A career bottleneck, when there is no opportunity to progress, can happen in any industry and at different times in your career. Stay stuck for too long, and the situation can become frustrating and morale-sapping. So it’s important to recognise why they happen, how to avoid them, and what to do if you’re in one. We spoke to Mike Johnson of specialist recruiter Johnson BIM for his advice, plus two BIM professionals, Simran Kalyan and Lewis Courtnell, who share their experiences of career progression within the industry.
Why do bottlenecks happen?
“Career bottlenecks often happen when there are vertical hierarchies and only one path upwards, with people already filling those higher roles and no opportunity to step sideways,” explains Mike. “This is a particular problem with BIM in Architecture and Engineering, less so in construction and operations.”
This was certainly the challenge Lewis faced early on in his career. After studying Architecture and Technology at university, he joined a small consultancy as an MEP Design Engineer. They had given him a work placement during his degree, but there came a point when he had to move on. “The nature of a smaller business is that there are generally fewer avenues of progression; senior members of the team tend to be long serving. You sit there in your early twenties looking at the vast number of years between you and a potential position of seniority.”
Simran experienced a bottleneck early on in her career in an organisation with a flat line structure, which again presented limited opportunities to progress: “The structure became an obstacle once I had outgrown my current position.” She also feels that BIM’s status as a relatively new role within the industry, and how organisations use it, can also cause a problem. “The evolution of this role is not always clear in some organisations. And if BIM Managers/Coordinators are allocated to a project, without any time for central initiatives that allow individuals to grow, bottlenecks can appear.”
Lack of progression planning by employers is another contributing factor according to Mike. If there’s little awareness of the milestones that make up a career path, then how do employers know how to help you progress?
How to avoid a bottleneck
“Hone your knowledge and skills, become an expert in your field and continually develop that skillset,” says Lewis. “Become a desirable part of the team; this will either encourage the business you’re with to keep investing in you, or it will pave the way for new opportunities elsewhere.”
Simran suggests planning in advance. “When considering a new role in a company, ask about the structure. Then set a meeting to discuss career progression with HR. This is not limited to new employees – you can do this in your current role when considering your next move. Use this meeting to set or review achievable goal performance development within an agreed time frame. It’s important these goals can be measurable, and you must collect evidence to demonstrate these achievements.”
Do your research so you understand the BIM career ladder and banding. With so much variation in roles and definitions, make sure your milestones relate to the wider industry. The BIM Competency Table will help – it has been created by a panel of BIM experts to provide a pan industry perspective of the BIM skills needed to progress in each role. Where do you sit within this? What do you need to do to go up the ladder? “A mentor could help you answer some of these questions,” says Mike. “Mentors can help guide you and carve out what your career will look like. Ideally this person is someone who understands BIM!”
What to do if you end up in one
Simran recommends action within your current role first: “Can you see the role you would like to move to with your current organisation? If the answer’s no, arrange an appointment with HR to discuss the road map for your career. Whilst increasing your earning capacity could be a driver, the expansion of your knowledge, especially in an area where it currently doesn’t exist within the organisation, should not be overlooked. This expertise will become valuable in the organisation and likely the wider industry, which in return should help you move up the career ladder.”
“I think demonstrating why you should be promoted to the next level or given a particular salary can be quite tricky, but it is important,” says Lewis. “Tools like the salary guide and BIM career map can be really useful here. If you can prove a certain skillset and match that to a salary, it’s a great piece of evidence to show your employer. Sadly, that won’t always work, so looking for new opportunities is a must. Sometimes this will lead to better offers from your current employer; sometimes it will lead to new roles that open entirely new doors for you.”
Is a sideways move ever a good move?
“I’m not opposed to a sideways move if there is a carefully thought-out reason for doing so,” says Lewis. “You may have to join a new company keeping the same job title and reward package, but with the offer of better progression to the next level – that may be worthwhile. It may be that you’re moving to a different part of the industry to gain new experience – again this could be really beneficial in the long-term. Generally though, there is no point in moving from company to company without some prospects to move you up.”
Simran emphasises the importance of understanding your own skillset and how it could translate into a different role. “Hopefully you have gained enough experience that you can identify a gap in the market which you can fill.” She too warns that your salary may not increase as you side step. “However, still be confident that you’re investing in you and in the long-term it may increase your employability as well as your earning capacity.”
The benefits of being flexible
While it’s good to have a plan in mind, there are some real benefits to staying flexible and not sticking too rigidly to one set pathway. Plus, particularly early on in your career, you may not have figured out what your end goal is yet.
Lewis joined Bouygues because the role was based on a particular project – Battersea Power Station. “I knew it would be a great opportunity to work on a landmark scheme.” However, a year after he joined, Bouygues left the project, and he ended up working on the UCLH Proton Beam Therapy Centre instead. “It wasn’t what I’d moved for, but I still gained excellent experience on a flagship project.”
Lewis’s next move was to a BIM Manager role with Amazon – an enormous global enterprise. “I certainly would never have planned the route, but each step was the result of an opportunity that I decided to make the most of.”
As Mike explains, construction is still a very cyclical industry, with periods of boom and bust. “Sometimes the opportunities just aren’t there. But with BIM, there are more opportunities to move across into other sectors, which can offer different, and exciting, routes for progression.”
Finally, as Simran recommends, “Don’t be afraid of the unknown – most BIM roles were developed within companies. Always say ‘yes’ to learning opportunities, without compromising on what you value as a priority.”
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