Engineering And Construction Jobs In America
Engineering And Construction Jobs In America
The three main tiers within the construction sector are unskilled, skilled and technical or management. Unskilled labour is fairly easy to find throughout the US for young, healthy men and pays around US$10 an hour. With a specific skill in something like electrical, plumbing or carpentry it is possible to earn twice as much or more per hour working for a construction firm.
Nearly all skilled and unskilled positions are paid hourly wages. It is also possible to be your own contractor if you are an expert in your field, and can thus make upwards of US$50 an hour on individual jobs. It isn’t until you reach management positions that you will be placed on a salary and start getting full benefits.
Technical positions with a background in engineering or construction almost always require at least a bachelor’s degree or vocational college training. They range from architects to project managers, and each has its own niche within a construction company.
Architect: these designers always have a related degree and often need at least two years experience to land a decent job. They cover all aspects of building design and revision and make an average salary of US$76,000 a year.
Structural Engineer: this civil engineer specialises in the design and building of major construction projects such as bridges, roads, buildings and sewer systems. Their main role is to ensure the structural integrity of a project, and they are essential to a building project’s success. The average salary is around US$68,000 and there are usually good job prospects in America’s larger cities where big projects are built.
Project Manager: every large building project has a supervisor who makes sure each of the subcontractors is doing their job correctly and on schedule. This position is very important to keeping a project within budget and everything running smoothly. There are jobs of this type in all the major US cities, and the starting salary averages US$50,000 per year.
Mechanical Engineer: although mechanical engineers are not as in-demand as other types of engineers, they can often use their experience and knowledge to work in related fields in the construction industry. The average pay is about US$80,000 per year and most of the work is found in larger US cities.
