u/qpwoeirutyaldkdjfhg

She works currently as a sales/account manager for a local countertop company, the culture is toxic and she hates working Saturdays. She is shy, but she forced herself to be helpful, she is also not good at dealing with the competition drama of her other female coworkers.

She has routinely gone to the bathroom to cry. She cries about work at-least 2x per month that i know about and every day she comes home in a horrible mood, she loathes her job and its taking her toll.

Problem is her job is what allows us to keep the bills paid. We cant afford to live without her being employed fulltime. Ive been helping her put in applications and its tons of rejection and each rejection makes her more depressed. So ive told her ill take over her job search and act as a sort of recruiter for her so she can focus on staying sane.

She is a small women so id like her to be in a safe office setting (no cleaning homes/putting herself in dangerous situations)

Im at a loss what she can do that she wont be miserable.

Here is the skills i listed on her resume from her current (and only job)

- Served as primary point of contact across 30+ commercial client accounts, owning the full customer lifecycle from quote to production handover

- Maintained CRM database to track client interactions, improve account visibility, and drive repeat business with timely follow-ups

- Prepared quotes for retail and commercial accounts, facilitating the completion of all project documentation

- Advised clients product specifications, lead time, and production schedule, supporting informed purchasing decisions and repeat business

I heard through the grapevine some industry colleagues talking about how they have industrial contracts cleaning a factory every week and how the contract values are massive.

This was in the context of the “complaining” to someone else about needing confined space training/compliance stuff.

This guy started his company as a subcontractor for other companies and this contract isnt his either. So my guess is he built trust with the prime contractor and then won this subcontract with that relationship.

What i dont understand is how he even knows how to do the work? I dont know the specifics of the job (maybe im overthinking it) but i cant imagine that cleaning a car factory is the same as changing some garbage bags/vacuuming an office floor/wiping off desks. Hense the additional training.

Id love to get into some big contracts like that.

Hey all, wife and I were having a debate about how this business (even if you sub the work out) can be risky financially/legally/etc. and get you into bad situations.

Please settle this debate. Whats the worst thing youve ever experienced as a business owner?

Whats the major thing that ruins lives/bankrupts people/causes massive issues/goes to court/loses tons of money/etc.

I want to start a local service business doing cleaning and i want to make sure that any potential liability is managed properly in the event someone sues me or something. I dont want my wife and family savings and risk.

I will be getting insurance and having strict contracts in place with clear terms.

Ive heard sole proprietorship will not suffice for protecting my family. Is this actually correct?

The business will be mostly subcontractor based in the beginning especially (eventually hiring in house once cashflow supports it) and I want to protect against a sub doing shotty work/damaging something and then expecting payment before fixing it if possible.

In this industry its very common for subs to do bad subpar work so until i have a solid team i trust in place this is a big risk, and if a client refuses payment because of it I dont want a subcontractor trying to invoice and sueing me for non payment

What is the most effective way to protect against this and does having a corporation meaningfully protect me?

For example let’s say you’re looking at an architectural section detail and it says RD/SAN, SPR, GWB 7”-8”, 6” ø BRANCH BEYOND

Or looking at a plumbing layout
Where it says FFD, RPBFP, EW-1, TSP-1, HB, etc.

Are you as the gc’s PM/Coordinator expected to immediately know what that all means and how it all works together and be able to answer the technical questions from people?

(Follow-up question: if the answer is yes- are there any good online self paces courses/books on becoming more technically proficient with methods, materials & prints? - i feel i am good
At managing money, client, safety, and risk but id be totally lost without the super/sr pm holding my hand and i wanna fix this)

We are going to the zoo before we go there, should we pack a change of clothes?

Currently has 71,000 Miles (114,000kms) and I always do regular oil changes.

I was driving today it was running completely normal, like it usually does, nothing noticeable.

It was raining heavily and we went through a really big puddle on the road and it splashed alot, but there wasnt any big potholes or bumps that I felt…we kept on driving and I noticed nothing out of the ordinary. We drive down the street maybe a minute or two and i noticed the check engine light on the dash…30 seconds later get an email & text from onstar telling me to book service & critical issue yadda yadda and it says that the code P0352 was detected.

Im now stressing cause we just spent all of our savings on fixing my wifes car. I genuinely have no money to fix this. I am very stressed about this. My buddy says “its not a fluke its a car” and he is going to lend me his OBD2 scanner tonight to clear this code, but theoretically what should i be expecting here?

1. Is it likely it’s a fluke from the rain/splash or maybe a bump i didn’t notice? Car runs fine, i notice nothing out of ordinary for this vehicle.

2. After clearing this code how long do i need to wait to know if it was a fluke and im “in the clear”

3. If it isnt a fluke whats the worst case repair?

In my area ive just noticed 2 distinct companies that seemingly popped up out of nowhere.

