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Originally Posted by trd55
Getting the construction management degree is great. Just don't become one of those people who sit there and bark orders from the ivory tower without knowing how stuff works in the field. Make sure you make all inclusive contracts and learn how to live and die by the contract and its verbage. It becomes a game of cat and mouse with subcontractors and do not leave things to interpretation. You superintendents will love you for this.
Where are you going to school?
If you are really lucky, you will realize that the office is not where you want to be, and follow the path of being a Superintendent. 
Since when is being ACI grade 1 certified a requirement to be a construction manager.
I know a lot of companies are requiring their employees to be OSHA 10 certified regardless of position. Might as well get the 30 hour out of the way. It looks as that is where things are head anyways, and looks good on your resume. |
True. I did the OSHA 30, as did Cookiemonster. I'm back in the Safety Manager game for a huge commercial builder, and he's working as a Safety Manager for another large scale developer on a huge refinery project. The OSHA 30 should be required for anyone working in construction IMHO.
As far as being a Project Manager is concerned, don't waste time doing residential. You'll be out of work quick, again and again. Stick with high rise commercial. Hospitals, university buildings, utility plants, towers, casinos, refineries, malls, etc.
The outfit I'm working with has paperwork signed for the jobs we're starting over the next 6 years. We're slammed and hiring guys in the trades from all over the country. Commercial work in California is absolutely crazy insane right now.
I've done the Project Manager deal, and it's a good career path, but like everything else in construction, you need to diversify and cover you bases. It may be a long time before you get up to a PM job. You may become a Project Engineer dealing with layout and blueprints, or a myriad of other positions before they put you in as a PM. It just takes time. The company I work for now wants me to go into being a PM again, but I like Safety and will probably hang out in that capacity for some time to come.
In the meantime, get all of the certs you can. I know of a lot of guys who have worked in a half dozen positions before becoming a Project Manager. Hang in there, it will work out.
Congrats, by the way.
By the way, the worst Project Managers in the world are the guys straight out of college who have no real world construction experience. Get a job on the side doing some type of construction work. You'll never learn about what really happens in construction by reading a book. As a Project Manager, I'd never hire a guy who didn't have a few years under his belt of real world experience because they just can't relate to the dynamics and personalities that are present on every job. They will eat you alive, especially if you've never dealt with the unions or organized trades. Get a part time job working for a Contractor, residential or otherwise. Commercial is even better and certainly more valuable as far as experience goes. Almost any type of "real world" production oriented construction will help. Seriously. Backyard sheds and weekend projects don't count.
Walking jobs doesn't count either. You need to have feet on the ground.
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