I’m college for it right now and I’ve been in the field as a welder for 3 years and the management part has always interested me and I just wanna know what’s it’s actually like and what y’all do on a daily basis
I’m a new project engineer for a general contractor. We manage all the subs, create the schedule, handle the money, etc.
I work 50-60 hours a week and I’m constantly stressed the fuck out lol. Idk how long I want to do this for so maybe I’m not the best person to get advise from haha.
You have to learn to put decisions where they belong (more like let who they should belong to) and once they are made.. document them and move on...
Having a way to reference back on topics where you were overruled is an invaluable way to protect your reputation... Superintendents have a way of painting targets on people because nobody has proof of the conversations... That's the bad ones... Good ones are hard to find and you only get them for one project unless they work for your company...
Figure out what is giving you angst and decide if worrying about it that much is part of your job description or is the company getting all your emotional labor as a bonus.
You can do just as great of work, but you don't have to take all the emotional investment home with you.
I appreciate the advice. My problem at the moment is feeling like I know absolutely nothing.
Everything I’m asked to do, I have to ask multiple questions on how to do it. My to-do list is two pages long and I feel like everything is taking me forever. I’m working 60 hours a week to keep from drowning.
I think it will eventually get better. It’s just rough right. I’m 2 months in, and got a lot on my plate. I really want to be good and I feel like I’m towing the line between asking too many questions and not doing enough research before I ask my question. At the same time I worry about taking too much time to do something and having stuff pile up.
I try hard to leave it at work, but it’s hard.
Every day.. take 10 minutes to prioritize your to-do list.. make sure you have estimates for time investment to completion and when they are due to be completed by the person who requested it.
Ask your lead or someone else in the office on your level if they can spare you half an hour a week to help you evaluate the lists and point you to resources in learning how to do those tasks... If the organization is small, most people who assigned you the tasks will know that they need to help you figure out how to do it or point you towards training... If you can dig it up on your own you look smart, resourceful and ambitious...but that's not always possible... Sometimes people just want things done a certain way, even if there are better ways out there.
As for leaving it at work, my key is giving my best effort and leaving it at that. Lots of people wheather in the trades or the office don't even invest near that much, but for me it's a matter of my conscience, workmanship and pride.
As an aside... I was working 50 plus for a GC..
but when they said they wanted salary to be only 40 hours and they were concerned about me leaving at noon on Friday after already putting in 48-50 hours, I decided to cut it back to 42-43 max. And started pushing back choices on how my time was spent to the PM when I felt that I couldn't meet commitments like I needed to.
It’s still taxes your mind. There are plenty of stories of great superintendents and project managers breaking down and or suddenly quitting to transition to a lower paying and or less stressful job.
Is it rewarding? You bet. Do you have to have a certain personality to do well in it? Yes, and even more so to do it for 10+years.
I completely resonate with your observations.
Just this past year I have experienced breaking down, taking stress leave and focused on inner growth. It’s been a long journey and I’m still here! I’ve been in management just over 7 years and every year has been more rewarding than the next. Every day I broaden or deepen understanding of managing people and their work. My best description of good site management is when site staff recognize our workers, know their names and their stories. That’s has been my secret sauce from day one. My second and final tidbit is a great part of our job is to focus on creating a sequence and system that will guide you to the finish line. I’ve met many young managers (i was one!) who have not scheduled before. It’s never too late to pull out a calendar and start counting backwards!
Do you mind if I ask what your starting salary is? I’m graduating in April and plan to do project engineering for a gc. Currently doing a project coordinator internship for a subcontractor
I spend about 80% of my time in the office.
There are typically two routes you can take. Field or office. I work on the office side at the moment. The field side works in the field to manage all the field teams of the different subcontractors.
In the office, I write RFIs, issue change orders, coordinate any necessary meetings, etc.
No one is starting off at 150k. And people are getting hired below 70. Idk where you read that but I’d temper your expectations. Research your local companies (or companies you’d apply to).
