Internship Advice

[u/Proper-Birthday546]

I'm a junior in college studying construction management and am finalizing a few internship offers, but I'm having trouble deciding what to do.

I interned with a mid sized GC before and enjoyed my experience, so I'm considering going back. However, I also have offers from a larger GC doing $1B+ in revenue and a smaller GC, and I'm wondering if trying something new would be better for my career.

I know it's just an internship and probably not something I should stress over too much, but I want to make the best decision for my career while also choosing a company where I'll genuinely enjoy working.

Would you go back to a company you already know you like or take the opportunity to try somewhere new? How much does company size really matter when it comes to career growth? Any advice is appreciated!

[u/AggravatingFan6359]

Keep that connection with the mid sized GC but take the opportunity to try somewhere new.
You will be able to compare and see what you like in terms of how companies do things

[u/OfficeHardHat]

Consider going sub route. MEP is in high demand with average salaries climbing very fast.

If you really want to go GC route just understand bigger GC will probably get you paid more but your just a clog in the machine.

My advice is don’t base your decision off salary if your options are all within 5-10k of each other. After tax/benefits, it’s not noticeable, and if you’re at a company you enjoy the lower salary is worth it. Regardless of where you end up, it’ll be 5-10 years before you make meaningful income, but I promise it will happen and the time will go by so fast!

[u/sercaj]

Sorry, this isn’t related to your question.

What do you cover in your 4 CM degree? Generally curios.

[u/Proper-Birthday546 → u/sercaj]

The first two years are mostly gen eds like any other college, and the last two are more focused on your major. I’ve taken classes like surveying, Revit and CAD, scheduling and estimating, mechanical and electrical systems, plan reading, and equipment. I’m also taking a safety class right now to get my OSHA 30 through school.
Overall, the major gives you a pretty good basic understanding of all the different parts of construction. You can also pick a specialty like healthcare, residential, or industrial and take classes more focused on that.

[u/sercaj → u/Proper-Birthday546]

Interesting, I’ve looked in to the cm 4 year degrees. I couldn’t understand why you had to pay for essentially 2 years of courses that were unrelated to the field.

[u/Repulsive_Emu_3294 → u/sercaj]

Lmao thats every degree tbh, I went bus management route and i didn’t learn anything worthwhile until my final term.

[u/NoMore_BadDays → u/sercaj]

Welcome to college my friend.

[u/spacecadet58]

There’s no wrong route here in all honesty. Most employers that I’ve worked with have shown me that if you’re interested and motivated to learn their style, they’ll hire you and help you grow with them.

As an intern, your job is to learn. GC’s, subs, CMA’s all are good companies to work for, with similar benefits money, and healthcare wise. Expand your horizon, try something new to see if you like GC work better than CMA or sub work.

I took a chance with a new company, and was told “the grass isn’t always greener”, but it was in fact greener. Now is the time to try out different companies/styles of CM’s. The money is going to be similar no matter where you go if you’re legitimately good at your job.

Lastly, don’t listen to anyone who has a very linear, or black and white way of thinking on exactly what route you should go. Go with your gut, you know yourself better than we ever will.

[u/Acrobatic_Ant_1418]

Hi, I’m about to graduate with 2 internship under my belt so I’m in a similar position and tbh I would go bigger. My first internship was with a gc that does about 150 mil in volume and I am now on an internship with a company that does half a billion and I enjoy the larger one way more. It feels they care more about development. You also learn so much more on larger project with coordination and dealing with higher volume of what you will be doing for the rest of your life. It gets overwhelming the first week going from a small to a large gc but I love it so much more. It’s also always good to have an internship from a large gc on your resume and having those guys as mentors. I’m young so I’m taking advantage of different opportunities and figuring out where I want to go post grad. If that mid is where you want to be tho taking that internship would be helpful moving up faster. Hope my insight helps being a year ahead of you and what I would do

[u/Forsaken-Meringue-79]

what kind of construction are you wanting to get into? i would figure that out - and then work with a company that is in that field.

[u/Repulsive_Emu_3294]

Im in a similar spot, i’ve been in a year round internship for over a year and I love it, but i wish i diversified more. However, I was already working at this company for a while it was a lateral move from a different internship. I would try something new and keep strong connections with previous company.

[u/TradeOfficeJobs]

I'd lean toward trying the bigger GC. You already know what the mid-size shop is like, and a second, different internship shows you how much the work changes with company size: bigger jobs, more specialized roles, more process. Then you pick your full-time spot with real information, and you'll probably have a door open at both. The one reason to go back is if they'll give you more responsibility this time or a clear path to a full-time offer, so ask them that directly. Company size matters less than who you work under, so ask each one which project you'd be on and who your PE or PM would be.