An analysis of BIM jobs and competencies based on the use of terms in the industry

- A job post analysis for BIM job titles and specific responsibilities was conducted.
- 242 online job posts written in English were collected and analyzed.
- 35 job titles were derived and classified into 8 using a social network analysis.
- 5,998 terms were categorized into 43 competencies based on the O*NET.
- Common and job-specific competencies for 8 BIM jobs were identified.

The emergence of building information modeling (BIM) has generated several BIM jobs. However, despite opinions by BIM experts, questions regarding BIM jobs and their competencies still have no clear solution. This paper addresses this question by the collection and analysis of 242 online job postings, written in English, from the US, the UK, and China. These 242 job postings comprised a total of 32,495 words, from which 35 types of job titles and 5,998 terms related to job competency were extracted. Sequentially, the 35 job types were classified into eight BIM job types by analyzing the relations between the job titles using the role and position analysis of social network analysis. The eight BIM job types were BIM project manager, director, BIM manager, BIM coordinator, BIM designer, senior architect, BIM mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) coordinator, and BIM technician. The 5,998 competency-related terms were categorized into 43 competency elements using the O*NET classification as a framework for analysis. The 43 competencies were then subcategorized into essential, common, and job-specific competencies for the eight BIM job types. The findings of this paper could contribute to the research, industry, and academia by a) providing researchers with a scientific foundation for conducting studies related to BIM jobs and competence in the future; b) setting up guidelines for recruiting and training BIM experts in the industry; and c) allowing universities to develop BIM-related courses depending on their educational goals.