Those with an aptitude for things hands on often look towards a career in the trades, yet our primary qualification – an apprenticeship – can take 4 years to complete. It’s a significant commitment, especially for those new to construction. If only there was a way to see what a career on the tools is like before taking the plunge.
New breed of qualification
A new series of qualifications aims to provide that certainty. BCITO Te Pūkenga have launched five new level 3 construction micro-credentials. The courses are part of BCITO Te Pūkenga’s response to employers’ calls for new and innovative ways to attract skilled workers into the construction sector.
The new courses increase BCITO Te Pūkenga’s offering to seven microcredentials. They cover a range of topics, including introductory construction, joinery, renovation, demolition, on-site assembly, interior lining and exterior cladding. All are designed to provide learners with a taste of the trades without committing to a full apprenticeship.
Once enrolled, students carry out a mix of book and on-the-tools learning, earn income and are assessed in much the same way as apprentices. However, each micro-credential takes only 2–6 months to complete.
Employers need skills
As a level 4 qualification on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework, an apprenticeship takes a lot of work and requires learners to accrue a considerable number of credits before they graduate. A person with this qualification has the skills and know-how to work without supervision, depending on the type of work being done.
BCITO Te Pūkenga’s Director Greg Durkin says they chose to pitch the new micro-credentials as level 3 qualifications. Learners still must acquire key knowledge and skills, but the number of credits is much smaller, hence the name. He says a person who graduates with a micro-credential has skills that are certainly valued by the industry but they’re not at a level where they can work autonomously and they still require partial supervision.
Qualifications that stack up
However, if a learner completes a micro-credential, likes what they see and wants to continue to an apprenticeship, the qualification isn’t wasted. The credits earned by completing the micro-credential can count as partial achievement towards their apprenticeship.
Not only that, learners can also stack several micro-credentials and credit them all towards their apprenticeship. Greg says this provides learners with the flexibility to try different construction trades without wasting credits and enables employers to support staff members through one or more micro-credentials to ensure they’re a good fit for a full apprenticeship.
Learner interest
Since the micro-credentials launched a few months ago, BCITO Te Pūkenga has received several hundred enrolments – a figure expected to climb to a couple of thousand by the end of 2023.
If enrolments follow the same pattern as apprenticeships, and Greg thinks they will, the average age of applicants will be around 25. While the micro-credentials target anyone new to construction, most applicants have done something else first. Some are school leavers, but others are university graduates or experienced professionals seeking a career change. Some come from far afield such as hospitality or tourism, while others come from related professions such as architecture or engineering.
Employer interest
Employers have also shown strong interest. Unsurprisingly, they’re mostly focused on the micro-credential that best aligns with their interests, whether that’s joinery, painting and decorating, plastering, demolition and so on.
Employers, like learners, have shown the most interest in the Basic Construction micro-credential, which provides the skills required to carry out basic construction work. It covers a range of topics, including safe work practices, understanding documentation, working with materials and using carpentry tools and equipment.
There’s also been interest from some unexpected quarters. Labour hire companies are looking to use the micro-credentials to offer workers who have a larger skill set. A labourer who holds a qualification that says they know the construction process, can handle tools and understand health and safety has much greater value on site than one who doesn’t.
Mission to encourage new blood
BCITO Te Pūkenga states that one of its goals is to attract more people into the building and construction sector – no matter a person’s age, experience or the type of job they had previously – and help them go further in their career with a qualification.
The micro-credentials sit alongside the core apprenticeship programme and several other BCITO initiatives designed to achieve that goal. These include a scholarship and grant programme, a range of apprentice support mechanisms and the Women in Trades Campaign, which aims for women to make up 10% of apprentices by 2025 and 30% of all construction trades by 2040.
‘Basically, our mission at BCITO Te Pūkenga is to have the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time. The micro-credentials are just one way to make that easier,’ says Greg.
BCITO Te Pūkenga’s construction micro-credentials
- Basic Construction
- Insulation Installation
- Kitchen Installation
- Demolition and Renovation Skills
- Introductory Exterior Envelope Installation Skills
- Introductory Interior Linings and Joinery Skills
- On-site Assembly Skills
Learn more at www.bcito.org.nz