Construction management?

[Jude84]

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.

You're right about the code requirements. One of my professors encouraged me to try fire sprinkler design and earn the certification that goes with it. It's basically mostly building codes and such more than anything and with that he said you could write your own ticket.

I didn't want to get stuck in a niche so I didn't pursue it. But I found these Occupational Centers near me here that give extremely cheap classes. They're vocational classes and you can take them in AutoCad and Construction. I was floored at how cheap they are. Would it be worth it to switch over? I am paying 900 bucks a semester because it's coming from California State University vs a Vocational Occupational Center but both offer the same basic degree. Which would look better to employers? Does it matter in this business? I just want the best advantages I could find.

Codes and regulations should be easy to interpret. I am surprised this is an even an issue at all? I did pre-law in college along with Econ and read all the legalese and understand all the bureaucratic red tape that comes with bills, regulations, codes and whatnot. I am part of the land use committee at my local neighborhood council and we discuss specifics for certain land use permits all the time.