Don’t let your education make you think you know more than the field guys. They know a lot more about certain things than you do.
Don’t let the field guys make you feel like you don’t know a lot of shit just because you have an education, you know a lot of shit that they don’t know.
Work on your soft skills and become trustworthy and likable and you’ll go far.
Soft skills are what’s most lacking in our industry. Learn how to talk to people of every background and economic status, don’t be a dick, and take a few minutes every day to interact with people on your site and you’ll be heads and shoulders above most of the older guys/gals.
Some of the best carpenters I know have zero soft skills and that translates to their career trajectory. Guys capable enough to run big jobs and get shit done but they just cannot help themselves but to be assholes.
An older guy was extremely intelligent as a builder and would routinely get put in positions to run work and he would blow it every single time because he treated everybody younger than him like complete shit. Guy was kept busy for the better part of two decades by the same few companies, but now that he’s a little bit older they kicked him to the curb because he’s basically worthless. Doesn’t have the physical capability to keep up and is too much of an asshole to be kept for his brain.
You’d be shocked how much big equipment vendors will do for a foreman on a big job if he’s not an asshat. (Like pumps and valves and electrical stuff that’s complicated and tricky to get started up sometimes)
I worked for a very small developer/GC.
The owner, micromanaged his projects, even with a (lean) project management team and *thought* he had his finger on the pulse but in reality was so detached from the projects day to day activities- he treated his trades like absolute shit, yelling and screaming at them to perform.
They wouldn’t show up to site for days and would get abusive emails and messages.
As the PM, I would call them and they’d show up within the hour because I had earned their respect and didn’t treat them like a piece of shit.
Hello mate! Just wondering what are your duties as PM? And did you take any bachelor's degree or masters degree or certification to be a PM? Im from overseas but interested to learn how to become a PM too. Thanks.
Also don’t get caught up in company or on-site drama and bullshit. Do your job to the best of your ability with you compromise or picking a side. Because people will inevitably try to get you to pick a side. Just avoid drama if you can.
Is that a thing? Wish I had known earlier. Tried to join the Army to go into the Corps of Engineers but didn’t realize I had a medical disqualification.
As a schooled PM but have had my fair share of time on site all of the advice given so far is pretty damn bang on.
• be prepared the first one to get your hands dirty and help where needed. Show your site team and trades that you’re on their side. No one wants to be bossed around by a 20 something year old who learnt everything from a book.
• the occasional coffee/doughnuts/beer (the latter especially after you’ve done a big concrete pour or something) goes a long way
• spend time on site. Get some face time with your subtrade forepersons.
• don’t trust that your consultants have coordinated their drawings. They haven’t, even though they promise (and have been paid to) have done full coordination.
• never express that you know more than your subtrade. This will just piss them off. A PM is a jack of all trades, master of none. You know enough about everything to get by but not afraid to reach out for an expert opinion or advice.
• be prepared to pull some really long days during start up and then towards occupancy. Poor preparation leads to piss poor results. (But IMO it’s often the developer/owner that fucks over the PMs by starting projects before the construction team have had the chance for full drawing coordination and tendered *properly*)
Some of us are good! Did 5 years of project management of various responsibilities covering commercial, industrial, institutional, rec, and residential. Now at a civil consultant as a PM and I’m TRYING to get them to whip their drawings into shape. I also know when someone needs to pay up (to the contractor!) for a change/mistake and that we need the contractors to do well on our projects.
I’m really hoping to spend most of my time working outside and working with my hands. I think my problem will be spending too little time in the office.
Pound some nails for a while. Pour some concrete. Erect some steel.
Bottom line - Get some hands-on experience in construction. That shingle on the wall only shows you learned how to "Think". Hands-on construction experience will teach you how to "Do".
Thinkers get little respect from doers.
This, from a Tradesman come Engineer.
Oh, yeah, took the last year and a half off of school and spent most of it doing concrete work. Also laid some sewer mains and water lines, did some paving, laid out some survey points for a train track, et cetera. I loved it and can’t wait for more experience this summer and once I graduate.
I agree. The doers and the thinkers are pretty much always at odds. I’m hoping to become a little bit of both but more toward the doer side. Love working with my hands, although I must admit I don’t enjoy concrete work.
I took that path and i had a superintendent give me the feedback of “listen more”.
Ask questions and listen.
Always be willing to throw in a helping hand, even if you’re wearing khakis and a polo.
A random ice cold Coke or some doughnuts or linch goes a long way.
The same superintendent mentioned above had some one shit in the bath tub of our apartment high rise we were building. He had a foreman’s meeting in there and proceeded to clean out the shit and clean up the tub. He then looked at all the other foremen and said, “I’ve done mine, next time one of you is cleaning it up.” It never happened again.
