Recent reports indicate that the construction industry is in dire need of skilled laborers. Here is a closer look at what makes skilled workers and the skills that are needed to be a skilled worker in the construction industry.

There are many must-have construction skills. To succeed you must have the following capabilities:

• Physical strength and stamina
• Manual dexterity and coordination
• Strong reading and math skills
• Building and mechanical knowledge
• Excellent vision and depth perception

If you are a skilled worker, you will have no trouble finding employment in the construction industry. With the proper training, you can gain the skills that the field demands, and you can also get the safety training needed to protect you – and others – while on the job.

By learning how to do your job safely and how to operate the tools of the trade, you are improving your job opportunities. Also, crane operators and other heavy equipment operators are in demand in the construction industry.

Associated Training Services (ATS) has been helping construction workers get the training they need to succeed since 1959. There are specialized training programs available as well as heavy equipment, crane, rigging/signalperson, tower crane, commercial truck driving, digger derrick, and directional drilling training programs available.

Call (800) 383-7364 to discuss your training needs and to learn more about the programs we have available. We are accredited, and financial aid is available.

Workers are always needed to do jobs that fall into the skilled trades category. These jobs include plumbing, masonry, carpentry, masons, plasterers, painters, glaziers, and any of the building trades. With more construction projects underway with a demand for more residential and commercial buildings, there is an increase in jobs for those who are trained in skilled trades.

A skilled tradesman or tradeswoman must undergo hands-on training and have experience in their field, so they can ensure that they do the job properly and to specification. To be a skilled tradesperson, one usually goes to a trade skill or vocational skill to get the needed skills. These are jobs that once required an apprenticeship to get into the field.

Other skilled trades include riggers, heavy equipment operators, electricians, general maintenance and repair workers, CNC machine tool operators and programmers, machinists, and many other jobs.

The Outlook

Job growth in the skilled trades is higher than in the workforce in general and these jobs also have higher than average salaries. If you have graduated high school, or if you have served in the military and you are now looking for a career, a job in the skilled trades could offer you a rewarding career. There are dozens of options, so there is bound to be a job in a field that interests you.

Getting The Proper Training

Associated Training Services (ATS) offers hands-on training in the construction and heavy equipment industry. Since 1959 the school has trained many workers to take on jobs in the skilled trades. Training programs prepare students for jobs in these fields:

• Crane operators
• Riggers
• Signalperson
• Heavy equipment operators
• Truck driver training
• Directional drillers

ATS offers financial assistance and participates in the GI bill. ATS has two national third-party credentials through the National Center for Construction Education & Research and the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators. To learn more about the programs, call (800) 383-7364 today.

One of the best things you can do to be the person who stays employed is — drum roll, please — being the person who can do the job. In the skilled trades industries, that usually means being the person who has the experience, skills, and certifications to do that job. Most of the time that job will involve the ability to operate some type of equipment. The category of “heavy equipment” is pretty big, so a heavy equipment operator who wants to stay employed will try to get experience in many types of equipment.

Good Heavy Equipment Operator Training Involves Variety

One of the things you will notice about the ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School is the list of things students learn to operate:

• Backhoes
• Scrapers
• Bulldozers
• Graders
• Skid Steer Loaders
• Wheel Loaders
• Excavators
• Off-Road Haul Trucks
• Front End Loaders
• All-Terrain Forklifts

The reason so many types of equipment are part of the training is that a job site often will have a variety of machines to do the job. An operator who has the skills and certifications to operate more machines is a more valuable employee. ATS students don’t just learn to operate equipment, they also learn to read grades, identify soil, understand site layout and laser levels, and all the basic skills they will need. Heavy equipment maintenance and safety procedures are part of the training, too.

These basic things are going to be needed no matter which piece of equipment you end up on for the day, so everybody who is on the site should know them. But the operator who can do whatever is needed on the heavy equipment they have is going to be the operator who stays on the job when others are laid off.

Sometimes the skilled trades, like heavy equipment operation, seem like an invisible career. The only guy who seems to be famous and blue-collar is Mike Rowe, the guy who has become famous for trying out dirty and unusual jobs on TV. But as Mike would say, “somebody’s gotta do it”, and think about what happens if nobody does that job?

Skilled Trades Have Permanent Physical Impact

In any skilled trade, the result of a job well done is a change in the surroundings somehow. With heavy equipment, that change is pretty obvious, but somehow society forgets that something like plumbing depends on somebody being able to dig a ditch. All the changes to the landscape that make life easier happen because somebody knows how to operate heavy equipment.

The big jobs that are done with big machinery are jobs that change the world. If you can do a job that changes your world, straighten up and stand tall because you make a big difference in a lot of lives.

Skilled Trade Professionals Have Credentials

The two national organizations that ATS works with to provide credentialing for the heavy equipment workforce are:

• NCCER — the National Center for Construction Education & Research
• NCCCO — the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators

Being able to show a potential employer that you have these certifications shows that high standards have already been met in your training and that you have passed the tests required to show mastery of the skills required. As a result, these credentials are valued throughout the industries that rely on heavy equipment to get a job done.

If you are a skilled heavy equipment operator with the credentials to prove it, you can stand up taller in confidence that you are a valuable professional.