Big day--my first time in the front of a classroom at the University of Nevada, Reno. Great to be teaching again. Thank you Prof. Seri Park for the invitation. I get to lecture on my second favorite professional topic (behind tower cranes): estimating. Questions? Holler at me: [email protected]

As many of you know, my daughter Ella is a second-year construction management student at Boise State. Given that I taught construction management for over 20 years, I am used to getting late-night calls about homework. Once Ella’s friends found out my prior profession, I get even more questions. Increasingly, the questions are not about homework (I think they are tired of my 30-minute soliloquies on glorious nature of estimating), but careers. With contractors starting the recruiting process for project engineers and interns earlier in the year (seriously…September?), I should not have been shocked when I was asked: what should we wear to job fairs and interviews?
 
This question caught me off guard. I am not sure why, as I have been to many career fairs and have interviewed for jobs several times in my life. However, for better or worse, our styles and formalities are changing. As I waxed philosophically about this question, Ella snapped me out of my dialog and said “we need to know now! The job fair is tomorrow!” So I gave some snap advice that I was able to summarize in the matrix below (which, I might add, I’m kind of proud of):

In spite of giving the best answer I could under the pressure of time, I could not stop thinking about this question. Specifically, are ties preferred for an interview…do they look professional or desperate? Do CM students get a pass because the wardrobe necessary to work in the field is a lot different than working in an office? Does the advice change for interns versus PEs? What about women? And on and on and on…
 
So rather than leave this to my speculation or chance, I reached out to some professionals who hire interns and PEs for a living. I have known each of these people for years and they are really good at hiring. They represent general and specialty contractors and work around the country. In other words, trust what you read below.  The experts are:
 

• Kathy Abbott, Senior HR Business Partner, Cupertino Electric Inc.
  
• Heman Chand, Vice President, S+B James Construction
  
• Adam Holguin, Business Development Director, McCarthy Building Companies Inc.
  
• Emily Kocher, Director of Recruiting, Walsh Group
  
• Henry Meier, Project Executive, Swinerton Builders
  
• Michelle Weakley, Manager or Recruitment, Performance Contracting, Inc.
  

 
I am going to start with the advice that best supports my diagram. One of the experts agrees that the chinos and long-sleeved collar shirt are appropriate for both career fairs and job interviews. In fact, they take appearance seriously enough that they will score candidates down if they are not dressed professionally with chinos and long-sleeved collar shirt being table stakes. Not wearing something as nice as chinos and a button-up shirt will not eliminate people from consideration, but it does not help. And before I go further, everyone assumes college students do not have unlimited budgets for clothing, but chinos and a button-up shirt should not break your bank and you will (should?) have opportunities to wear them outside of job interviews. These are pretty common elements of an adult wardrobe. If you buy from Banana Republic, J. Crew, etc. and avoid overly “stylish” forms of clothing (super tight skinny pants, drawstrings, etc.), you will be fine. And nice pants and shirt work just as well for women as it does men.
 
Having started there, the overwhelming majority of the experts stated that HOW your present yourself matters more than what you are wearing. There are many shades of gray to their advice, but it can be summarized by this statement: “I let their personality and resume do the talking”. Many of the experts said they are looking for builders so that should come through in your interview/conversations. That said, let’s dig into those shades of gray:

• Career fairs are more casual than in-office interviews. Recruiters understand you could be in between classes, on your way to a job, etc. But you should still look clean and professional. As one expert put it for career fairs: “I think a smart option would be to dress in clean, pressed clothing such as a polo and nice jeans with boots, or slacks with a nice shirt for a woman.” That is the floor. As another expert put it: “I appreciate when a young person takes the time to look presentable at a job fair because it tells me they are intentional and serious.”
• For interviews, particularly in-office, dial it up. Business casual (i.e. the green chino/long-sleeved button-up square above) is expected. I like this advice from one of the experts: “In an interview, dressing-to-impress is more influential, because it shows that you care and are putting your best foot forward to show your professionalism and business demeanor.” Preach!
• Beyond business casual, the advice was mixed. Two experts stated “If a candidate is wearing a suit, I worry they won’t fit in and it sort of counts against them” and “The days of the full suit are out, especially in hot climates.” But before you praise the heavens that you should never consider a coat and/or tie, contemplate that one expert said “Suit and tie, for example are not required but if a student feels like dressing up to that extent then I encourage it and appreciate it.  The student should feel confident in what they are wearing and how they look.”

 
So it is not totally cut and dried. To be on the safe side, err on the side of more dressed up than not. However, if you do not have access to chinos and a nice button up shirt, then wear your best jeans, a clean polo shirt, and dazzle them with your capabilities!
 
Here are some more timely and accurate pieces of wisdom from the experts:

• “Kids from rural areas (author’s note: Boise, I’m looking at you!) may think that Wrangler jeans, a fancy belt buckle and cowboy boots with a button-down shirt is acceptable and I agree because that is what they know and feel comfortable in. Feeling good about how you are dressed can only bolster confidence.”
• “I would recommend dressing more conservatively than you are probably used to.”
• “Things that don’t matter anymore that people used to care about: piercings, colored hair, tattoos… no one cares anymore, it’s so common to see a nose ring and a full sleeve, I would not ask anyone to feel like they need to hide that.” (author’s note: I would be curious to get a variety of feedback on this. I’m guessing this includes mullets. And once again, Boise, I’m looking at you! OK I'll stop picking on Boise now...).
  

Here are a few things to AVOID:

• No ripped jeans or articles of clothing
• No t-shirts, especially with logos/writing on them
• Sunglasses
• Slide-on or slip-on shoes
• Beanies or hats (a nice ballcap could be forgivable but many people think it’s disrespectful)
• Overly wrinkly shirts or pants (buy or borrow an iron!)
• Hoodies
• Bellies showing (very in fashion for the Gen Z, not very professional), yoga pants, workout clothes. I repeat “I would recommend dressing more conservatively than you are probably used to.”

 
If you are comfortable knowing what to wear, here are a few more nuggets of wisdom about how to interact with people who may be recruiting you:

• Do your homework! Know who we are and what we do (visit company websites!). That said…
• What if you don’t have time to research the companies at a career fair? Then do your research in real time. Ask the recruiters smart questions like “what do you like about your company?”, “what does a typical day for an intern or PE at your company look like?” or “what is your favorite project you have worked on for your company?” Be curious but not lazy. Don’t ask “what does your company do?”
• Have resumes prepared or be ready to complete an online application (along those lines, have a professionally manicured LinkedIn profile. And clean all the garbage from your other social media. Ya, recruiters check it! You have been warned…).
• Show a passion for building! You should be ready to explain why you want to work in CM. This gets easier when you have already had an internship, but even if you are looking for your first job in the industry, you should be able to describe, with enthusiasm, why you want to work in construction.
• Be comfortable. I know this sounds super obvious since many of you will likely be very nervous, but all the recruiters you will be dealing with are humans and they want the best for you. They don’t bite! Relax and have and conversation.
• Firm handshakes and ample eye contact.

 
There you have it, valuable advice from the experts. Good luck!

Thursday is a big day--my first time in front of the classroom at the University of Nevada, Reno. Thanks to Prof. Seri Park for the invitation. My presentation is on my second favorite professional topic (behind tower cranes): estimating! Slides are below. Any questions? [email protected]

Here we go! It's a bit earlier in the semester than usual, but today was my turn at being the guest lecturer in Henry Meier's CM 10 class in the Sac State Construction Management program. So many good questions in the chat and I hope to see all the students in a few years in CM 125 - Advanced Estimating or possibly earlier getting swoll in the newly-expanded WELL. Slides from the lecture are below:

It's the time of year when I get to be a guest lecture in Henry Meier's Sac State CM 10 - Intro to Construction Management class. A lot of lively questions from the newest 33 students in the best CM program in the country.

Things have been busy so it has been a while since I cruised around Sacramento to see the status of Sacramento projects using tower cranes. My timing was good as I am know on COVID quarantine...

We lost one tower crane (Hyatt Centric Marshall Hotel, 8th and L Street. DavisREED Construction) but gained one mini tower crane at Mansion Inn (see below). Projects are from west to east:

​CalSTRS second tower in West Sacramento, DPR Construction.

​Sacramento Commons, 5th and O Streets, Deacon Construction.

601 Capitol Mall; the project's new name if The Frederic. Heller Pacific is the owner's rep and JMI is the general contractor (2 tower cranes).

​DGS Swing Space, O Street between 10th and 11th Streets. Hensel Phelps Construction (2 tower cranes). This project looks like it's ready to get rid of the tower cranes.