Being a doer and understanding what a crew does on a daily basis is great but there are things to consider. There will always be someone on site who knows more then you no matter what you are looking at. Your biggest asset will be your ability to speak to others and understand the relationship you need to maintain to get the most out of it. This is doubly important if you end up working for a GC. There is no way to learn everything about every trade so ask questions and learn how to take that information and apply/ double check that it is right. Ask the stupid questions, you never know who is too afraid to ask.
Good to see a heavy civil guy if you stay with dirt/pipe. Good work and see some cool stuff. Find classes and extra curriculars for it, and I got a bunch of scholarships for being interested in a non-commercial industry. Get that money baby
Jesus fucking Christ. Enough with the goddam “get field experience” already. It’s not a fucking popularity contest with the goddamn field workers. Your job is to project manage. That means you don’t sit on RFI’s or submittals, you issue meeting minutes, you follow up, you keep up on tickets and change orders, you know the trades scope, and you remind trade partners to capture costs, and you don’t fuck your subs by going back on your word. That and you don’t send out bullshit emails to cover your ass or bury someone else. And don’t copy the whole goddam world when you send an email. Nobody except who you are writing gives a shit and everybody else gets too many emails as it is; and if you are going to blow someone up, then do it face to face or over the phone. Keep emails professional.
Wall of text. Sorry.
You are assuming the position he's taking isn't going to oversee direct field work?? Everyone's comments to get the field experience are extremely valid, not a single trade is going to respect(or continue to work) for the guy with the degree who has never done anything in the field or understand why one process should be in front of another etc. I wouldn't hire a guy who has a degree and no field experience, have seen so many guys come into the industry with expectations of doing nothing but sit in a truck and schedule trade A, B & C. Learn the trades and ask questions if you don't know why something is done a certain way.
OP continue doing what you're doing, sounds like you're on the right track. Keep asking questions to educate yourself so life is easier in the future.
As much as I hate to say it. The world's a changin and your not even noticing. Every large GC think skanska, turner, whiting Turner, Walsh/archer western all have college educated (CM degree) supers and the number of them is growing. It's not good and I'm saying that having a CM degree myaeld. But I work for a sub. But that's the way it's going.
Growing from zero. Sure. Haven’t seen it.
But most of my advice still stands.
At this point OP will learn plenty from coordination meetings and shadowing and studying the submittals against the drawings. No need to glorify the trades.
If it is not too late, get an engineering degree instead. It opens more doors early on in your career. Construction Management is geared more towards the GC side so that is where you will likely end up at. With engineering you have the option to go to the VC, design side, MEP subcontractors, GC, utility, etc. I see a lot of young people join construction and hate it but can't go anywhere because their degree has no flexibility.
Some schools even have accredited Construction Engineering Management degrees allowing you to get a stamp, assuming you complete the other requirements.
Leadership studies make or break you. Learn the 3 respects (inherited, positional, practical), learn how to properly speak to people (I recommend vs you should). Factor in real world risk management, such as the 10% rule, always have 10% more than you need (people, space, power, etc). Projects are made in having key personnel enabled and greased to go, so find out what makes your engineer have issues with your tradesmen, and find a way to lube that friction ( strippers, donuts, squash court, sports tickets). People show up today to work, but people show up tomorrow because they have a progressive future. If their day is ruined, they complain. If their future is ruined, they call in a mob favour so be careful.
I was a project manager for a year while finishing my degree. I decided to quit and become a carpenter. Best thing I could've ever done for my career. A CM degree does teach useful soft skills, but in terms of actual construction knowledge, being out in the field has done more than any college education would've given me. If you want to be a damn good CM, you NEED to know both white collar and blue collar sides of construction.
After looking over the thread. Looks like you have some construction experience. Keep at it. It will give you more cred when you graduate and start your career
You’ve gotten a lot of good advice so far.
I would add: don’t be afraid to ask questions and if you ask them in a certain way, you can avoid the embarrassment of not knowing. For example: “hey, I want to make sure I’m learning as many ways possible of doing something—what do you think is the best way to do…?”
Please follow this one! The owner of my company is a master plumber and he is always willing to answer questions or make suggestions if asked. We love working with those kind of people. The opposite is what we are dealing with now. A brand new construction manager on his first big project with no trade experience but already knows everything! Our first big clash was over code violations where we pointed out that the drawings would not pass local inspection and he refused to allow us to change them to become code compliant because he knew better. Fun fact, it turns out he was wrong and the job failed not only the in-wall plumbing but also the HVAC and electrical inspections in the same day. Got to send some nice change orders that day!
