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Help Raise Awareness About Opportunities in construction
With a projected one million craft professionals needed by 2023, the construction industry is facing both a shortage of skills and personnel. The National Center for Construction Education Research (NCCER) and its outreach initiative Build Your Future (BYF) designated October as Careers in Construction Month (CICM) to raise awareness about the lucrative career opportunities in construction and to recruit the next generation of craftspeople.
Contractors, schools, associations, and other construction organizations can plan career days, field trips, speaking sessions, and other events and activities to showcase construction as a viable career path and an industry of choice. The industry can also get involved online by sharing myth-busting blogs and articles, professional success stories, eye-opening statistics, and other content and by using the hashtag #CICM. Visit www.byf.org/cicm/ for details.
Coinciding with Careers in Constaruction Month is NCCER and BYF’s annual I BUILT THIS! video contest. Students and instructors in secondary and post-secondary craft programs can submit videos of their building projects for a chance to take home some incredible prizes. The I BUILT THIS! Video Contest is BACK in 2020. The sixth annual I BUILT THIS! video contest, presented by NCCER and Build Your Future, is returning this October. Designed to promote the value of craft skills and construction as an industry of choice, the contest encourages secondary and postsecondary students and trainees to showcase their building projects.
For the first time, the I BUILT THIS! Contest has a special theme for 2020: “Construction is Everywhere!” This year has brought some unique circumstances into the lives of students, trainees, and instructors. But while education and training may look and feel different, the building skills remain critical to our future. The contest will be open for entries Beginning October 1, 2020. Start preparing now! For more details, visit www.byf.org/i-built-this/.
As part of the movement, U.S. states and territories are asked to officially proclaim October as Careers in Construction Month. Thus far in 2020, eight states and territories made official proclamations, and requests were filed in an additional 31 states. Visit https://www.byf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/State-Proclamation-Guidelines_2020.pdf/ to learn how to file a proclamation request in your state.
NCCER is asking companies to pledge their commitment to use either virtual or in-person classroom visits to share BYF resources and by doing so, the companies will be entered into a $5,000 scholarship for a school of their choosing, gain access to exclusive resources, and be promoted on the page and in other marketing pieces. Visit www.byf.org/cicm/#pledge-jump/ for more information.
BYF has created “how-to” guides for planning, organizing, and celebrating Careers in Construction Month. Materials are available from suggested community activities to sample press releases to social media graphics. Each is designed to help make celebrating even easier! To learn more, visit www.byf.org/event/careers-in-construction-month.
