Many roads lead to construction management; they are long and full of hard work. Despite this rough path, there is much satisfaction gained by people who enter into this industry. It is a good opportunity for anyone who is thinking of joining the workforce directly after earning an associates degree from community college. Construction manager is an often-overlooked occupation, because to become one you must have many skills and much experience in the field. A construction manager must have a skill-set including: time management, negotiation, persuasion, problem solving and decision-making. The issues of public safety, human resources, customer service and mathematics are also integral parts of the business of construction management.
Gain Experience
To become a construction manager, a person must gain knowledge and skills primarily from experience, which means starting on the bottom rung of the construction ladder. An individual may begin a career as a carpenter or plumber’s assistant. When the individual works and gains knowledge, that person may move on to working with concrete or steel. To advance to construction project management, the individual must have a broad range of knowledge in the areas of project planning, cost management and proposal, time and quality management, contract administration and safety management, aside from having hands-on experience in building.
The Day to Day
Once a project manager, that person will be involved in several stages of development from bidding for a project to designing, procuring materials and laborers, and then on to actual construction. All those involved in these areas of production are relying on that one individual, the construction manager. There is much pressure and responsibility placed on the shoulders of the manager, but that is what makes the job so exciting and gratifying.
Early in the day, the project manager may be ensuring that the proper number of light towers be placed on a job site; while later, may be reviewing the owner-designer contract to make sure that it aligns with the owner-contractor contract. On Monday, the construction manager may be atop a sixty-foot roof inspecting the installation of solar paneling, and by Friday, may be finding the way through the site with the county inspector for the final inspection. There is a fast pace to this role in management, but it is up to the construction manager to ensure and inspire those involved in all aspects to be equally as enthusiastic and competent in their responsibilities. Regardless, when the manager knows the owner accepted the bid, the most capable general contractor took the job, a project reached owner occupancy, there has been success and a job well done completed.