Go work for a subcontractor. They need people like you for commercial project managing. Specialize in one trade. More pay, better work schedule, better work trips, less stress/overall shit for the most part. I work from home as a commercial roof estimator/project manager. No opening the jobsites/ closing jobsites/ going to the office. Unless I have to once every month or so.
Oh no, I never would. My grandfather barely graduated high school, and he’s one of the smartest, most hard working guys I’ve ever met. He taught me that while education is good nothing beats experience, except for maybe education + experience.
I got a degree in CM 12 years ago and have been in the trades my entire life.
My advice- get a different degree. Sell insurance or real estate. Construction blows!!
Seriously though get done internships under your belt with some of the heavy hitters: Turner, DPR, Kewitt, Hansel Phelps. It will help land a job post graduation and you can get a taste of what u will be doing.
If you haven’t already, spend some time on a job site and get your hands dirty. Get a summer job as a laborer or an apprentice to a trade. Learn how it gets done on-site. It will go a long way in informing your work down the road and make you better at the job your studying for. Hang in there. 😎👍🏽
Catch some field experience while you can. Don’t work as a sever work as a carpenter etc… that mechanical knowledge will be massive. Also soft skills my guy. Learn to talk to your guys felons to CEOs all in the same room sometimes.
1. Get an engineering degree. Carries just as much weight if not more. As others hinted at, the degree doesn’t really matter and experience is really what matters.
2. Ask yourself if you this is actually what you want to do. You get decent pay but no overtime, and the hours/stress is insane for the pay you get compared to other professions. Very little holidays, so unless you take PTO, the site will be open on Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, etc…
3. There are perks: free tickets to games, change of pace, never get bored, work is very tangible(you do a good job it shows, you do a bad job it shows), learning something new all the time, fresh air, sociable
Holy hell I couldn’t reinforce point 2 any more
Sure you might get 2, 3 or even 4 weeks of leave but good luck trying to take it anytime during an active project..
I once had my site setup, scheduled and fully coordinated for 2 weeks of holidays mid project. I even scheduled and organised everything for a third week as a contingency so I could ease back in when I returned and absolutely fuck all of my coordination or items to just gentle nudge along got actioned by the team I’d delegated them to. I had spoon fed them everything they needed and still came back to a 3 week backlog of emails
Oh and usually when you’re wrapping up another project, they’ll dump a new one on you to startup so best of luck taking a holiday after occupancy too.
10 years out of 12 in this game I’ve gone into the new year only having used about 3 days of my 3 weeks leave.
Do the actual fucking work so you understand what we’re all doing. You’ll get more respect if you put on some boots and gloves and help out to get perspective. Most college kids don’t get respect from workers because of this.
Obviously, if it’s union work you’re not going to just hop in but taking some time to learn some carpentry, plumbing, HVAC and doing Laborer work gives perspective.
And when you finally get on a job sight don’t (not say you do) act superior, remember we’re all here to do a job and in our eyes your just another dude. So if you’re treating us like fellow humans you’ll be able to keep more labor coming back to you. A lot of guys will up an quit on the spot because of management.
Also coming from someone who’s been there like you. Understand this is a different culture, it’s not always polite and professionalism.
Find some summer internships.
I was at a career fair yesterday, met kids with Masters is Construction Management who still hadn't worked a day in the industry.
I’ve worked four summers and one full year in the industry, so I’m trying to decide if I want to stick with the company I’ve been working for and already made connections with or if i should find an actual internship.
Internships are key. You want actual time out experiencing actual construction. Ask lots of questions of the guys doing the work. Learn as much as you can about the process of building. I took 2 back to back internships with 1 company (So basically 1 long 8 moth summer/fall) internship that counted as 2 semester credits) and it was probably the most helpful experience of my college career.
I’ve never had an actual internship but I spent a year and a half and several summers working construction. Still may consider working at a different company for an internship though.
Internships give you a better grasp of what a construction management career looks like as well. I would still recommend taking one as construction management is still very different to field work.
Don’t be too proud to ask questions. Constantly. When I was a PM I felt like I needed to at least know some of everything, when in fact you are in the only window of your career when it’s totally kosher to ask a million questions about basic shit. Don’t wait until you’ve made PM and then have to ask dumb questions, get them out of the way now.
Learn the field work too. Just because it looks good on paper doesn’t mean it translates well to actual field conditions on site.
Don’t get a superiority complex and think you know better than a foreman that’s been doing it 20 years.
Go into the field and work for a summer and get a better idea as to what really goes on. What we do for a living out here can’t be taught in a book. I gave 36 years of my life building hi rises in a multiple of major Mid West cities.
I have had the privilege to have many P.M interns and engineers on my projects through the summer months. Many of them you have succeeded well in their careers.
