. They play major parts in building things that are lasting and special like skyscrapers, stadiums and arenas, bridges and schools.

The construction industry also provides a wealth of career options and offers career advancement opportunities for all men and women.

Great Salary and Benefits

There is no question that compensation is the single biggest factor in choosing a career. This is where the construction profession becomes especially attractive.

Accomplished union trades professionals earn very impressive salaries – some making upwards of $100,000 per year. Even at the apprentice and journeymen level, these professionals make salaries that are extremely competitive with other career options.

Construction pros on average earn more than school teachers, nurses, soldiers and sailors, and law enforcement and public safety workers.

Furthermore, unions provide very generous benefit packages that include health benefits for the entire family, annuity and pension funds, disability protection and continuing education.


Free Education and Training

The construction trades are one of the only professions where education is free. Students don’t have to worry about securing financial aid or loans because the education programs for apprentices are paid in full by the training funds of the respective trade unions.

Not only is the education paid for, working apprentices are paid during this period, as well. It all adds up to tremendous value.

For instance, a carpenter apprentice receives an education that is worth more than $60,000 over four years and they can earn as much as $140,000 in that time. Ironworkers three-year education is worth $36,000 and they can earn $126,000 during that training period.

Lifelong Advancement Opportunity

The step from apprentice to journeyman is not the end of a trade professional’s career advancement – it is only the beginning.

Journeymen are encouraged to continue education in their profession throughout their career. And some continuing education is mandatory, particularly courses to teach new safety techniques and regulations. This continuing education helps the trade professional advance to high demand specialties and supervisory positions, which improve earning potential and career satisfaction.

Many construction professionals use their skill and training to start their own companies, making for endless career potential.