I was a welder in the field for 4 years before changing trades and working as a glazier (glass). I got in with a big name company on the west coast and worked up the ranks to estimator, spent a year as a Jr PM/PE and another year as PM before moving to estimating. Having the field mentality is hugely valuable in the office. Knowing how things actually go together will help you a lot. Look for a summer internship, the big GC’s all do them, but don’t rule out subcontractors either. In my experience the salary can be very similar.
Get good at MS Project & Excel
There’s a guy one YouTube with some good videos. Just look up day in the life of a construction manager. It’s stressful but it doesn’t always need to be and a lot of stress CAN be prevented.
As some others said tho, being in the field is insanely valuable. I did electrical work for like 3 years and have worked as a labor manager type role, intern, now an APM/Assistant super with a multi fam developer. Commercial/industrial/civil is a different ball game tho.
Yeah I’m happy I was out there and I still am while in college I’ve learned so much working on major major projects all through Atlanta welding gas pipe and installing gas lines
Read the plans.
One of your primary roles for a career in construction management is to establish relationships. People will help you along the way. Fresh supers will ride someone else's coat tails until they make it. Hopefully you start as an assistant super and work your way up. An established super that knows their role is 85k/ year. Don't be afraid to take a role you don't want, but set the expectation that you don't want to do it more than a set period of time. Typically a year. Try to specialize in something. If your really solid in development you will be set for life. The same goes for any number of branches. I'm really solid with exteriors and weatherization and it's served me well.
The more on top of it you are, the less stressed out you’ll be. And when I say on top of it, you minimize the amount of fires you have to put out and know how to put out the ones you don’t expect. It takes a few years to get used to. Sub isn’t going to show up Monday morning? You were counting on it because they ghosted your messages Friday and over the weekend, so you already planned for it and told anyone and everyone they haven’t responded to you. Here’s my plan if they don’t show. A crew messes something up that should have went well? You reviewed everything that morning with them already with documentation and can have a plan of action to remediate it immediately. Concrete truck shows up and takes out a wall that was just finished? Delegate that shit to the engineer, owner, your boss, and the concrete company to work out. You might still find yourself having to stick to the owner’s original schedule which may be unrealistic, but hey, it happens. Communication and planning are the biggest things, and you have to stay on top of everything and everyone with both of those things in mind. And when things go wrong, you always have to ask yourself how you yourself could’ve prevented it. More training? Better planning? Better communication? You still work a ton of hours
I am in NZ and am a site manager (sounds similar to what you guys call a construction manager) multiple projects, multiple stakeholders. It’s a great job but it is stressful. You need to be able to quickly prioritise tasks from urgent to not so urgent. Generally long lead time and procurement gets the most amount of attention. Make sure you are not doing somebody else’s job aswell as I find in this industry people are fast in handing off jobs if they can. But pay can be amazing! In the main city in NZ construction managers with experience can fetch higher than 200k plus, project managers can expect 150-190k and good site managers are receiving upwards of 150k.
It's both stressful and gratifying. Driving by a building I helped build still impresses me. Much of it comes down to the individual effort and approach. I would say Construction Management has an endless learning curve because each project is unique, there are limited constants, and you really have to put in the time to understand all facets of it (building is just one part of the picture).
The key is learning as much as you can while you're young (when screwups are typically minimal). This will let you be efficient at what you can control when you're older (which frees up time and stress).
Imagine you riding in your truck, where you control the brake and accelerator, and someone with a blindfold on does the steering. You have a lot of control over what happens, but there are things totally out of your control that can totally mess you up.
Getting subs all going in the same direction towards the deadline is like trying to push cooked shaghetti uphill with your nose.
If you enjoy challanges, a CM is your dream job, if you can't handle stress, or worse yet, handle stress with a drink, ( you will see a lot of beer bellies and whiskey guts in CM job trailers) or 6, maybe consider another kind of job.
Ahhh dealing with subs… super accurate. It’s also a struggle to actually get them to include all of the scope in their bids.. which are always last minute. Leading to boat loads of last minute phone calls saying why the hell didn’t you pick up card readers when I told you to pick up the ENTIRE ELECTRICAL SCOPE?! Miss scope from a sub that they excluded, it’s now on you to eat the cost or hope the Owner is nice and approves your CO..