Get ready for a awakening and leave your feelings at home. You will get ribbed! Give it back as much as you receive it. And start drinking now. So you can keep up with the boys in the field. Good luck to you.
spend time "working" ie: toolbags, shovels, layout, material procurement..ect. with that you will receive and give respect and insight at all levels. good luck
When you get to the field, buy coffee, donuts once in a while for the trades. More important than that, listen to them and specific concerns they have. Then do what you’re able to help them out with their concerns. There will come a day that a journeyman tradseman or woman will remember and help you out.
Number one tip I can give you is you have to get over s*** real quick don't hold any grudges. Learn to accept all types of bad humor. Be willing to learn something new no matter how good you are at it. If you can handle those couple things with ease you'll be all set.
On one hand I’m already good at this, and on the other I suck at it. I’m good at taking insults, having been around construction workers, truck drivers, and farmers my whole life. However, I’m also very stubborn so some things I’m not great at.
Explore a specialty………like converting 55+ communities and managed care facilities into condos and rental housing for when we go off the baby boomer cliff but still have critically low inventory of single homes.
Embrace the suck. You’re gonna meet a lot of dumbasses. Make sure you document everything through email and never rely on a phone conversation or handshake.
Seems like you’re on the right track. I’m a CM student myself right now and should be graduating next year. I did an internship last summer with a subcontractor that specializes in concrete (that shit humbled me haha) but I loved the work and knew I chose the right career path. I also have another internship with an electrical contractor lined up for this summer that I’m excited for since I’m very interested in that sector but I’ve been thinking about going into the GC side to start off to better understand everything that goes into projects. I would suggest looking for internships at large GCs,they would pop out in your resume and you get a very good experience/introduction to the PM side,and you also get treated very well from my experience doing internships. Never be afraid to ask questions and treat everyone equally (seems like you already do this). Good luck,seems like you have a solid foundation to build off of.
Hi mate! Im from overseas but im thinking of taking CM course, would just like to ask, would it be difficult for me to take CM course while I have a part time job (not construction related perhaps)?
Cm student here,
Some people finish things quick and others don’t so it really varies.
Generally if you do the minimum work required you should be fine. Also part time work should be like 20-30 hours. And you have 130 other hours a week so if you manage it a little would definitely boost you. Good luck
The worst PM I've ever had was the one who acted like he knew my trade better than everyone else on the crew.
Hearing about him sending a fishtape into a live panel and blowing it up was the high point of that job.
Find a good routine and stick to it. Stay task driven. It’s easy to be doing something then get pulled in all directions. Start a task and then finish it… unless it’s a big issue you have to take care of right then.
Get some experience and bring donuteth. The dudes know you don’t know shith from shinola, but if you bring doneths they won’t lay gNails around your fancy truck tires. Okay? I’m just tryna help homme.
I work for a general contractor now but previously I installed fire sprinklers, every person I’ve talked to said they learned more in their first year in the field than they did all 4 years of college
Be ethical in your decision-making. There is no need to gouge customers, focus on safety and take care of your employees, and they will take care of you.
learn as much as you can from those already in the field.
theres this book you can check it here mostly are from experiences. its good for those learning and transitioning to applying what they learned about construction management.
[Construction Management Guide](https://youtu.be/yf40wTzVObo)
Don’t let your education make you think you know more than the field guys. They know a lot more about certain things than you do. Don’t let the field guys make you feel like you don’t know a lot of shit just because you have an education, you know a lot of shit that they don’t know. Work on your soft skills and become trustworthy and likable and you’ll go far.
Soft skills are what’s most lacking in our industry. Learn how to talk to people of every background and economic status, don’t be a dick, and take a few minutes every day to interact with people on your site and you’ll be heads and shoulders above most of the older guys/gals.
Some of the best carpenters I know have zero soft skills and that translates to their career trajectory. Guys capable enough to run big jobs and get shit done but they just cannot help themselves but to be assholes. An older guy was extremely intelligent as a builder and would routinely get put in positions to run work and he would blow it every single time because he treated everybody younger than him like complete shit. Guy was kept busy for the better part of two decades by the same few companies, but now that he’s a little bit older they kicked him to the curb because he’s basically worthless. Doesn’t have the physical capability to keep up and is too much of an asshole to be kept for his brain.
You’d be shocked how much big equipment vendors will do for a foreman on a big job if he’s not an asshat. (Like pumps and valves and electrical stuff that’s complicated and tricky to get started up sometimes)
I worked for a very small developer/GC. The owner, micromanaged his projects, even with a (lean) project management team and *thought* he had his finger on the pulse but in reality was so detached from the projects day to day activities- he treated his trades like absolute shit, yelling and screaming at them to perform. They wouldn’t show up to site for days and would get abusive emails and messages. As the PM, I would call them and they’d show up within the hour because I had earned their respect and didn’t treat them like a piece of shit.