Both the owners graduated from the same local community college I attended…both in unrelated fields (one was a marketing grad and the other was an hvac course)

The one owner worked for a demo company for only 2 years and now hes been in business 4 years for himself and he has a whole fleet of trucks/machines/bins & a small team of fulltime staff….he is winning big contracts and from what i can tell he isnt a nepo baby….

The other one was doing like tech sales/account management and then his resume randomly says “owner” and its been 3 years and he is top ranked on google and is crushing it winning contracts. I think he rents his machines, but he definitely is doing well and has a fulltime staff aswell, he doesnt look like he came from money/family connections either.

Is there some secret sauce here? These two kids with basically no experience in commercial demolition are winning massive contracts. Obviously they have hired a team of experienced people, but im just so confused how they could even get to this level. Like how did they start?

Reading their about pages is basicaly generic fluff…how did they get to this point? How were they even qualified to do the jobs in the early days?

My wife and I will be visiting Toronto and we want to go to a nice romantic rooftop restaurant that overlooks the city.

Whats the best spot? We will be going august 1st! We wanna see the city lights

Looking for a place to practice tennis with my wife

I cant afford proper college, i want to learn the fundamentals of ici building.

So learn about the basics of
\- Surveying/elevations
\- excavation/civil
\- concrete & rebare
\- structural steel/wood
\- curtain walls
\- mep
\- etc.

I know bits and peices about stuff but i want a good general understanding so i can be more competent on site/with PM

Whats a good book/course where it breaks down each of these?

I can afford up to $150

I know obviously places are different but im seeing alot of americans saying they make $70K USD as a coordinator out of school.

In kitchener ontario im currently making 55K CAD which is the equivalent of 39K USD….

Is the wage difference really that bad?

Can any Canadians chime in here? Whats a realistic expectation for southwestern ontario?

I know alot of PMs have construction management degrees or they worked 10-15 years on site and “graduated” into running projects.

But how common is it for guys to get to be a PM purely by landing a coordinator role and learning their way up to PM.

I ask because im a commercial project coordinator at a pool company. I have no degree and no commercial site experience (I had a small reno business that shut down and 2 years as a general labourer doing odd jobs like plumbing/flooring for various companies)

Im trying to figure out where i am…

Do i have my foot in the door now and can use this role as a career springboard?

or is this more of a “you got lucky, thank your lucky stars and dont push your luck” situation where i should be grateful to even have this job and should do my best to learn the pool niche and be grateful i can even pay my bills.

I cant afford school and i dont have much site experience.

I understand a bit about RFI’s, submittals, reading basic drawings, understanding the most basic sequence of trades (i believe it goes land survey, excavate, foundation/structure, envelope, mep, finishes, deficiencies, commissioning, clean & cert of occupancy)

Ive swung a hammer before worked as a service plumber, layed flooring for a season, built some decks with my dad, but overall never mastered anything.

I ran a small reno company and has some successful projects. Mostly bathrooms & basements. Ultimately made some mistakes in business and had to shut the operation down.

My 20s have been wasted not committing to a lane. I know that now. I enjoy project management and want to pursue becoming a PM.

What position would you recommend me as a 28 year old to begin myself on the PM career path and learn more about the technical aspects of the field (mix designs, structural steel, mep, etc.)

I know how to file RFI’s, use procore, manage submittals, manage/track change orders, but i dont have as much technical experience as someone who went to university or worked 5 years in the field would.

I injured my shoulder & back while laying stairs so ideally i wouldnt be doing labour roles. Is there any career paths that i can get into without a degree that will teach me?

Long story short,

Due to traumatic death of brother and family stuff in my 20s I washed out of college multiple times, I have no formal diploma or degree, and I dont have much site experience aside from various odd jobs (flooring installer helper, plumbers helper/drain technician, summer labour roles, and my dad who taught me how to paint walls/hang drywall/do basic home repairs and plumbing) I ended up injuring my shoulder however and it prompted
Me to look into the management side more since i have a knack for leadership (i always was a natural leader growing up)

At 26 years old (last year) I launched and ran a renovation company for a year (i was able to generate 100K in projects sold, I didn’t pay myself which put alot of stress on us financially and reinvested everything to scale… ultimately that was a poor business decision, that lacked wisdom…i was hiring the wrong people before I could afford to absorb mistakes and after a failed project i ended up filing for bankrupt from the damage of that + the bloated overhead. I learned my lesson and for the next 6 years ill be licking my financial wounds) im at peace with my mistakes and I will not repeat them again.

Luckily, my “experience” was able to land me a project coordinator role at a local commercial pool contractor. It appears to be a dead end old boys club where time beats merit/hard work, it pays $55K and its 99% admin (ive been on site 3 times total in the 6 months ive worked here) and im not learning much besides how to be a gopher and send emails. Im not learning anything about quality control, methods/materials, estimating/takeoffs, financial management.

