The (lack of) BIM apprenticeships

Many clever heads before me had put their ideas and efforts into explaining why and where the ‘generation thing’ is letting BIM down, I tend to look at it as a see-saw too hard to get into a balanced state.

Consider those in their early twenties entering the profession and you can see they aren’t getting the opportunities they should. A youngster with some inclination to develop within the BIM field will very quickly find his wings clipped and be forced to play-ball (traditional) or search-for more exciting fields to put his talents against.

But then, spare a thought for the forty-somethings, themselves only just making it on the rickety ladder of professional success, having a ‘new’ BIM thing showed down their throat, something that they often ill-understand and would rather ignore.

Rare is the company that manages this see-saw well and gets the best out of both parties.

This than results in an industry where no meaningful BIM apprenticeships exist to those wishing to subject themselves to challenging and demanding boot-camps that will earn them their ‘rite of passage’.

In parallel, those that have spent decades in getting where they are, but more importantly learning what they’ve learned, are afforded no real platforms for passing on the knowledge without looking stupid and out of their depth (on some of the aspects of the BIM-thing).