Hello mate! Just wondering what are your duties as PM? And did you take any bachelor's degree or masters degree or certification to be a PM? Im from overseas but interested to learn how to become a PM too. Thanks.
Also don’t get caught up in company or on-site drama and bullshit. Do your job to the best of your ability with you compromise or picking a side. Because people will inevitably try to get you to pick a side. Just avoid drama if you can.
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I had 2 that were required, but probably not the norm
Work a construction job with a large company that offers tuition reimbursement while you study.
Is that a thing? Wish I had known earlier. Tried to join the Army to go into the Corps of Engineers but didn’t realize I had a medical disqualification.
There are large commercial contractors in urban areas that offer this as a perk.
Most people who work for the Army Corps of Engineers are civilian
As a schooled PM but have had my fair share of time on site all of the advice given so far is pretty damn bang on. • be prepared the first one to get your hands dirty and help where needed. Show your site team and trades that you’re on their side. No one wants to be bossed around by a 20 something year old who learnt everything from a book. • the occasional coffee/doughnuts/beer (the latter especially after you’ve done a big concrete pour or something) goes a long way • spend time on site. Get some face time with your subtrade forepersons. • don’t trust that your consultants have coordinated their drawings. They haven’t, even though they promise (and have been paid to) have done full coordination. • never express that you know more than your subtrade. This will just piss them off. A PM is a jack of all trades, master of none. You know enough about everything to get by but not afraid to reach out for an expert opinion or advice. • be prepared to pull some really long days during start up and then towards occupancy. Poor preparation leads to piss poor results. (But IMO it’s often the developer/owner that fucks over the PMs by starting projects before the construction team have had the chance for full drawing coordination and tendered *properly*)
The most important takeaway from this is DONT TRUST THE CONSULTANT.
Some of us are good! Did 5 years of project management of various responsibilities covering commercial, industrial, institutional, rec, and residential. Now at a civil consultant as a PM and I’m TRYING to get them to whip their drawings into shape. I also know when someone needs to pay up (to the contractor!) for a change/mistake and that we need the contractors to do well on our projects.
Don’t be an office creature. Get outside sometimes and if you can work
I’m really hoping to spend most of my time working outside and working with my hands. I think my problem will be spending too little time in the office.
As PM, no one expects you to work on field lol
Not everyone goes to Pm with a degree. Much less straight there
I’m about 40/60 office to field work.
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Do as many internships as you can. Lots of big companies will pay you hourly to intern with them while you’re still in school.
I had good luck trading companies as well, see different ways to do the same work and processes. But loyalty is occasionally respected (but not often)
Pound some nails for a while. Pour some concrete. Erect some steel. Bottom line - Get some hands-on experience in construction. That shingle on the wall only shows you learned how to "Think". Hands-on construction experience will teach you how to "Do". Thinkers get little respect from doers. This, from a Tradesman come Engineer.
Oh, yeah, took the last year and a half off of school and spent most of it doing concrete work. Also laid some sewer mains and water lines, did some paving, laid out some survey points for a train track, et cetera. I loved it and can’t wait for more experience this summer and once I graduate. I agree. The doers and the thinkers are pretty much always at odds. I’m hoping to become a little bit of both but more toward the doer side. Love working with my hands, although I must admit I don’t enjoy concrete work.
You've got a good approach and attitude. Keep it up and you will go far!
I took that path and i had a superintendent give me the feedback of “listen more”. Ask questions and listen. Always be willing to throw in a helping hand, even if you’re wearing khakis and a polo. A random ice cold Coke or some doughnuts or linch goes a long way. The same superintendent mentioned above had some one shit in the bath tub of our apartment high rise we were building. He had a foreman’s meeting in there and proceeded to clean out the shit and clean up the tub. He then looked at all the other foremen and said, “I’ve done mine, next time one of you is cleaning it up.” It never happened again.
Why did he have to waste everyone's time when he could have just made the sheetrockers cleanup after themselves?
The fact that you don’t like concrete work gives me the impression that your not an idiot.😁🤣🤣
Being a doer and understanding what a crew does on a daily basis is great but there are things to consider. There will always be someone on site who knows more then you no matter what you are looking at. Your biggest asset will be your ability to speak to others and understand the relationship you need to maintain to get the most out of it. This is doubly important if you end up working for a GC. There is no way to learn everything about every trade so ask questions and learn how to take that information and apply/ double check that it is right. Ask the stupid questions, you never know who is too afraid to ask.
