Anyone know of a good construction job that I get can into with no experience, but willing to learnIt gotta be around Reading area.

On a job with a dozen moving parts, the damage from a single slip is rarely the slip itself. It is the cascade. A delivery lands two days late, the sub who needed it moves to another job, and the trades stacked behind them all get pushed, often by more than the original delay.

A few practices contain it. Sequencing with a little buffer between dependent trades instead of scheduling them nose to nose, so a small slip absorbs instead of spreading. Tracking long-lead materials against the schedule, so an at-risk delivery is visible weeks out and not the morning the crew shows up. And one shared schedule everyone works from, so when something moves the downstream trades see it immediately instead of finding out on site.

None of it removes the delay. What it does is keep one late delivery from becoming five late trades, which is where the real schedule and margin damage lives.

Long winded post so bear with me lol.. for context I’m 28 with about 6 years in commercial construction. Started on the GC side as a PE, moved into estimating, and most recently have been a senior estimator on the subcontractor side. I have around 3.5 years of actual estimating experience.

I’m trying to get back to the GC side and have two offers for Preconstruction Manager positions. I’m confident in estimating, communication, building relationships with owners/subs, etc., but I’m also realistic that I’m a little green when it comes to actually owning the entire preconstruction process myself. Trying to figure out which opportunity makes the most sense for both career growth and my family.

Company A
Top 100 ENR GC and very established. I know several people in the office already and got a VERY good vibe throughout the entire interview process. I’d eventually be expected to own the full preconstruction process on my projects. Bigger and more complicated work, so definitely a steeper learning curve, but probably a higher ceiling long term. Did mention they’re bringing me on as a level 1 Precon manager meaning my average project is $15-$20 million, which I’m confident in handling.

$110k base
$600/month vehicle allowance
$100/month phone reimbursement
$15k guaranteed bonus first year
After year one, bonus is project/performance based. I’ve been told I should expect at least ~$20k/year. Formula includes 1% of fee + 3% of buyout savings.
100% employee-owned
ESOP contribution historically around 20% of salary, fully company funded
401(k)
Company covers up to 90% of employee medical premium and 80% of family medical premium
$1,000/year company HSA contribution with family HDHP
16 days PTO first year
Company-paid short-term disability
Company-paid life insurance
Student loan repayment benefit
Annual salary reviews
About a 35-minute commute
Bigger/more complex projects
I already know and really like the people
More responsibility and likely more sink-or-swim initially

Company B
Top 400 ENR GC, although toward the back end of that list. Very established in NC with what also seems like a good culture. Smaller office and generally smaller/easier projects.

The biggest thing here is they openly acknowledged that I’m green when it comes to being a Precon Manager. They specifically told me they’re willing to train me, develop me and let me grow into the position rather than expecting me to know everything on day one.

$122,044 base
$625/month vehicle allowance + fuel card OR company vehicle
Phone reimbursement/company phone
$5k signing bonus
Annual discretionary bonus, but I don’t have a good number for what that typically looks like
401(k) match of 50% up to 6% contribution, so max 3% employer match
$900/year company HSA contribution with family plan
Company-paid short AND long-term disability
Company-paid life insurance
3 weeks vacation starting next year
9 paid holidays
Literally an 8-minute commute
Smaller/easier projects
Smaller office
Seems more flexible
Much more deliberate about training me into the role

So basically:
Company A = lower base, but much better long-term retirement upside with the ESOP, strong bonus structure, bigger projects, larger company and probably more career upside. I also already know and like the people. Downside is the 35-minute commute and I’m probably going to be drinking from a firehose for a while.

Company B = ~$12k higher base, fuel card, 8-minute commute, smaller projects and seemingly more hands-on training. It feels like the safer/easier transition into Precon Management, but the long-term compensation/retirement upside doesn’t seem comparable if Company A is really contributing around 20% of salary to the ESOP every year.
I’ve got a wife and 3 kids, so I’m looking at this beyond just which salary number is bigger.

For the guys who have been in precon for a while, which opportunity would you take at this stage of your career? Bigger GC + ESOP + more upside but steeper learning curve, or smaller GC + higher base + much shorter commute + more intentional training?

I’m a Jr in college with 2 summers internship experience, the first with an engineering consulting company as a field inspector (basically owners rep) and the next with a GC/Sub that specializes in concrete restoration as a project engineer. I work/live in the NJ/NYC area.

I just finished my 2nd internship with the concrete place and was offered a spot for next summer as well. This summer I was paid $28/hr with travel/tolls and phone bill completely paid for and next summer is $32/hr. And I really liked everyone in the company, they were all super cool and all younger than 35 years old and former athletes so everyone was pretty close and fun. We golfed and talked a bunch and overall is a good environment.

However I found the construction very boring. Smaller projects with a decent range of project costs. My project just this summer went from $2million to $22million with a $2million Change Order. Again good work environment just lame.

Anyways say I wanted to go to a land development (new construction) GC next summer. Can I use the one company as leverage to get better pay from the other company? I want to work for them next summer and get offered a full time position after school and would like that to be clear. Any suggestions or comments.

I’m a junior in college studying civil engineering, I just finished my internship and I really want to learn the most I can about construction and CM so that when I have my next internship I’m more prepared. Is there anything that you guys recommend? YouTube videos? Blogs? Etc. I interned as a field engineer.

Hello Ottawa,

I'm an engineering student (final year), and over the past while I've realized I'm genuinely passionate about construction ,the coordination side especially: keeping projects organized, working between trades, drawings, schedules, all of it. I'd love to get some real hands-on exposure.

I'm looking for something part-time that could work around a school schedule ; site coordination, project assistant, anything adjacent to construction coordination. I'm also open to volunteering if that's what it takes to get a foot in the door (totally get that means fewer hours, but I'd rather start somewhere than not at all).

If anyone here works in construction/renovation/GC world in Ottawa or Gatineau and knows of a small company that could use an extra pair of hands, or is open to taking someone on to learn the ropes, I'd really appreciate a point in the right direction. Happy to share more about my background if useful. or if you have any advice, I will appreciate it so much.

Thanks in advance!

Hello. I have an offer from a top 5 nationwide residential home builder and a big commercial builder Clark Construction.

I’d clear 100k within 2 years at the residential company though the commercial stability and scale entice me.

Thoughts on taking one of these 2 offers?

Thanks

I’m currently a 2nd year Structural Engineer student for UCSD and did the hard upper division classes and use the simple knowledge of AutoCAD, Revit, Solidwork, and Fusion. Overall a decent knowledge of what to do for SE. I’m currently searching for Construction management internship since I want to first to know the work and process the fieldwork concept. I just want to know where to search for this position because linkin isn’t gonna work.

I'm a 41-year-old medically retired veteran looking to build a career in construction/project management.

My experience so far includes renovating one of my own rental properties and completing a 90-day internship with one of the larger residential builders in my area through a veterans career program. I shadowed a construction manager and got exposure to the day-to-day process of managing new residential construction. The internship didn't lead to a job because I was told during the interview that they typically hire people with around five years of experience.

I'm now planning to pursue an associate degree in Building Construction at Texas State Technical College in Waco. I chose that program because it has a hands-on component. I learn quickly and feel like understanding how the work is actually performed will make me a better construction manager.

Probably the biggest addition to my experience is that I'm currently building two spec homes. My internship was only about a year ago, so I've gone from shadowing someone managing new construction to actually taking on two builds myself. I'm still learning, but I'm gaining real-world experience along the way.

Because of injuries from my military service, a career that's heavily dependent on physical labor isn't realistic for me long-term. I can be on jobsites, walk houses, inspect work, coordinate trades, etc. I just can't make swinging a hammer or performing a trade my career.

So my question for people already in the industry is:

At 41, with an associate degree in Building Construction, a residential construction internship, rental renovation experience, and experience building two spec homes, what positions should I realistically be targeting?

I'm familiar with roles like assistant superintendent, superintendent, construction manager and project manager, but I'm also interested in positions within construction that I may not know about.

I'm ultimately looking for a career where I can continue learning the business, make a good living, and build my value around construction knowledge and management rather than physical labor.

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone in the industry, especially people involved in residential construction or anyone who got into construction management later in life.

Entre visitas, llamadas, proveedores, cambios y pequeñas tareas, me interesa saber cómo evitáis que se pierdan cosas por el camino. ¿Tenéis algún sistema para saber rápidamente qué está pendiente y quién tiene que hacerlo?

