Was your Tonka truck your favorite childhood toy? Did you spend your beach time creating intricate sand towns and castles? If you prefer Bob the Builder to Bob the sponge, have a penchant for power tools, and love hanging out at the hardware store, you may feel right at home in a construction career.

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Yes, a career in the building trade just might be the perfect match for your love of working with your hands, using tools, and creating. If you are considering entering the construction sector, take off your hardhat, grab your lunch pail, and listen up. Here are a few things you should know.

The Construction Industry is Huge

The construction industry is massive. In fact, the Associated General Contractors of New York State asserts that the industry is the second largest employer in the United States, it is one of the top 10 largest sources of employment growth in the nation, and that more than $600 billion worth of new construction projects are added each year.

While this industry is impacted by economic downturns, there will always be a certain number of jobs that are recession-proof as building projects cannot be outsourced to far-off lands. You can’t build an office tower in Guangzhou and have it shipped to Kalamazoo.

The Industry is Happy

If you long to “whistle while you work,” you will likely enjoy a career in construction. It is, after all, one of the “happiest” professions out there. Yes, according to “Construction Employees are the Happiest Around,” a survey based on 30,000 employees reveals that employees in the construction field are the happiest in the workforce due to satisfaction with their colleagues and the nature of the job and its projects.

The Industry is Hiring

The American economy is bouncing back and the construction trade is on a large upswing. In fact, as the Massachusetts Contractors Academy’s “Construction Employers Add 39,000 Jobs in January” states, in the past twelve months, the construction industry has added roughly 308,000 new jobs and lowered its unemployment rate from 12.3 percent to 9.8 percent. Those are some impressive numbers and encouraging to anyone who wishes to enter the construction field.

The Industry is Heterogeneous

The construction industry is composed of a plethora of diverse and interesting smaller fields, offering a huge selection of potential career focuses. Whether you are more comfortable as a general labourer, a manager, or an inspector, there are positions available bearing different levels of responsibility.

The Industry Matches Your Skill Set

Perhaps, the most important thing to consider when embarking on a career decision is ensuring that your desired vocation matches your natural abilities, personality type, interests, and values. Before pursuing a career in construction, it is important to make sure that it will be a comfortable fit.

Some of the skills and natural abilities required for a construction job include: problem solving, communication, teamwork, decision-making, time management, numeracy, estimating, planning, and organizational abilities. Are these some of your biggest assets? If so, you may have found your ideal occupation.

Furthermore, you can choose from a myriad of disciplines including, to name a few, brick masonry, drywall installation, sheet metal work, roofing, painting, electrical, boiler-making, carpentry, glazing, plumbing, and steelwork. There truly is something for everyone.

So, step away from the Lego. Put down that Tinker Toy stick. If you’d like to create buildings that last, a career in construction may be a dream come true. And, this is a perfect time to do it.

If you’d like to explore potential career fits, you will want to check out “Choosing a Degree You can Actually Use.”