Ive asked to take on more responsibility but my PM appears to be gatekeeping (half the time im struggling to keep up with whats going because he doesnt give me anything to work with when i ask him about status of job) and upper management seems to believe that coordinators should be behind the desk supporting the PM and less on site (and they give me a dirty “stop causing issues” look for asking to be on site/more involved in the project)

When i look online at salaries i see that the PM role here is also underpaid since its a niche.

Im currently working to get my PMP & Im trying to apply to other places but so far its constant rejection and i have no clue where to start.

My goal is to be a PM in 3 years making 90K+

I am highly motivated and willing to work evenings and weekends to achieve this goal.

My only restrictions are that I cannot go back to school (wife and I cant afford to live off of one income) and I cant do labor work because of my injuries.

How can i land a proper job that actually allows me to grow into a PM role?

Over the last 15 years, my life has been shaped by a series of setbacks: growing up with little guidance, my dad’s cancer, my younger brother’s self delete (cant say the word in this sub), COVID, anxiety, failed attempts at school, a failed renovation business, a shoulder injury, a bankruptcy and now over $100,000 of debt between my wife and me. I made plenty of mistakes, but I also spent years anxiously spiralling and reacting to difficult circumstances instead of building a stable future.

Today I’m 28 and I’m a Project Coordinator at a commercial pool contractor earning $55,000/year. The job is stable, but it’s mostly administrative (ive been on site 3x in the 6 months ive worked here), offers little real construction management exposure, it also has limited opportunities for advancement because its a small company (all the PM’s above me are also underpaid).

I did the math, We can’t afford for me to return to school, and my lack of college education and my limited project management experience (1 year at my reno business and 6 months at my current job) makes my resume weak and thus it is difficult to move into better roles.

I know I can sell (I previously built over $100,000 in revenue through my own business) but I don’t see sales as a career I want long term. (Month to month quota pressure, low barrier to entry, moving goal post comp plans)

What I’ve always wanted is to own a business, but with debt, bad credit, and living paycheck to paycheck, that isn’t realistic right now and so I’ve shelved that dream.

My biggest concern is my wife. We’re constantly stressed about money, and it’s heartbreaking watching her worry about basic financial security every day. We cant have conversations anymore cause she is so stressed that even basic things set her off into panicking, she cries after work atleast once every week or two, and mentally im at a place where i cant smile anymore. Im so depressed at the thought i probably wont be able to have kids (or atleast give them a good life not in dogshit poverty)

I feel stuck, behind in life, and unsure what path gives me the best chance of eventually earning enough to build a stable future and have a family.

Based on our budget, I need about $70k to stop falling behind, around $90k to feel financially secure, and roughly $125k to comfortably afford children and have a better apartment (more than our dingy 1 bedroom shoebox). I know that will take years to reach…I just want to make sure I’m pursuing the right path before I commit the next 4-6 years of my life to it.

Help :(

How do I make more money?

For example if someone was a coordinator for a GC and on the side they did some consulting evenings and weekends for smaller clients (unrelated and not poaching) would it be likely to get then canned?

For example a commercial coordinator working at a midsize GC and in the side doing home renovations consulting/cm work for luxury renovations/tenant improvements

I’m working for a commercial pool contractor (it kind of acts like a gc within a Gc managing tile/concrete subs & the. Performing the pipe work in house)

At any one given time we have 15 projects on the board that we are managing documents for. With that said we we are heavily dependent on the gc timelines so realistically we are only on site for 5-7 projects we are on site at any given day.

Average project size is $2-7M
Average duration 12-18 months for projects (including being off site)

The PM’s make $98,000 (Canadian) - Theyre mostly expected to be on site and on the road and they also manage budgets/site work

The coordinators make $55,000 (Canadian) they do document control/takeoffs for material ordering/making sure things get delivered/office gopher activities for when the pm needs someone close to a computer or the warehouse

Is this company under working and over paying or is it actually a good gig?

This is my first experience with commercial. Ultimately I want to be a PM in commercial highrise but it’s proving difficult to get a job with a GC.

Hey all,

I want to improve my skills in commercial blueprints & doing takeoffs.

I find it overwhelming and unfortunately I never went to college

I was hoping to buy a book or a course or even free videos online. But i want something that is structured into lesson’s or chapters so that im not piecing together a bunch of random youtube videos from different people

Where would you recommend i start?

Hey all,

I want to improve my skills in commercial blueprints & doing takeoffs.

I find it overwhelming and unfortunately I never went to college

I was hoping to buy a book or a course or even free videos online. But i want something that is structured into lesson’s or chapters so that im not piecing together a bunch of random youtube videos from different people

Where would you recommend i start?