Bay of Plenty students have been touring plans and building sites around Tauranga today to find out if a career in the construction industry is for them.

Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation chief executive Warwick Quinn says his organisation's Big Construction Tour on today – with more than 1000 student taking part nationally – is to lure young people into the variety of roles the industry offers.

BCITO Training advisor Willie Warbrick, in yellow, talks with some of the 47 College students from seven different schools about various topics in the building industry. Photo: Chris Callinan.

Those who want to enter the industry have a 98 per cent chance of getting a job with the industry facing a shortage of workers as demand for construction of all types grows, says Warwick.

'We are really short of skilled people at the moment. We're about 30 per cent under-resourced when it comes to skills. Especially in that Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Hamilton, Auckland patch.

'This is due to the housing boom in these areas but also infrastructure needed. But it's not just houses, there's roads, bridges, tunnels, convention centres and airports – all of this add to the skills they have access to.”

Warwick says the idea of the Government's announced $1 billion infrastructure fund is to get land released for development. 'And this will add to the demand and supply side of things too – so there's plenty of work out there for a long time.”

He's urging both males and females students to consider the variety of roles on offer.

'They could be on the tools, they could be a supervisor, they could be programme manager, they could go and get degrees and run corporates; they can do all sorts of things – even run their own business.”

And for each role, those who take it up – well 'the world is their oyster” on where they want to go with it.

But key is also getting student's influences – their parents, school teachers, career advisers and others –on board and thinking about what careers are available.

Warwick says the construction tour is also trying to appeal to wider cross-section of people, including women.

'We have two or three busloads of girls' school students attending today; females are really under-represented in the trades.

'So there's plenty foo opportunity for them as well, with technology and different types of trades and segmenting of trades that got specialised groups.”

'And we really struggle to attract women because they perceive it be a heavy-lifting job. But not all jobs are like this; for example, painting a decorating a concerted effort was made a few years ago to ring women into this role and I's worked really well.

'And there more to trade than electricians, plumbers and builders.'

'By letting them know there is plenty of work available in their own region it can be key in letting them stay around home,” says Warwick.

'And they get paid while they are studying – they don't have a student loan – all those kinds of things – then maybe it's an opportunity to keep them local.”