![bob the builder bob the builder](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X0HC-TGStww/Tz6cxZGF_II/AAAAAAAACU8/cBJpbVt7NJ0/s1600/btbHereToHelp.jpg)
![bob the builder bob the builder](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/btb/images/3/3c/AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB.jpg)
But this is by no means a global perception. In my role as Dean of Construction, Infrastructure and Engineering at Unitec, one of the sixteen institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITP) in New Zealand, I am acutely aware of a lingering perception that you only study trades when you don’t have any other options. A vocation in a broad range of construction industry options, whether at the the design end (architects, CAD technicians, engineers or landscape architects), the implementation aspect (plumbing and gasfitting, carpentry, electrical trades) or the construction management end (project managers and quantity surveyors) can deliver financially rewarding and satisfying career options. The children’s animated cartoon, Bob the Builder, clearly hasn’t been doing perceptions of a career in the trades many favours.īut Bob the Builder’s sunny outlook on life does convey an element of truth. Not surprising then that a recent poll in the UK found that 67% of the public would never consider a career in the construction industry and 41% didn’t think a career in this sector required higher education 1. Many of us loved the creativity and sense of achievement of fixing, dismantling and constructing things (not necessarily in that order) as youngsters, but those interests seldom come to the forefront when we had to sign up for a career. Our perceptions of career routes, together with our parents’ and our teachers’ perceptions and societal expectations can overwhelm our own passions. One career path that attracts a lot of outdated perceptions is the trades and construction sector. But most youngsters haven’t really connected with the plethora of options available to them so will likely give you an answer based on what they are currently in love with blended with well worn stereotypes. Quite quickly, as we get older, the ‘what we love’ part of this equation diminishes but the stereotype component strengthens. When we ask our children what they want to be when they grow up, the responses can be funny, charming and illuminating. Unitec's Dean of Engineering, Construction and Infrastructure Renee Davis on tradie stereotypes.