While there is already a high demand for talented craftsmen due to the labor gap, there’s always room to find more lucrative opportunities. If you want a boost to your construction career, getting a certification can help add to your skills, demand, AND paycheck! Whether you’re just starting out or further along in your career in the trades, it never hurts to improve your level of practice quality of talent. Here are some options that you may be interested in now or the future:
Journeyman
If you’re just starting out in the trades, you’ll usually learn under a Master Tradesman (or several) for a set amount of required hours until you’re ready to take the Journeyman test. Getting an apprenticeship for your Journeyman is a fantastic way to get paid with hands-on experience while also taking classes. Your apprenticeship training could take up to 4 years, depending upon the trade or specialty. Once you’ve passed the test, you are a certified licensed tradesman and no longer required to work under someone else’s license.
Master Tradesman
After 3-6 years as a Journeyman, you can then work towards becoming become a Master Tradesman. Master certification usually requires additional schooling and experience – and each state has different regulations. Master Tradesman get higher pay, but they also have additional responsibilities such as supervising apprentices and managing projects at a higher level.
Construction Management Certification
Becoming a Certified Construction Manager (CMC) with the Construction Management Association of America teaches you management skills that will make you more effective and efficient during the planning, design, and construction of a project from start to finish. Expanding your knowledge in everything from cost to risk to safety and quality management will improve your expertise – but also help you become a better leader and increase your network of professionals in the industry.
LEED Green Building
A LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a globally recognized green building rating system and stamp of sustainability. Using the LEED framework gives a project the guidelines build in a healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving manner. It focuses on making sure that project teams use fewer resources, and reduce waste with minimum environmental impacts. Aiming for LEED registration and certification is available for almost any building project, and it helps if you have a LEED Green Associate as a part of your team!
Safety Director Certification
The Safety Director Certification with the NASP (National Association of Safety Professionals) is a professional certification that gives you the expertise to develop and manage a comprehensive corporate or facility-wide safety program. You can also go on to earn your Certified Safety Manager Construction, further guiding you to supervise and train multiple contractors in safety protocols that go beyond OSHA standards and requirements. Overall these certifications are aimed at reducing job-related injuries and focus on the worker dynamic on site.
Project Management Professional
There are eight different PMP Certifications with the Project Management Institute, all of which give you a higher earning power, proven to be about 20% higher pay across different industries. The certification can be used in several different roles and organizations, and gives you the ability to speak the global language and recognized methodology of Project Management. If interested, you’ll need to apply for certification training, and you must demonstrate that you have performed the role of a manager, leading cross-functional teams to deliver a project with a schedule, budget, and specific scope of work.
Madden Industrial Staffing can answer your questions and help steer you to one of these or other certifications that can make you more hirable in the trades. Contact us if you’re looking for guidance – or just looking for work in the trades! We work with employers that are looking for talented craftsmen like you.
