Perfecting your digital construction career: Step 3

Welcome to step 3 of maximising your career potential – creating your action plan and your ideal digital construction career …

Step 1: Where am I going?

Step 2: Where am I now?

Step 3: Action plan

STEP 3: ACTION PLAN

Completing steps 1 and 2 means you have done what very few people do – you have planned a future that will be rewarding FOR YOU.

You should now know where you are and where you are going. You can create a career map with milestones that define the experience you need with confidence that they are leading you in the right direction. Each milestone is a finely tuned action plan and especially useful for performance reviews and/or making sure a new job delivers what matters for your short and long-term career objective.

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. Use it with the generic BIM Career Map to see where you are now, what your options are and understand what you need to do to progress to your next milestone – knowing it is the right direction of travel for you – and in line with a common industry standard.

YOUR NEXT MILESTONE

• You now have your map and a personalised action plan based on your own research and supported with expert knowledge;
• You know what skills you need to progress to your next milestone;
• You have an action plan;
• Take action….

‘STAYING PUT’ ACTION

Firstly, make sure your current employer is on the route that suits your aspirations (see Step 1: routes). If they aren’t at the moment it doesn’t mean there aren’t discussions going on behind the scenes that could be very beneficial to you. ASK!

If they are, or will be, on the same route, show your employer your action plan – what good looks like (use the generic BIM Career Map), where you are now (use your BIM Competency Assessment Tool report) and what you need to learn to progress (BIM Competency Table). Enjoy the journey.

A good employer will want to keep you and help you progress or, if they can’t, support you moving to a company that can.

‘PASTURES NEW’ ACTION

If your current employer is not on the right route for you, you need to find one that is.

• • Take your time. Make sure you find the best company that understands your career map and wants to support you on it;
  • Use your action plan to keep you on the right path and avoid time wasting detours (no matter how well paid);
  • Show prospective employers your career map. This will impress those that genuinely support career progression and help you eliminate those that don’t;
  • Enjoy a fulfilling job that is on the right path for you!

To help differentiate employers that are genuinely committed to digital construction and empowering you, we are creating a new ‘Good Employer’ directory which we will start populating in January. If you want to be kept informed with new clients as we add them – and any opportunities they have, subscribe below: