Friday, August 24, 2007

Efficiency and Beauty Combined: Investigating Careers in Building and Ground Maintenance

If you're looking for a career that lets you use your body and your mind, you may be looking for a career in building and grounds maintenance. Careers in building and ground maintenance can be had with some hard work and determination on your part, but once you have it, you'll realize that you may have found a lifetime avocation.

Skilled workers who do building and maintenance work are always in high demand, with the current projection saying that the demand for people interested in careers in building and ground maintenance will double in the next ten years. Workers who are skilled in this area tend to command a significantly higher than average salary and have no trouble finding jobs. Do keep in mind that demand and salary varies the most based on training and location.

To begin with, there are usually no classes that are specifically required for a career in building and grounds maintenance. This is a very skills-intensive career and you will find that you will get your jobs based on what you can do. In this case, you may wish to redo your resume to being a skills-based resume. This is not to say, however, that some coursework will be completely out of the question.

There are many different skills that a career in building and ground maintenance might call for, and some of those are best learned at an apprenticeship or in a classroom. For instance, you may be more interested in the outdoors aspect of this type of career. If you end up working for a large corporation, say, a hospital or a college, it might be all you are required to be responsible for. In this case, one of the things that might help you prepare for the job and also to secure it, is to get a certification in a grounds maintenance training program. This essentially states that are you are trained in basic landscaping techniques. To find a course that will get you certified, you can take a look at the local community college and find out what the requirements are. Some of the classes you might be taking are classes involving plant growth and maintenance and some training to work with power tools.

If you are more interested in building maintenance, there are many courses that are designed to teach you what you need to do. This is a highly desirable field of study and you'll find that the classes designed to help you get certified are challenging and will encourage problem-solving. Once again, while there are certainly classes you can take to help you prepare for this sort of career, it will be more about the skills that you can acquire. A basic amount of electrician training will be very handy, as well some certification in health and safety. You'll find that some basic (or advanced!) carpentry and plumbing skills will be ideal as well.

Essentially, when examining careers in building and grounds maintenance, you'll find that the more you can bring to the table, the better. Certification is a good step in the right direction, but then so is experience. In terms of employment, you'll find that there are many places that will be eager to engage your services as soon as you start racking up some skills. Hospitals and universities were mentioned above, but careers in building and grounds maintenance can be found in almost any public location. Corporations also need a veritable army of maintenance workers, as do government buildings.

When you take on a career in building and grounds maintenance, you'll find that more often than not, you're required to be a problem solver or a troubleshooter. While a great deal of job will simply be maintenance, you might be surprised by the amount of time that you are forced to be proactive and take care of problems that fall outside of what you might expect with a simple maintenance job. The more you can offer, the more in demand your services will be and the higher a salary you can command.

If you're tired of jobs that keep you indoors, or you feel that your life would be improved with a lot of hands-on work, take a look at careers in grounds and building maintenance today!

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