Construction management?

[Jude84]

Anyone in here work or is familiar with the construction industry? I am interested in a construction management certificate offered at the local extension school. It teaches you estimating, bidding and project management. I am also finishing up an Architectural/Engineering AutoCad certificate degree in the spring. Would both degrees combined be good for me in this market? I am planning on getting an internship or some summer work at my father in law's construction company but after that I want to be on my own.

Would it be best to just go to school full time and get an architecture or civil engineering degree or would these two certificate programs be enough to enter the field?

[Prloko]

I would always recommend an engineering degree above everything since with an engineering degree, you can basically do anything. I think the most important part is having a good work over some certificates, so I would recommend you get some good work experience at the in law's company in addition to the education.

[Jude84]

I would not be able to handle all that upper level complex math and theory so the engineering degree is out of the question. The best I can do is engineering auto cad to design and read blueprints. The construction management is to learn estimating, bidding and project management.

[JohnnyHeck]

The construction industry varies greatly throughout the country. Here in the South, many people without even a HS degree have worked their way up from the trades into project management. That being said, the larger commercial construction companies are starved for educated trade knowledgeable personnel. Your CAD training and construction management certificate could be enough to get you an entry level spot in these larger commercial firms especially if you have added some actual field practice which it sounds like it might be available through your family. If your local CC has AAS (Applied Associate Science), this would be the best way to go if you could work at the same time in the field. However, you will have to get some Gen-Ed and you really do need to write decently for creating proposals and specifications. Whatever area of construction you target to work in, find the trade associations related to them. All of these have courses and certificate programs that will help you both finding a job and being successful in it. If you are not a bonafide tradesman and are coming into construction as just a young "whippersnapper" wannabe manager you must learn the trades related to your area of construction or you will never have the respect that you will need to be successful. You don't have to actually work as a tradesman to gain the skill level of speed all that much, but you better know as much or more technical knowledge than they do. Good luck.

[Jude84]

The construction industry varies greatly throughout the country. Here in the South, many people without even a HS degree have worked their way up from the trades into project management. That being said, the larger commercial construction companies are starved for educated trade knowledgeable personnel. Your CAD training and construction management certificate could be enough to get you an entry level spot in these larger commercial firms especially if you have added some actual field practice which it sounds like it might be available through your family. If your local CC has AAS (Applied Associate Science), this would be the best way to go if you could work at the same time in the field. However, you will have to get some Gen-Ed and you really do need to write decently for creating proposals and specifications. Whatever area of construction you target to work in, find the trade associations related to them. All of these have courses and certificate programs that will help you both finding a job and being successful in it. If you are not a bonafide tradesman and are coming into construction as just a young "whippersnapper" wannabe manager you must learn the trades related to your area of construction or you will never have the respect that you will need to be successful. You don't have to actually work as a tradesman to gain the skill level of speed all that much, but you better know as much or more technical knowledge than they do. Good luck.

Excellent. Yes, I know that experience is valued much higher than just education. That's why I intend to ask my father in law to work for his company for at least six months to get my feet wet. From there he can refer me to other companies as he is pretty well established in his field.

The AutoCad certificate I am about to get teaches intro, intermediary, and advanced Auto Cad for design and blueprint reading. Hopefully I will be able to design and read blueprints pretty well. Coupled with the experience I intend to get with my father in law's company, and then I hope to get the construction management certificate which will teach me estimating, bidding and project management. Afterwards I may go back to my father in law's business or another company.

But with these things under my belt would it be enough to really get out there and earn an entry level spot on my own? I don't need to get any Gen Ed courses out of the way because I already have my bachelors degree in Economics from a pretty reputable university. I've been writing academic research papers since I set foot in the classroom.

[JohnnyHeck]

That's why I intend to ask my father in law to work for his company for at least six months to get my feet wet. From there he can refer me to other companies as he is pretty well established in his field.

The AutoCad certificate I am about to get teaches intro, intermediary, and advanced Auto Cad for design and blueprint reading. Hopefully I will be able to design and read blueprints pretty well. Coupled with the experience I intend to get with my father in law's company, and then I hope to get the construction management certificate...
But with these things under my belt would it be enough to really get out there and earn an entry level spot on my own? I don't need to get any Gen Ed courses out of the way because I already have my bachelors degree in Economics from a pretty reputable university. I've been writing academic research papers since I set foot in the classroom.

The way I am interpreting your sequence of knowledge and career plans is as follows: BA Econ., Auto CAD, 6 mos. Field Experience with family, Entry job outside of family, Project Management Certificate, Management Job, Successfully manage the family business. I think the CAD training with enough practical application to get your speed up will get you in the door if your target firm uses Auto CAD and doesn't have to train you. You will want to find a size of company that will gradually give you more and more assignments in the field as your knowledge of the business grows. I am not sure why you can't rely on your father-in-laws advice here.

[Jude84]

The way I am interpreting your sequence of knowledge and career plans is as follows: BA Econ., Auto CAD, 6 mos. Field Experience with family, Entry job outside of family, Project Management Certificate, Management Job, Successfully manage the family business. I think the CAD training with enough practical application to get your speed up will get you in the door if your target firm uses Auto CAD and doesn't have to train you. You will want to find a size of company that will gradually give you more and more assignments in the field as your knowledge of the business grows. I am not sure why you can't rely on your father-in-laws advice here.

Problem is that he's in another state and I am in California. I would just fly over there and work for a while. I could just stay there and re-locate if I landed something bigger. And I was only going to do that in case I found absolutely no work here in Los Angeles. Asking the father in law to work for him is last resort.

What are the chances of landing an entry level gig, I am talking about anything, even administrative work for a local construction company with the AutoCad certificate/training? Only after six months or a year would I then pursue the Construction Management degree.

I had a friend once who worked for a big firm as CAD drafter and was making 60k and he had no degree whatsoever. He just met a guy while golfing and landed the job. So I wonder what the value of experience is at the entry level position?

[toddsbiyj]

Penn Foster has a Construction Technology AAS that would probably lend well to your field of choice and goals. With your previous education this would be relatively cheap and quick and would present depth in the basics. You have the fancy tick-in-in-the-box BA, now you need the hands on experience(1) with some vocational specific training(2) that you are already working on to get in the management positions.

[Jude84]

Penn Foster has a Construction Technology AAS that would probably lend well to your field of choice and goals. With your previous education this would be relatively cheap and quick and would present depth in the basics. You have the fancy tick-in-in-the-box BA, now you need the hands on experience(1) with some vocational specific training(2) that you are already working on to get in the management positions.

I will look into that too thanks! There is a vocational school near me. You think these vocational training places have practical courses or training?

The only thing that is keeping me a bit nervous is finding any entry level work or internships after I finish my Auto Cad training. With no experience can you land something. anything in construction? Even if I cut my teeth doing administrative work?

[JohnnyHeck]

In the LA job market you certainly can land an entry CAD job somewhere, but I don't know enough about today's construction scene in LA. I was LA aerospace some years ago and in that industry CAD would always get you started. Try an online search for target industry jobs in your area and what their application pre-reqs are. The largest firms will put up with your learning curve for speed and/or different CAD software package. Then you could move to the mid-size firm which would throw a wide variety of experiences at you by necessity. One thing I failed to mention earlier: As you try to gain a foothold in the trade heavy construction business I think your fastest route from CAD to management is through becoming an expert in specifications and code requirements. Trades people are notoriously weak in this area, even the one who have advanced to management, and the man who can interpret the requirements for the supervisors on the job will quickly become very valuable. With your fine educational background you should just devour this kind of stuff if you put your mind to it. Good luck.