Mansion Inn, H Street between 15th and 16th Streets. DesCor Builders (mini tower crane...does this count as a full tower crane or 1/2?).

Hyatt House, K and 28th Streets in Midtown. Tricorp Construction. This is a cool project. I had to enhance the picture to make the inside of the walls easier to see. It took several months to install the falsework so that the floors and other horizontal members could be removed and the basement excavated. A craft laborer for the excavation subcontractor told me as  I took this picture "This is a difficult project. Avoid the construction industry." If he only knew I was a pusher of construction talent.

I always enjoy getting the invitation to guest lecture in CM 10. Thanks for the invitation Henry Meier!

CM 10 is a fun class because for many of you it is the first glimpse into a rewarding career. However, since many students are new to construction, a lot of terms used by guest lecturers are unknown to the audience. I will try to catalog those terms here as an easy and ever-growing reference.

ORGANIZATIONS
Owners: like their name implies, owners "own" the structure that architects design and constructors build. Owners come in so many different varieties that defining them adequately and in detail would require a lot more than a simple blog post. To simplify things, I'll just provide some examples of owners:

• Developers: developers invest and/or borrow money to build commercial spaces (e.g. retail stores, restaurants), residential buildings (apartments, single-family homes, condos), office buildings, etc.
• Corporate owners: These are companies that own facilities so that they can conduct business. Examples include Kaiser, Sutter Health or Dignity owning their hospital buildings, car manufacturers owning factories, entertainment companies owning movie studios, etc.
• Government agencies: these are organizations like Sac State, UC Davis, CalTrans, a branch of the military, etc. "owning" facilities on behalf of taxpayers. Sac State is the designated owner of facilities on our campus.

Designers: develop plans and specifications for structures. They also perform design calculations to ensure that structures will remain operable under normal situations and will survive extraordinary conditions (e.g. earthquakes, fires, etc.).

• Architects: in CM 10, when guest speakers use the word "designer", they are most likely referring to the architect. Architects, simply stated, prepare plans for buildings. While it takes more than architects to design buildings, the architect is typically the leader of the design team.
•  Civil engineers: civil engineering has many specialties, but putting it simply, civil engineers are responsible for designing the infrastructure of a structure such as getting water to the building, removing sewer water from the building, developing plans to ensure the site is graded so that the building will be level and much more. In infrastructure projects, such as freeway, dams and bridges, the civil engineer may be the lead designer.
• Other designers: this is a very incomplete list. Mechanical engineers (design mechanical systems like heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems), electrical engineers (design electrical systems that deliver power and lighting to buildings), structural engineers (a subset of civil engineering; they design the concrete, steel and/or timber systems that support structures), geotechnical engineers (design systems that interact with soil like foundations and retaining walls), landscape architects (design landscaping and irrigation systems), and interior designers (design the interior finishes for buildings such as room layouts, furniture, color coordination, etc.). I will expand on this list as the class progresses.

​Builders/constructors: these are the teams that take the plans and specifications and turn them into physical structures. 

• General contractors: owners hire the general contractor (GC) to assemble a team that will deliver a completed project. The contract between the owner and general contractor almost always specifies the amount of time the GC has to deliver the project (the schedule) and the amount of money they will be paid. While some GCs perform some of the work required to build a project (an act called "self-performing"), they tend to rely on subcontractors to perform most of the work. Heman Chand's company, S+B James, is a GC.
• Subcontractors: GCs hire subcontractors (sometimes called trade partners or simply subs) to perform specific types of work and will specific the time and budget for each type, or scope, of work. Rob Clark's company, Rosendin Electric, is an electrical subcontractor. Other types of subcontractors are mechanical subs (construct heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems), plumbing subs (install sinks and toilets and the pipes that connect them), structural steel subs (erect steel structures), glass and glazing subcontractors (install windows and glass storefront doors), concrete subs (install concrete for building structures and concrete for sidewalks and curbs and gutters). There are dozens of types of subs and I'll add to this list as the class progresses.

PEOPLE AND POSITIONS
Since this is a construction management class, I'm going to focus on the people who work on the constructor side of things (that is, we will not discuss the specific people involved in being owners or designers). In most cases, these people/positions exist with general contractors and subcontractors. I will further define these roles by "field" and "office". Field staff tend to spend most, if not all, of their time on the project site. Office staff tend to spend a lot of their time at the company's main or regional offices, although they do spend plenty of time on project sites. While some of these terms contain the term "man or men" in them, many women successfully hold those positions.