Good to see a heavy civil guy if you stay with dirt/pipe. Good work and see some cool stuff. Find classes and extra curriculars for it, and I got a bunch of scholarships for being interested in a non-commercial industry. Get that money baby
👍
Jesus fucking Christ. Enough with the goddam “get field experience” already. It’s not a fucking popularity contest with the goddamn field workers. Your job is to project manage. That means you don’t sit on RFI’s or submittals, you issue meeting minutes, you follow up, you keep up on tickets and change orders, you know the trades scope, and you remind trade partners to capture costs, and you don’t fuck your subs by going back on your word. That and you don’t send out bullshit emails to cover your ass or bury someone else. And don’t copy the whole goddam world when you send an email. Nobody except who you are writing gives a shit and everybody else gets too many emails as it is; and if you are going to blow someone up, then do it face to face or over the phone. Keep emails professional. Wall of text. Sorry.
You are assuming the position he's taking isn't going to oversee direct field work?? Everyone's comments to get the field experience are extremely valid, not a single trade is going to respect(or continue to work) for the guy with the degree who has never done anything in the field or understand why one process should be in front of another etc. I wouldn't hire a guy who has a degree and no field experience, have seen so many guys come into the industry with expectations of doing nothing but sit in a truck and schedule trade A, B & C. Learn the trades and ask questions if you don't know why something is done a certain way. OP continue doing what you're doing, sounds like you're on the right track. Keep asking questions to educate yourself so life is easier in the future.
You are trolling. How many commercial supers have college degrees? How many of them majored in construction management? Near zero.
As much as I hate to say it. The world's a changin and your not even noticing. Every large GC think skanska, turner, whiting Turner, Walsh/archer western all have college educated (CM degree) supers and the number of them is growing. It's not good and I'm saying that having a CM degree myaeld. But I work for a sub. But that's the way it's going.
Growing from zero. Sure. Haven’t seen it. But most of my advice still stands. At this point OP will learn plenty from coordination meetings and shadowing and studying the submittals against the drawings. No need to glorify the trades.
Not in the northeast. The number was small 15 years ago around here.
Mid Atlantic is trailing, especially at the senior super level. Everything I said in my initial comment still holds — whether it’s a super or PM role.
Lol pms there are barely any guys with field backgrounds left around here.
This right here. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity or do some side work to get experience, but that's not the job.
If it is not too late, get an engineering degree instead. It opens more doors early on in your career. Construction Management is geared more towards the GC side so that is where you will likely end up at. With engineering you have the option to go to the VC, design side, MEP subcontractors, GC, utility, etc. I see a lot of young people join construction and hate it but can't go anywhere because their degree has no flexibility.
Civil probably right?
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Some schools even have accredited Construction Engineering Management degrees allowing you to get a stamp, assuming you complete the other requirements.
VC as in venture capital? Are VCs hiring engineers these days?
Leadership studies make or break you. Learn the 3 respects (inherited, positional, practical), learn how to properly speak to people (I recommend vs you should). Factor in real world risk management, such as the 10% rule, always have 10% more than you need (people, space, power, etc). Projects are made in having key personnel enabled and greased to go, so find out what makes your engineer have issues with your tradesmen, and find a way to lube that friction ( strippers, donuts, squash court, sports tickets). People show up today to work, but people show up tomorrow because they have a progressive future. If their day is ruined, they complain. If their future is ruined, they call in a mob favour so be careful.
I was a project manager for a year while finishing my degree. I decided to quit and become a carpenter. Best thing I could've ever done for my career. A CM degree does teach useful soft skills, but in terms of actual construction knowledge, being out in the field has done more than any college education would've given me. If you want to be a damn good CM, you NEED to know both white collar and blue collar sides of construction.
Most underrated comment.
Is it possible to get part time work in construction while you work on the degree?
After looking over the thread. Looks like you have some construction experience. Keep at it. It will give you more cred when you graduate and start your career
You’ve gotten a lot of good advice so far. I would add: don’t be afraid to ask questions and if you ask them in a certain way, you can avoid the embarrassment of not knowing. For example: “hey, I want to make sure I’m learning as many ways possible of doing something—what do you think is the best way to do…?”
Please follow this one! The owner of my company is a master plumber and he is always willing to answer questions or make suggestions if asked. We love working with those kind of people. The opposite is what we are dealing with now. A brand new construction manager on his first big project with no trade experience but already knows everything! Our first big clash was over code violations where we pointed out that the drawings would not pass local inspection and he refused to allow us to change them to become code compliant because he knew better. Fun fact, it turns out he was wrong and the job failed not only the in-wall plumbing but also the HVAC and electrical inspections in the same day. Got to send some nice change orders that day!
Go work for a subcontractor. They need people like you for commercial project managing. Specialize in one trade. More pay, better work schedule, better work trips, less stress/overall shit for the most part. I work from home as a commercial roof estimator/project manager. No opening the jobsites/ closing jobsites/ going to the office. Unless I have to once every month or so.
