r/ConstructionManagers

My dad is a project manager and he told me all I need would be a 2 year degree, and I was wondering what your guys thoughts on this.

Keeping this short and sweet

Currently at a start up company as a project manager and estimator. I'm getting paid $25/hr with overtime. Averaging like 48 hours a week but pushing 60 in the last few weeks as I'm trying to bring my first commercial TI project to a close. Project contract value was 400k. It was an office conversion to an autism therapy clinic. Been with the company for 11 months. Familiar with AIA contracts already. Been running this project pretty much by myself picking most of my subs and handling client communication and budgeting.

I'm still a student 2/3 into my degree program pursuing a BAS at my local college. Can I get picked up easily by a larger firm for a PE position? I feel like I could easily be slotted into that role as I wouldnt have to be taught much. I think I would get better mentorship at a larger firm?

Let me know what you guys think.

Hello all,

I’m back in school (32 years old) working on a construction management degree. I have a bit of construction knowledge working under a small residential GC, which is the reason I want to work in the construction world. I will be honest, I was more of labor help, doing demos and cleanups, I didn’t really get much experience with the actual back and front ends of the construction world… scheduling, management estimating etc…

I would love to get some sort of degree in CM, however I don’t think I have the time to do a full 4 year degree. Is there any positive outcome that a 2 year degree could provide me?

A strongpoint in my resume, is that I work full time as an ops manager in a different industry, not construction related, but I would say….adjacent. Without getting too specific, my portfolio with this company is pretty extensive, I manage a large number of staff, and some pretty important contracts for this company. I’ve been with this company for almost 7 years now, and I’ve never went to college.

Personally, I feel like it’s a stain on myself that I don’t have a degree. I do want to complete education beyond high school just so it doesn’t weigh on me as much, but again, I don’t think I will be able to do 4 years at my age, unless I find a position in construction allready, and continue my education while working. Is it worth doing 2 years?

Thank you all

Based on my last post, a windows computer is going to be much more beneficial for a CM degree/career. Any computer recommendations thatre affordable and good for CM?

Hi! I graduated with b.arch last year and I have been looking for junior roles since then with not much success!

After research I realized construction management has a better career growth. So I decided to do my masters instead of wasting more time by keep applying in this job market.

My question is does the MSCM worth it after B.Arch? And why?

What would you do if you were in my shoes? It took me 10 years to finish my b.arch due to many reasons. So I’m drained already from school and didn’t want to go back for masters but I have no other options atp.

By the way this subreddit talks about construction management as a career, I feel a little discouraged and worried about graduating and breaking into the field. Without stating any negatives about construction management, give me some positives/why you love this industry.

I’m in California, currently doing billing, collections, and compliance for a small family-run construction subcontractor. I was hired to help clear a backlog, but once I started it became obvious the problems were way bigger than anyone admitted. A few real examples of what I’ve dealt with:

**•** The company has almost no documented procedures or systems. A previous person ran everything and left with all the knowledge in her head, so I’ve basically been reconstructing how the business runs from scratch.
**•** There’s around $250k in uncollected receivables across projects that no one had visibility into, no aging report, no tracking, unclear what was billed or paid.
**•** Their systems aren’t connected and haven’t been for over a year, so basic reconciliation takes forever.
**•** When I flag problems, the response is essentially “you brought it up, so you figure it out” no ownership, no urgency, no added support.
**•** They promised paid holidays when they hired me, then didn’t pay them.
**•** It’s a husband-and-wife ownership, and there’s frequent tension (weird comments from the wife) /arguing in the office that makes the environment uncomfortable.
**•** I was told I’d get help and clearer scope, but I’m wearing way too many hats for what I was hired and paid to do.

There have also been situations around how money and job costs get handled that didn’t sit right with me — things like being asked verbally (never in writing) to record costs in ways that didn’t reflect where they actually belonged, and being told not to pursue collection on certain amounts. It made me uncomfortable enough that I started keeping my own notes.