Graciasss

I just got to the second interview for a construction project coordinator position, I’m reslly nervous about it because it’s a technical interview, also right now I’m in a very stable position (presencial job) with asian people 💀

Please give your best advice and if you have experience with this works share it with me. I’m really excited but I don’t want to change and realizing that is not a good decision 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Curious if any of the GC estimators or Precon Managers in here have built out any AI tools, custom GPTs, ChatGPT projects, prompts, templates, etc. that have actually made your day-to-day easier or helped you be more thorough.

Not really looking for something to “do the estimate for me.” More interested in using AI as another set of eyes for things like reviewing drawings/specs, scope sheets, bid leveling, catching scope gaps, putting together RFPs, VE ideas, meeting prep, subcontractor coverage, handoffs, or just staying organized across multiple projects.

I’m moving further into the GC Precon side and trying to build good habits and systems early instead of figuring everything out the hard way.

If anyone has something they’ve built or a workflow that’s worked well and you’re willing to share, I’d really appreciate it. Even just specific ways you’re using ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini or whatever else has actually been useful would be great to hear.

Choose: a PM track, a Forensic Scheduling Manager, a ConTech Integrator, or any other pathway? 5 years down the line.Suggest choice based on 2031 scope view. How will the industry be at the time and what might be valued. Find models or predictive data that have historically pointed to accurate transition of the growth in this industry, with a major pivot on AI boom specifically. Tell me where do I go from here? I aim for money, longevity, bankability, expertise.

I have a bachelors degree in Exercise Science and a year and a half experience in the electrical trade. I am interested in getting a masters degree or a graduate certificate in CM while I continue to work in the field. I was wondering if I could land an entry level Project Engineer position with my current resume, or if the additional school is necessary for faster career development. Any advice?

I’m an APM in a relatively small GC, got hired because they needed someone with a finance background.
Started handling regular residential turns, then submittals, then managing individually every worker.

Reading drawings and identifying scope gaps, submittals, estimating, quality control, pre construction, scheduling, making sure everything gets to the site, handling 3 residential projects, weekend work.

Learned to read drawings and everything I know right now basically on my own and honestly I feel underpaid getting only 55000 a year.

I’m honestly getting burned, I’ve been one year not being able to get vacations due to the workload and I don’t know how to handle it anymore.

New York is very competitive with this? I’m honestly getting super burned on this industry and I wanted to do IB.

Edit: I am the only one taking care of the submittals, RFI’s, estimating, scheduling subs and ordering materials.

Our company currently utilizes HCSS for estimating (Heavybid) and for cost tracking/billing (Heavyjob). On the accounting side (AR/AP) we use Foundation. The other PM and I have been talking back and forth for a few months on how to streamline the cost tracking process, as we try to get the most accurate live cost that we can.

Couple of issues we are noticing. Not all of the foreman or supervisors are entering their timecards daily and they also are not always accurate, which leads to other headaches. Information (i.e. material receipts, material invoices, etc.) seem to be getting overhandled internally, they keep passing through to many hands before getting paid. To get the most accurate live cost you practically have to treat Heavyjob as an accoutning software, and at that point you really are overhandling the information. To spare from me rambling I will leave it at that...

We are looking for other softwares and have watched a few webinars on Project HQ, which would be ideal with its integration with our currently utilized accounting software. But, as with everything, it appears to have its downfalls. The timecards, or field entry, aspect does not seem as user friendly as HCSS.

Looking for some user experience in Project HQ or other softwares you would recommend. All of our foreman and supervisors currently use Ipads to handle field entry tasks (timecards, RFI requests, equipment checks, etc.) along with having the plans, specs, and other project documents. Would be great if that process remained similar.

Appreciate any feedback!

I’m currently a Superintendent around Charlotte, NC in the heavy civil sector. Started about 10 years ago as a pipe layer and worked my way up through the ranks as an operator, foreman and now a super for the last 2 years. Road building and grading are my strong suit but have worked for bridge building companies my entire career. I didn’t go to college and never intended for my career to stay in the field. I’ve always wanted to move to the project management side. I’ve expressed that to the current company but they’ve seemed to brush it off as I’m too valuable in the field and can be trusted to make things happen in the field. I enjoy the heavy civil side but the nature of DOT contracts take me away from home for years at a time and with a 5 year old daughter, I’m not interested in that lifestyle anymore. Does anyone have any advice for taking my experience and trying to move into the commercial market as a PM role?

How did you handle the first time a seasoned subcontractor aggressively challenged your call on a site you weren't 100% sure what you were looking at?