Institute for Career Research

Careers in Infrastructure Building Institute for Career Research

SO IT IS TIME TO CHOOSE A CAREER! This time has been coming all your life and it will have a significant effect on everything that comes after. You owe it to yourself to give this decision all the thought and study that it deserves. So think big! Infrastructure is definitely big! Roads, bridges, dams and other public-works projects can be huge - the biggest things most people encounter on a regular basis. Infrastructure is also one of those things that people sometimes look right past, like it is not even there. Roads and bridges that people use every day exist mostly in the background. Most people do not give them much thought until they break down or fail to keep up with the times. Building and maintaining public infrastructure are the primary function of most units of government. Your city, even if it is a small one, probably spends millions of dollars a year on infrastructure. Your state may spend billions. The federal government spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year to build and maintain its own infrastructure and provide grants to cities, counties and states. With that kind of money on the line, it should come as no surprise that some of the most interesting and contentious political battles are fought over infrastructure. Infrastructure building is also a huge business and industry. Whether public or private, most infrastructure projects are the result of high-intensity bidding among a few well-qualified contractors. Politics always plays a role in the process, whether the contract is for the public sector or the private sector. Infrastructure building offers a very wide range of career opportunities, from entry-level construction jobs to more professional careers in civil engineering, architecture, hydrology, and even nuclear engineering. There are also numerous opportunities in supporting career fields like finance, accounting, and management. While the word "infrastructure" has been applied to a wide variety of specialties in recent years, including information technology and even financial services, this report will focus on the more conventional types of infrastructure often known as "public works"- basically anything involving tons of concrete and steel.