I make $28/hr here. I just got a signed offer as a project coordinator at an established structural concrete contractor for the same hr rate and it’s been my dream company, it’s on the project-engineer track, which is the actual career I want and what my degree is in.

My current employer also verbally floated eventually moving me towards PM and that there is room to grow since they are just starting (4yr old company) but given no training or structure exists there, I don’t fully believe it.

Here’s the complication: the new job has a pre-employment drug screen Wednesday that includes THC. I’ve used cannabis nightly for sleep for about five months, I JUST started because I told my doctor I was concerned of taking too many pills (insomnia issues) and he mentioned the use of cannabis. HR said the test is for THC, and when I mentioned sleep, she said a doctor’s note would help so I got a CA medical cannabis recommendation. But after talking more directly, she made clear I still have to pass; the card is context, not a pass. I’ve stopped now but I’m worried five days isn’t enough after daily use.
I decided to come clean because this is my dream job and I live in CA, been in the industry and I have never had this experience.

I haven’t given notice yet. I have a backup another backup interview (accounting side of construction) on Monday.

My questions:

**1.** Is it worth leaving the higher-paying job for the lower-paying one that fits my career better? Has anyone been in my position?

**2.** Can I realistically clear an active-THC test in this timeframe after months of daily use?

**4.** Should I hold off on resigning until I have the test result?

Any advice appreciated — feeling a little overwhelmed and want outside perspective.

I'm starting a CM program soon but wasn't recommended by the school to use my MacBook for the softwares needed for the degree. P6 , revit, MATLAB, OST, and Naviswork are some of the softwares I'll br using. Should I buy another computer or will my Mac be just fine?

I've been working closely with a project team on a buildout (I'm the client) and would like to show my appreciation with some swag as we reach closeout. The team (1 PX, 1 PM, 1 APM, 1 super, and 1 PE) has been so great to work with and I've already relayed positive feedback and thanks to their leadership. I have also surprised them with lunches for their teams over the course of the project.

What types of swag would they appreciate? I'd love to do something out of the norm but am open to ideas.

Hi Everyone,

TLDR: For those of you who have experience doing permit or project management on utility scale solar, battery, or also large commercial PV, how did you get there? What qualifications did you have that made you a viable candidate for your job? Would you recommend it, any notable experiences, and what other jobs has it led to for you?
I would appreciate any advice, thoughts, opinions, or feedback you have.

I’m a permit manager for a solar design company that designs residential and commercial solar. I’ve been doing this for almost a decade and am interested in utility scale PV and battery projects. I’m curious about a permit management or project management role but am unsure of whether my experience is too narrow to be a quality candidate.

I permit for contractors plus ownerbuilder’s in Southern CA so I’ve had a very wide range of permitting experience across roof, ground, carport, off grid, generator, multi battery installs, simple electrical, PV lift and relay, etc. I don’t have an engineering, design, or install background and am more on the operations/management side. I also do the bookkeeping, manage daily client communications, discovery calls for those interested in our services, and generally just keep things moving through the business.

I’ve mostly worked with local AHJ’s, fire departments, some planning review boards, and one state level agency. I don’t have federal level experience or environmental. Most of my projects that either needed discretionary or environmental reviews were grounds mounts that got swapped to roof mounts when those issues arose.
I’m not interested in staying in resi solar, it’s a large part of what I do. I’m fortunate to have cut my teeth in it, but I’m wanting to try my hand at something new and fear I’ve stayed too long in a role that’s not evolving.

Thank you all in advance and I appreciate you taking the time to read this.

I figured out that a client that I’m working with had his punch list for a project living in 4 different places? Half in a text thread, half in a notes app, one photo buried in his camera roll from 3 weeks ago, and the rest just… in his head until a client asks about it.
With that said I’m curious what everyone’s current “system” actually looks like.

I’m about 4 weeks into a Project Engineer role with a commercial GC that specializes mostly in tenant improvements. The company does a high volume of smaller, fast-moving projects where speed, relationships, communication, and execution are critical.

