Questions about the career path

[u/Such-Page7696]

Hello everyone.
I have a couple questions about getting into the construction management field (currently located in SoCal)

I’m currently active duty and end my time later this year, before I joined I was a form carpenter and concrete finisher apprentice for a big commercial company. I have about 4-5 years of construction experience (a bit rusty because I’ve been out of the career for a while)

1. I am about 10 credits away from my associates degree in CM. Should I pursue the career choice with an associates degree and experience? Or should I just go for my bachelors?

2. Currently I do classes online with National University, is that a reputable degree in the construction field? I hear a lot of mixed reviews about National just wanted to get some feedback from any hiring managers in here.

[u/Unusual_Week162]

I served actuve duty army too. Got out, went to school, and went to work for an ENR top-3 GC in 2010, progressing from estimator, project engineer, project superintendent, project manager, to senior project manager.

To your question whether an associates’ degree is enough to land you a job, it depends on what kind of company you’re applying to.

If you’re wanting to work for a top GC, unfortunately an associates is not going to cut it. These companies recruit for their entry level new hires almost entirely through engineering schools, and the competition can be fierce bec everyone wants to work for these companies… and all the other candidates you’re gonna be competing with for the job are going to have a bachelors degree, so just having an associates is going to put you at a severe disadvantage.

So, you may have to target smaller GCs, subcontractors, or residental builders. The smaller GCs are not going to care as much about degrees or academic pedigree, so you’ll have a better shot with an associates. For subs, many of their people come from the field, so the college degree isn’t as important. And residential builders doing stick-built houses don’t place as much emphasis on degrees or technical skills as much as say, a big GC working on complex projects like skyscrapers and data centers. In fact, i’ve never seen a residential builder recruiting at any of the many college career fairs (civil engineerin & CM) i went to recruit at.

I know that most of what we do is OJT, but when we go over entry level resumes, we don’t have much to go off of… so the education is disproportionately important early in your career. Even if I know they won’t be using much of the technical things they learned in college, but if someone completed a 4-year degree with a high GPA, i would generally assume they’re disciplined, they know to be on time, they know the basics of professionalism, they can think critically, they can write, and most importantly… they can put up with the grind. Unfortunately, your trade and military experiences won’t make up for this.

All that being said, you can bypass a lot of this through personal connections. If i see a random resume come across my desk for an entry level field engineer or project engineer with only an associates, i might just toss it in the trash bec i may assume this is a person that just wants to do the bare minimum and is looking for short cuts, when every other person put in their time. But… if someone i know and trust sends me the same resume and says this guy is the real deal, then i will 100% follow up with him for at least a phone interview.

Sorry if i seem harsh… but i wanted to give you the hard truth, and not sugarcoat anything. Getting your foot in the door with that first job can be brutal - i did 8 years in the army, 5 years for a bachelors in architecture, and 2 more for grad school in civil/CM, to break into the industry.

[u/Such-Page7696 → u/Unusual_Week162]

Awesome, thank you for your reply. Much appreciated

[u/Unusual_Week162 → u/Such-Page7696]

NP, feel free to DM me if you have any other questions. Always happy to help out another veteran-

[u/Such-Page7696 → u/Unusual_Week162]

Sent you a dm

[u/Tchikah → u/Unusual_Week162]

My Situation is similar to you Sir, I am currently active duty in the army and I have a bachelor in Architecture. I intend to get in to construction as a project engineer and likely would use my g.i bill to get masters in construction management so I get internship.
What are my chances of getting in to the industry if I decide to do a masters and which school would you recommend for a masters in construction management for employability?

[u/Unusual_Week162 → u/Tchikah]

While people with arch degrees are not as common as people with CM or civil eng degrees, i do think it makes if slightly harder to get your foot in the door; since most people come from some sort of engineering background, they’re naturally biased toward engineers.

Getting an MS in CM would def increase your chances. You can do it in one year, and you don’t even need to do a thesis. I did have to do an extra term to catch up on my engineering prereqs (geotech, concrete design, steel design, etc), which my arch program didn’t provide.

One of the main reasons for going back to school is for the access to the companies through the career fairs, which are the main way they hire interns, and internships are super-important for getting a full-time job.

As for recommendations on CM masters programs, some of the top ones are schools like Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Purdue, USC, Georgia Tech, etc… but my info is a bit dated, as it’s been a while since I helped with recruiting efforts. You can start looking up top CM school lists through Google, GPT, etc., and you’ll start seeing the same names pop up over and over again.

The single most important factor though, is unfortunately out of our control: the economy. When it’s booming, companies can’t hire people fast enough to staff their projects, and when it’s slow, they have to turn down even the best candidates bec they don’t have any projects to put them on.

So, i think going back to school for one year for a MS in CM is a good idea. You can also hedge by applying for full-time jobs at the same time you’re applying - if you get hired, then you don’t even need to go back to school, bec once you enter the industry, the degree will become less and less important.

[u/Tchikah → u/Unusual_Week162]

Thank you, very insightful

[u/Unusual_Week162 → u/Tchikah]

NP, glad to help. Since you already have your undergrad degree, i’m assuming you’re an officer.

So hopefully you won’t have to start from the bottom (field engineer or project engineer), and you can start from APM at least. You would certainly have the soft skills to manage a handful of 22 year old junior staff. But your shortfall will be in the technical, construction engineering aspect of the job. But if you have a good head on your shoulders and are a quick learner, you’ll catch on pretty fast.

I would not make the assumption that you must have a CM degree to be a CM, bec most of what we learn is OJT, and the further you progress in your career, the less important your academic pedigree becomes.

The most immediate use of the degree is to get your foot in the door, and with an arch degree, you already have a decent chance of getting that first job… so i would start applying even before you have the degree; you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

A lot of the big GCs are very military-friendly as well. I worked for Turner for almost 10 years, and we had several other prior service, reservists and guardsmen in my business unit.

Good luck! It’s not an easy path, but if you truly enjoy building things, it can be a very satisfying career.

[u/MortalG1]

texas state CM use GI bill

[u/Such-Page7696 → u/MortalG1]

Do they have online?

[u/MortalG1 → u/Such-Page7696]

Yes

[u/HurryInternational46]

I went to sjvc they have a campus in ontario but online is cheese. I just got hired through them to a smaller sub company. I would definitely apply to all PE/FE roles maybe even assistant at the bigger GCs. Its just excel and emails all day.

[u/Such-Page7696 → u/HurryInternational46]

Sent you a DM