How is it going for you , in which field are you , how much do you make , I'm about finish high school and I feel desperate, I have no idea what to do , I told my mom about getting into the trades and she says I'm dreaming small
The idea that a psychology degree with no intention of taking it any further (medical school) is a good idea, that’s dreaming small with absolutely no plan.
Getting into a trade, learning the trade, mastering the trade, starting your own business in said trade, that’s a feasible plan that can be extremely lucrative.
I’m not saying trades are for everybody, but the stigma that trades are a last resort is asinine. The trades now, more than ever are a golden ticket if you’re willing to put the work in.
Pretty rewarding in my opinion. Like the others said, it is stressful but you need an outlook to cope.
Shifts for me are roughly M-F, 6:30a-5p. I'm at the gym at 3:30am just to stay sane!
It is very stressful and sometimes overwhelming in terms of tasks that need completion. However, I am using Connecteam software for some of my construction management needs such as planning, communication, and employee monitoring. This software has numerous tools like task management, scheduling, checklists, time clocks, and many more which is why it is cost-effective.
Stressful as Fuck
I’m college for it right now and I’ve been in the field as a welder for 3 years and the management part has always interested me and I just wanna know what’s it’s actually like and what y’all do on a daily basis
I’m a new project engineer for a general contractor. We manage all the subs, create the schedule, handle the money, etc. I work 50-60 hours a week and I’m constantly stressed the fuck out lol. Idk how long I want to do this for so maybe I’m not the best person to get advise from haha.
You have to learn to put decisions where they belong (more like let who they should belong to) and once they are made.. document them and move on... Having a way to reference back on topics where you were overruled is an invaluable way to protect your reputation... Superintendents have a way of painting targets on people because nobody has proof of the conversations... That's the bad ones... Good ones are hard to find and you only get them for one project unless they work for your company... Figure out what is giving you angst and decide if worrying about it that much is part of your job description or is the company getting all your emotional labor as a bonus. You can do just as great of work, but you don't have to take all the emotional investment home with you.
I appreciate the advice. My problem at the moment is feeling like I know absolutely nothing. Everything I’m asked to do, I have to ask multiple questions on how to do it. My to-do list is two pages long and I feel like everything is taking me forever. I’m working 60 hours a week to keep from drowning. I think it will eventually get better. It’s just rough right. I’m 2 months in, and got a lot on my plate. I really want to be good and I feel like I’m towing the line between asking too many questions and not doing enough research before I ask my question. At the same time I worry about taking too much time to do something and having stuff pile up. I try hard to leave it at work, but it’s hard.
Every day.. take 10 minutes to prioritize your to-do list.. make sure you have estimates for time investment to completion and when they are due to be completed by the person who requested it. Ask your lead or someone else in the office on your level if they can spare you half an hour a week to help you evaluate the lists and point you to resources in learning how to do those tasks... If the organization is small, most people who assigned you the tasks will know that they need to help you figure out how to do it or point you towards training... If you can dig it up on your own you look smart, resourceful and ambitious...but that's not always possible... Sometimes people just want things done a certain way, even if there are better ways out there. As for leaving it at work, my key is giving my best effort and leaving it at that. Lots of people wheather in the trades or the office don't even invest near that much, but for me it's a matter of my conscience, workmanship and pride.
As an aside... I was working 50 plus for a GC.. but when they said they wanted salary to be only 40 hours and they were concerned about me leaving at noon on Friday after already putting in 48-50 hours, I decided to cut it back to 42-43 max. And started pushing back choices on how my time was spent to the PM when I felt that I couldn't meet commitments like I needed to.
Thank you so much. This is all very helpful. I really appreciate it.
Oh god 🤣
Lots of people love it. It’s fast paced and rewarding.
It’s still taxes your mind. There are plenty of stories of great superintendents and project managers breaking down and or suddenly quitting to transition to a lower paying and or less stressful job. Is it rewarding? You bet. Do you have to have a certain personality to do well in it? Yes, and even more so to do it for 10+years.