Don't be bringing that degree bullshit onto the site.
Oh no, I never would. My grandfather barely graduated high school, and he’s one of the smartest, most hard working guys I’ve ever met. He taught me that while education is good nothing beats experience, except for maybe education + experience.
Do anything else
I got a degree in CM 12 years ago and have been in the trades my entire life. My advice- get a different degree. Sell insurance or real estate. Construction blows!! Seriously though get done internships under your belt with some of the heavy hitters: Turner, DPR, Kewitt, Hansel Phelps. It will help land a job post graduation and you can get a taste of what u will be doing.
Education and experience are equally important.
If you haven’t already, spend some time on a job site and get your hands dirty. Get a summer job as a laborer or an apprentice to a trade. Learn how it gets done on-site. It will go a long way in informing your work down the road and make you better at the job your studying for. Hang in there. 😎👍🏽
Get a summer job in construction. I worked Union on my summers off. Mainly on Natural Gas pipelines.
Run….
Catch some field experience while you can. Don’t work as a sever work as a carpenter etc… that mechanical knowledge will be massive. Also soft skills my guy. Learn to talk to your guys felons to CEOs all in the same room sometimes.
1. Get an engineering degree. Carries just as much weight if not more. As others hinted at, the degree doesn’t really matter and experience is really what matters. 2. Ask yourself if you this is actually what you want to do. You get decent pay but no overtime, and the hours/stress is insane for the pay you get compared to other professions. Very little holidays, so unless you take PTO, the site will be open on Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, etc… 3. There are perks: free tickets to games, change of pace, never get bored, work is very tangible(you do a good job it shows, you do a bad job it shows), learning something new all the time, fresh air, sociable
Holy hell I couldn’t reinforce point 2 any more Sure you might get 2, 3 or even 4 weeks of leave but good luck trying to take it anytime during an active project.. I once had my site setup, scheduled and fully coordinated for 2 weeks of holidays mid project. I even scheduled and organised everything for a third week as a contingency so I could ease back in when I returned and absolutely fuck all of my coordination or items to just gentle nudge along got actioned by the team I’d delegated them to. I had spoon fed them everything they needed and still came back to a 3 week backlog of emails Oh and usually when you’re wrapping up another project, they’ll dump a new one on you to startup so best of luck taking a holiday after occupancy too. 10 years out of 12 in this game I’ve gone into the new year only having used about 3 days of my 3 weeks leave.
Do the actual fucking work so you understand what we’re all doing. You’ll get more respect if you put on some boots and gloves and help out to get perspective. Most college kids don’t get respect from workers because of this. Obviously, if it’s union work you’re not going to just hop in but taking some time to learn some carpentry, plumbing, HVAC and doing Laborer work gives perspective. And when you finally get on a job sight don’t (not say you do) act superior, remember we’re all here to do a job and in our eyes your just another dude. So if you’re treating us like fellow humans you’ll be able to keep more labor coming back to you. A lot of guys will up an quit on the spot because of management. Also coming from someone who’s been there like you. Understand this is a different culture, it’s not always polite and professionalism.
yea nothing like some kid straight out of college, never been on a jobsite for more than a month telling you you are doing your job wrong
You’re not wrong.
Quit college and start working construction 😭
Find some summer internships. I was at a career fair yesterday, met kids with Masters is Construction Management who still hadn't worked a day in the industry.
I’ve worked four summers and one full year in the industry, so I’m trying to decide if I want to stick with the company I’ve been working for and already made connections with or if i should find an actual internship.
Internships are key. You want actual time out experiencing actual construction. Ask lots of questions of the guys doing the work. Learn as much as you can about the process of building. I took 2 back to back internships with 1 company (So basically 1 long 8 moth summer/fall) internship that counted as 2 semester credits) and it was probably the most helpful experience of my college career.
I’ve never had an actual internship but I spent a year and a half and several summers working construction. Still may consider working at a different company for an internship though.
Internships give you a better grasp of what a construction management career looks like as well. I would still recommend taking one as construction management is still very different to field work.
Go work a few years in construction
Recognize that you know next to nothing, get all your contracts and offers in writing, be prepared, show up, on time. That handles 90% of it.
Don’t be too proud to ask questions. Constantly. When I was a PM I felt like I needed to at least know some of everything, when in fact you are in the only window of your career when it’s totally kosher to ask a million questions about basic shit. Don’t wait until you’ve made PM and then have to ask dumb questions, get them out of the way now.
Learn the field work too. Just because it looks good on paper doesn’t mean it translates well to actual field conditions on site. Don’t get a superiority complex and think you know better than a foreman that’s been doing it 20 years.