I came from more of a field background before moving into this role, so I understand construction, but I’m still learning the office and project management side. I negotiated a higher-than-average salary coming in, so I know the expectation is that I need to provide value quickly.

The challenge is that the company is pretty chaotic. Great people, good culture, and a lot of experienced builders, but there is not a lot of structure. There are not many formal systems or standardized processes. A lot of information lives in people’s heads. PMs and Supers are moving extremely fast, projects are already underway when I’m added to them, and there is not much formal training because everyone is busy.

I’m not complaining about it. I actually see it as a great opportunity. If I can learn to succeed in this environment, I think it will make me much stronger long term. I also think there is an opportunity down the road to help create systems that make everyone’s job easier.

Right now I’m trying to build myself a simple project dashboard/checklist so I can stay on top of each job without waiting for someone to tell me what needs attention.

Currently tracking:

RFIs
Submittals
Subcontracts
Change orders

I’m realizing that is probably only part of the picture.

For those of you who are experienced PEs, PMs, Supers, or company leaders:

What should a strong PE be tracking every week?

What are the common things that get missed on fast-moving TI projects?

What information should I be getting from my Superintendent regularly?

If you had a newer PE who was motivated but thrown into a fast-paced company with minimal direction, what habits would make you think “this person gets it”?

For those who have worked at companies that were successful but lacked organization, what processes, checklists, or tools actually helped?

Appreciate any advice. I’m trying to become someone who makes projects run smoother, not just another person pushing paperwork around.

I hear everyone uses primavera p6. Is that the standard? It's quite expensive for a small company, do you guys just use google sheets or something?

Is primavera way better than the rest?

Whats up with these companies thinking they can pay you bottom dollar but hey we have great benefits and retirement! !

I rather get paid right for what i know and NOT get benefits… theres a sucker born every minute smh

Hey guys, been managing commercial builds in the Midwest for about 8 years now (mostly offices and some multifamily stuff around Chicago and Indy). Lately our projects have been getting bigger and the old combo of Quickbooks + Excel spreadsheets + Procore for field stuff is starting to kill me.

Last quarter alone we had a couple change orders that took forever to track properly, subs invoicing late, and by the time we caught the overrun on materials it was already eating into our margin like 12%. Felt like we were always reacting instead of knowing ahead of time. Anyone else dealing with this crap?

What are you all using these days that actually works without a massive headache? Or are you sticking with the patchwork and making it work?

Graduated about a month ago, working now as a PM (more like APM or PM in training) and getting my first project to run more or less as the PM. It’s a small project luckily ($500k). Please tell me what your process is when starting a project. Any tips/advice would be appreciated as well. Thank you.

I have over three years of experience in the data center industry, working in Project Controls, Financial Management, and currently as a Scheduler for one of the top five general contractors. Despite my experience and education, I feel like my salary has plateaued around $120k.

My friend Project Engineers or Commissioning (CX) Engineers with only 1–2 years of experience, especially in travel roles, earning $200k or more.

I’ve been considering earning my PMP certification and transitioning into a Project Engineer role, but I’m not sure if that’s the best path. I also have a bachelor’s degree in Business and an MBA in Finance.

Given my background, what would you recommend? Should I stay in Project Controls and aim for a senior role, move into Project Engineering or Project Management, or pursue another path that offers better long-term earning potential? I’d really appreciate any advice from people who have made a similar transition.

Hi guys! i recently did a phone screening interview with Turner for Engineering Assistant position. My interview was last week and I was told I would be given a status update by the end of this week or if I don’t hear in 2 week, I should reach out to them regarding the status update. The next step would be virtual interview. I wanted to know if anyone recently applied for this position and how long did it take you guys to receive an update for the next step! I would appreciate if you guys could let me know. Thank you!

What app or company do you guys recommend to get paid? We got awarded a big private project as a sub and were looking to upgrade to make it easier to get paid with our payment schedule.
Thanks.