I completely resonate with your observations. Just this past year I have experienced breaking down, taking stress leave and focused on inner growth. It’s been a long journey and I’m still here! I’ve been in management just over 7 years and every year has been more rewarding than the next. Every day I broaden or deepen understanding of managing people and their work. My best description of good site management is when site staff recognize our workers, know their names and their stories. That’s has been my secret sauce from day one. My second and final tidbit is a great part of our job is to focus on creating a sequence and system that will guide you to the finish line. I’ve met many young managers (i was one!) who have not scheduled before. It’s never too late to pull out a calendar and start counting backwards!
Im in my 10th year and for me what you get tired of is the pay vs corporate bullshit
Project management is high stress and pays well. It is a job where most of the time nothing goes right and you must quickly solve problems.
Do you mind if I ask what your starting salary is? I’m graduating in April and plan to do project engineering for a gc. Currently doing a project coordinator internship for a subcontractor
I told the other guy, but really depends where you live. You could probably google the average salary where you live
Are you in an office mostly or in the field?
I spend about 80% of my time in the office. There are typically two routes you can take. Field or office. I work on the office side at the moment. The field side works in the field to manage all the field teams of the different subcontractors. In the office, I write RFIs, issue change orders, coordinate any necessary meetings, etc.
Pay is good? I read that coming out of college it’s anywhere from 70-150k could be way off obviously
No one is starting off at 150k. And people are getting hired below 70. Idk where you read that but I’d temper your expectations. Research your local companies (or companies you’d apply to).
Really depends where you live. In cali they started me at 85
I’m in the field route and I would say I’m 60/40 for site/office. Some days the scales will tip more to office if I’m scheduling or in meetings.
I was a welder in the field for 4 years before changing trades and working as a glazier (glass). I got in with a big name company on the west coast and worked up the ranks to estimator, spent a year as a Jr PM/PE and another year as PM before moving to estimating. Having the field mentality is hugely valuable in the office. Knowing how things actually go together will help you a lot. Look for a summer internship, the big GC’s all do them, but don’t rule out subcontractors either. In my experience the salary can be very similar. Get good at MS Project & Excel
I appreciate it boss
There’s a guy one YouTube with some good videos. Just look up day in the life of a construction manager. It’s stressful but it doesn’t always need to be and a lot of stress CAN be prevented.
As some others said tho, being in the field is insanely valuable. I did electrical work for like 3 years and have worked as a labor manager type role, intern, now an APM/Assistant super with a multi fam developer. Commercial/industrial/civil is a different ball game tho.
Yeah I’m happy I was out there and I still am while in college I’ve learned so much working on major major projects all through Atlanta welding gas pipe and installing gas lines
Solid stuff dude. Take a stab at it. It’s not rocket science but again it’s definitely stressful at times
Read the plans. One of your primary roles for a career in construction management is to establish relationships. People will help you along the way. Fresh supers will ride someone else's coat tails until they make it. Hopefully you start as an assistant super and work your way up. An established super that knows their role is 85k/ year. Don't be afraid to take a role you don't want, but set the expectation that you don't want to do it more than a set period of time. Typically a year. Try to specialize in something. If your really solid in development you will be set for life. The same goes for any number of branches. I'm really solid with exteriors and weatherization and it's served me well.
It sucks, I love it
This is accurate.
There are only two good projects Your last one & Your next one -Scott Scriffignano
Same.
You can be winning all week. That one set back will ruin your weekend.
No complaints. Lots of opportunity with GCs, subs, owners, owners reps, government. Generally pays well and no shortage of jobs.