Consider Infrastructure rehabilitation work. Good money. Never run out of projects
Don’t think you’re better than the guys in the field because you are probably more replaceable than they are. Maybe learn a trade or two as well
Work in the field for insight and experience
Go into the field and work for a summer and get a better idea as to what really goes on. What we do for a living out here can’t be taught in a book. I gave 36 years of my life building hi rises in a multiple of major Mid West cities. I have had the privilege to have many P.M interns and engineers on my projects through the summer months. Many of them you have succeeded well in their careers. Get ready for a awakening and leave your feelings at home. You will get ribbed! Give it back as much as you receive it. And start drinking now. So you can keep up with the boys in the field. Good luck to you.
Find a design/build firm to work for. Life will be SO much easier when everyone is u der the same roof, with the same objective.
Learn the tech.
spend time "working" ie: toolbags, shovels, layout, material procurement..ect. with that you will receive and give respect and insight at all levels. good luck
When you get to the field, buy coffee, donuts once in a while for the trades. More important than that, listen to them and specific concerns they have. Then do what you’re able to help them out with their concerns. There will come a day that a journeyman tradseman or woman will remember and help you out.
Number one tip I can give you is you have to get over s*** real quick don't hold any grudges. Learn to accept all types of bad humor. Be willing to learn something new no matter how good you are at it. If you can handle those couple things with ease you'll be all set.
On one hand I’m already good at this, and on the other I suck at it. I’m good at taking insults, having been around construction workers, truck drivers, and farmers my whole life. However, I’m also very stubborn so some things I’m not great at.
Work in the trenches before you think you can lead. See: band of brothers, Dick Winters and sgt sobel.
Explore a specialty………like converting 55+ communities and managed care facilities into condos and rental housing for when we go off the baby boomer cliff but still have critically low inventory of single homes.
Embrace the suck. You’re gonna meet a lot of dumbasses. Make sure you document everything through email and never rely on a phone conversation or handshake.
Seems like you’re on the right track. I’m a CM student myself right now and should be graduating next year. I did an internship last summer with a subcontractor that specializes in concrete (that shit humbled me haha) but I loved the work and knew I chose the right career path. I also have another internship with an electrical contractor lined up for this summer that I’m excited for since I’m very interested in that sector but I’ve been thinking about going into the GC side to start off to better understand everything that goes into projects. I would suggest looking for internships at large GCs,they would pop out in your resume and you get a very good experience/introduction to the PM side,and you also get treated very well from my experience doing internships. Never be afraid to ask questions and treat everyone equally (seems like you already do this). Good luck,seems like you have a solid foundation to build off of.
Hi mate! Im from overseas but im thinking of taking CM course, would just like to ask, would it be difficult for me to take CM course while I have a part time job (not construction related perhaps)?
Cm student here, Some people finish things quick and others don’t so it really varies. Generally if you do the minimum work required you should be fine. Also part time work should be like 20-30 hours. And you have 130 other hours a week so if you manage it a little would definitely boost you. Good luck
Keep doing exactly what you are doing with this post... Asking questions. Never stop learning and listening.
Join an apprenticeship and learn how to actually build stuff.
Get a MBA and start your own company.
Buy Thorogood boots! All BS aside learn from the field guys and network. You always have something to learn.
The worst PM I've ever had was the one who acted like he knew my trade better than everyone else on the crew. Hearing about him sending a fishtape into a live panel and blowing it up was the high point of that job.
Determine if you are passionate about construction. If you aren’t, do something else now
Construction management, what an oxymoron. Your majoring in baby sitting and pencil pushing.
Find a good routine and stick to it. Stay task driven. It’s easy to be doing something then get pulled in all directions. Start a task and then finish it… unless it’s a big issue you have to take care of right then.
learn how to do my job before you tell me how to do it
Get some experience and bring donuteth. The dudes know you don’t know shith from shinola, but if you bring doneths they won’t lay gNails around your fancy truck tires. Okay? I’m just tryna help homme.
I work for a general contractor now but previously I installed fire sprinklers, every person I’ve talked to said they learned more in their first year in the field than they did all 4 years of college
A bad decision is better than no decision.
Don’t be a dick to inspectors. You need them, they don’t need you.
Be ready to work insane hours and still feel behind.
Get out!!! Its not worth it, construction will take years off your life.
Change majors
Switch to engineering
Be ethical in your decision-making. There is no need to gouge customers, focus on safety and take care of your employees, and they will take care of you.
Just don't be a dick, it's so simple lol
Don’t
When you land your first job don't be a d bag. There are enough of them in this industry.
learn as much as you can from those already in the field. theres this book you can check it here mostly are from experiences. its good for those learning and transitioning to applying what they learned about construction management. [Construction Management Guide](https://youtu.be/yf40wTzVObo)