Case study: Professional roles in construction
This assessment is designed to help you gain an understanding of the breadth of roles possible in construction and to begin thinking about your own career trajectory. It requires you to demonstrate both a basic knowledge of the possibilities for our construction graduates and a more comprehensive understanding of one specific construction role. This assessment is structured in three sections as listed below.
Section 1: Overview of roles possible for construction graduates – 400 words
Construction is a diverse field with many possibilities. You are to research and discuss some common professions that may be undertaken by a construction graduate. You should provide a brief description of each of the positions you choose and briefly discuss some of their day-to-day duties. Tutorials in weeks 1 and 2 will help you select appropriate roles to research.
Section 2: Case study of one specific industry role – 300 words.
In this section you will be required to develop a case study of the construction profession that interests you the most. This will be a new role that you did not research in section 1. The case study should include at least the following information:
- Job title
- Headline description – in 1 sentence, how would you describe the role to someone who doesn’t know the industry?
- Responsibilities and outline of what the daily routine could look like
- Essential skills / qualities
- Required qualification/certification/membership
- Pay scales
- Good and not so good things about the job, and/or challenges
Section 3: Personal reflection on why you wish to pursue a career as the role you identified in Section 2 – 300 words
In this section you are required to write a personal reflection on the role you identified in Section 2. The purpose is for you to explore why you are interested in this particular role and whether you think it is the right type of job for you. You may use the following suggestions in guiding your reflection:
- What interests you about the job?
- Why do you think you would be suited to that particular job?
- What challenges would you face in the job?
- How would it extend and develop you as a professional?
Remember that while this section is a personal reflection, and therefore use of the first person pronoun ‘I’ is acceptable, you are still writing academically for an assessment. Take care that your expression is not too much like casual speech and that you pay attention to spelling as well as sentence and paragraph structure.
Complete the week 1 journal for some preliminary feedback on this section!