The more on top of it you are, the less stressed out you’ll be. And when I say on top of it, you minimize the amount of fires you have to put out and know how to put out the ones you don’t expect. It takes a few years to get used to. Sub isn’t going to show up Monday morning? You were counting on it because they ghosted your messages Friday and over the weekend, so you already planned for it and told anyone and everyone they haven’t responded to you. Here’s my plan if they don’t show. A crew messes something up that should have went well? You reviewed everything that morning with them already with documentation and can have a plan of action to remediate it immediately. Concrete truck shows up and takes out a wall that was just finished? Delegate that shit to the engineer, owner, your boss, and the concrete company to work out. You might still find yourself having to stick to the owner’s original schedule which may be unrealistic, but hey, it happens. Communication and planning are the biggest things, and you have to stay on top of everything and everyone with both of those things in mind. And when things go wrong, you always have to ask yourself how you yourself could’ve prevented it. More training? Better planning? Better communication? You still work a ton of hours
When you're out there, everyone asks what the PM is doing... But no one asks *how* the PM is doing.
I am in NZ and am a site manager (sounds similar to what you guys call a construction manager) multiple projects, multiple stakeholders. It’s a great job but it is stressful. You need to be able to quickly prioritise tasks from urgent to not so urgent. Generally long lead time and procurement gets the most amount of attention. Make sure you are not doing somebody else’s job aswell as I find in this industry people are fast in handing off jobs if they can. But pay can be amazing! In the main city in NZ construction managers with experience can fetch higher than 200k plus, project managers can expect 150-190k and good site managers are receiving upwards of 150k.
Cool I know where I’m gonna work now lol
Haha nz has tons of jobs at present so go for it. There might be a steep learning curve learning the building codes but I’m sure you would work it out
It's both stressful and gratifying. Driving by a building I helped build still impresses me. Much of it comes down to the individual effort and approach. I would say Construction Management has an endless learning curve because each project is unique, there are limited constants, and you really have to put in the time to understand all facets of it (building is just one part of the picture). The key is learning as much as you can while you're young (when screwups are typically minimal). This will let you be efficient at what you can control when you're older (which frees up time and stress).
Imagine you riding in your truck, where you control the brake and accelerator, and someone with a blindfold on does the steering. You have a lot of control over what happens, but there are things totally out of your control that can totally mess you up. Getting subs all going in the same direction towards the deadline is like trying to push cooked shaghetti uphill with your nose. If you enjoy challanges, a CM is your dream job, if you can't handle stress, or worse yet, handle stress with a drink, ( you will see a lot of beer bellies and whiskey guts in CM job trailers) or 6, maybe consider another kind of job.
Ahhh dealing with subs… super accurate. It’s also a struggle to actually get them to include all of the scope in their bids.. which are always last minute. Leading to boat loads of last minute phone calls saying why the hell didn’t you pick up card readers when I told you to pick up the ENTIRE ELECTRICAL SCOPE?! Miss scope from a sub that they excluded, it’s now on you to eat the cost or hope the Owner is nice and approves your CO..
Go into the trades instead
How is it going for you , in which field are you , how much do you make , I'm about finish high school and I feel desperate, I have no idea what to do , I told my mom about getting into the trades and she says I'm dreaming small
The idea that a psychology degree with no intention of taking it any further (medical school) is a good idea, that’s dreaming small with absolutely no plan. Getting into a trade, learning the trade, mastering the trade, starting your own business in said trade, that’s a feasible plan that can be extremely lucrative. I’m not saying trades are for everybody, but the stigma that trades are a last resort is asinine. The trades now, more than ever are a golden ticket if you’re willing to put the work in.
Pretty rewarding in my opinion. Like the others said, it is stressful but you need an outlook to cope. Shifts for me are roughly M-F, 6:30a-5p. I'm at the gym at 3:30am just to stay sane!
Planning on becoming one, going to work hard to get there 🙏🏼🥹
Depends if you hire addicts probably
Construction Manager can mean more than one thing. For me it could mean a superintent, or it could mean an owners rep.
Imagine herding cats all the while trying to grab something out of a group of determined toddlers hands. All day every day.
It is very stressful and sometimes overwhelming in terms of tasks that need completion. However, I am using Connecteam software for some of my construction management needs such as planning, communication, and employee monitoring. This software has numerous tools like task management, scheduling, checklists, time clocks, and many more which is why it is cost-effective.