Question:
We all know the downturn in the construction market due to crazy land policy
of the government. This should be one of the main considerations when
deciding whether to enter this industry now. However, the career of
different people would not be the same. Many positions in the construction
industry are being filled by those with negative equities. Otherwise, they
would not have money to repay the property developers or the banks (who are
also their employers, either directly or indirectly)!! To have negative
equities may be some advantage.
Answer:
If you are born in a rich family and your parents or relatives works in the
construction industry, it may still be one of your choices, because
1. Your parents or relatives would give you full support.
2. Your would be offered better job opportunities for reason mentioned in 1.
3. You need not be clever. Particularly, if you choose to be an Architect,
you never need to worry about your intelligence, because you do not really
need it and the only things you need to learn are to make some paper models,
kiss the X of your relatives or their friends so that they would be your
supporters for becoming members in the "professional bodies", how to trick
the contractors & to show off to the public, who do not know much about
construction.
4. You need not worry, if you are unable to solve problems, because someone
else in the construction team would deal with them for you. Alternatively,
you may yell: "Daddy!! Daddy!! Please help me!!" and the problems would be
solved.
5. You need not worry about making mistakes, because you would be excused
for reason mentioned in 1. or your parents and their friends would look for
scapegoats for your mistakes. You can make as many mistakes as you wish.
If you are not born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you may need to
consider the followings:
1. If your superior make mistakes, he/she would look for scapegoat for
his/her mistakes. You may be the one.
2. Due to downturn in the industry or greediness of your boss, he may force
you to accept substandard works. Of course, if the substandard works are
discovered, you are the one to bear all the responsibilities. If you report
this to the relevant authorities, your boss would retaliate. Many people who
live in public housing estates know the problems of their accommodation and
such problems are largely due to the incompetence of the Architects. The
Architects make themselves the leaders of the construction team and they can
do so because they are born with silver spoon.
3. Many of you would not be rewarded for doing your job properly. Rather you
would be fired for doing so, because it costs your employer more.
4. You should not expect that you can be promoted because you are smart. You
boss would envy your talent and therefore do not let him know that you are
able to surpass him or his family members in his company. The constructions
companies have ways to slow down your development (such as putting you in
departments which do not suit your career development, depriving you of your
job opportunities or, even worse, hurting you physically). This is not an
industry for high-flyers.
5. You would be working with some stupid people including your superiors
(and the stupid sons and daughters of the registered members of the
professional bodies) who think they are smarter than you but are unable to
improve themselves.
6. When you have gained experiences sufficient for senior positions in the
industry, some of you should be prepared to leave the industry, as your boss
would try to oust you because he fears that you would be his competitor.
Even worse, he may try to frame you to get rid of you. He may fire you for
the reason that your relationship with your colleagues is not good.
(However, those who use this reason to remove people just show that they do
not manage their construction company properly. A 'healthy' construction
company should be operating under a good system. As long as the personnel in
the construction company can perform their own parts properly under the
system, there should be no such problems as "bad relationship". Such reasons
are in fact just inventions to remove people they do not want. But, if you
make your boss or superior embarrassed by pointing out his mistakes in front
of your colleague, then this normally would constitute "bad relationship".)
Therefore, building construction may not be a lifetime job and you have to
start a new career in another industry. It would be very painful to do so
when you are over thirties.
7. It would be difficult to set up your own business because the related
cost is quite high. If you are a contractor, you are advised that the
consultants and architects can easily exterminate you by withholding your
interim payments for no good reason. Indeed, you are "competing" with the
contractors who are relatives of the developers, Architects or other
consultants. It seems that there are contract terms, which may safeguard you
from such situation, but in practice such safeguard may not even exist.
Sometimes, you are dead before there is sufficient time for the safeguard
mechanism to function. Some consultants change the terms in the standard
contracts in such a way that there is no sufficient protection to the
contractors.
8. Do not believe that, if you are clever, you can become members of the
relevant professional bodies, because these professional bodies are just for
the sons and daughters of the registered members.
9. Further studies may not improve your chance of promotion. Even chartered
engineers may not be able to work as engineers. Some surveyors or engineers
were forced to become sales or to immigrate to provide some job
opportunities for the fresh surveying & engineering graduates, who have paid
a lot of tuition fees, or the relatives, sons or daughters of the registered
members in the professional bodies or their friends.
10. Fifteen years ago, the government did have the intention to train
construction professionals to lead the construction team in view of the
weakness of the Architects. However, nowadays, the universities are training
more and more so-called professionals which are in fact the scapegoats for
the industry. Really, they are just training scapegoats, as the Architects
just want to hire someone to shift the blame onto them, when the Architects
themselves make mistakes. You now see the reason why there are so many
degree courses in building constructions. In fact, many highly qualified
personnel are losing their jobs or demoted to lower positions. There is no
need to train so many graduates in construction for the time being except
that more scapegoats are available for the Architects to choose and the
lecturers need their jobs in the universities. Indeed, the consultants and
contractors tend to employ personnel with low qualifications.
11. Your lecturers in the Universities may tell you that they wish you to
improve the practices of the construction industry.
But they forget ONE THING, WHICH IS That you can change nothing if you do
not have the authority!
If the Architects, Consultants or the contractors know that you wish to make
some changes, which may be against their interests, YOU ARE A DEAD MAN.
12. Last, but not the least, your employer may hint that you would be fired
or not be promoted if you do not purchase the flat it build for the
developers, who are its clients.
If you love the challenges mentioned above or enjoy having negative
equities, you, as a new potential scapegoat, are warmly welcomed to this
fascinating industry.