Field  staff:

• Journeymen and apprentices: these are the people that actually use tools, equipment and labor to turn materials into finished structures. They include laborers, cement masons, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, painters, etc. People start as apprentices and become journeymen once they prove capable at performing a trade.
• Foremen: foremen lead crews of journeymen and apprentices. While not necessarily considered management, foremen are the first layer of leadership on a construction site. Foremen are typically promoted from journeyman.
• Superintendent: Superintendents lead foremen. For a subcontractor, the superintendent leads multiple foremen for a particular trade, possibly on multiple projects. For general contractors, superintendents may provide leadership to foremen and superintendents working for subcontractors. Superintendents typically come from the ranks of foremen although many GCs are hiring superintendents with CM degrees. No matter where you learn to be a superintendent, you need to know how to build structures. Superintendents are the eyes and earn or the project site and are responsible for maintaining a safe and productive project site.

 
Office staff: 

• Project engineers and senior project engineers: typically the entry-level management position for GCs and subs. Most project engineers (or PEs) are hired with CM degrees. PEs are usually responsible for knowing the plans and working with subs to ensure they have completed required paperwork (submittals) and ensuring subs are installing work properly.
• Assistant  project managers and project managers: typically called PMs, they are responsible for managing the contract (ensuring the project is on time and on budget) and working with the owner to ensure they are satisfied with the project. Rob Clark is a PM for Rosendin Electric.

*I'm a little reluctant to refer to PEs and PMs as office staff. They spend a lot of time on project sites (PEs may spend all of their time on a project site). But they are responsible for paperwork and contracts and are almost always college educated (whereas field staff oftentimes learn their trades from apprenticeship programs and experience). 

• Project Executive: often referred to as the PX, the project executive leads multiple PM, often on several projects. Before being an owner at S+B James, Heman was a PX at Whiting-Turner.
• Estimators: these are the people who take the plans and specifications drafted by architects and engineers and figure out how much the project should cost. Estimators at GCs receive bids prepared by estimators at subs and create a completed bid that the GC will send to the owner. The owner then selects the GC they want to work with.

DELIVERY METHODS
While it is early in the term, we've already heard our guest speakers mention design-bid-build and design-build so I will briefly describe them below. In summary, the delivery method defines the relationship between the owner, architect and GC and how they will be organized. If these terms do not make complete sense by the end of CM 10, don't sweat it--they will be discussed in great detail throughout several future CM classes. The descriptions below come from a graduate-level class I teach, so it is a fairly advanced description of the delivery methods presented. 

Design-bid-build: In D-B-B, the owner has a separate contract with the designer and GC. The designer designs the project in total and then gives the plans to the owner. The owner then provides the plans to GCs who, in turn, create bids for the work that state how much each GC thinks the project will cost and how long the project will take. The owner selects the best bid and awards the project to the selected GC who then builds the project.

Design-bid-build is the most traditional delivery method.

• The owner has one contract with the designer (typically an architect for a building project, typically and engineer for infrastructure projects) to provide design services.
• The owner has one contract with a general contractor to provide construction services.
• Therefore, the owner has two total contracts.
• General contractors hold contracts with subcontractors.
• Usually, the general contractor is not involved with the project design. The general contractor will typically bid for the project when the design is complete.
• There is risk to the owner and/or general contractor take on risk if the project is bid before the design is “complete”.
• “Complete” is a relative term. It is common for design documents to contain errors and/or omissions. The owner is typically responsible for those errors.
• To manage the design and construction phases, the owner might hire an agent construction manager (agency CM). Very commonly (always by definition), the Agency CM is NOT contractually responsible for delivering a constructed project. Rather, they provide management services to the owner.

Pros:

• Owner may select the designer and builder based on separate criteria. In theory, the owner may hire the best designer and the best general contractor (best being a relative term that may include least expensive, best value, and/or other metrics).
• There are checks and balances between the designer and builder.
• For straight forward projects where the designer delivers a complete set of plans and specifications, competent and qualified general contractors should be able to accurately bid the project. Therefore, the owner should (in theory) have a good idea of what the construction costs of the project are going to be.
• In that same vein, with complete plans, the owner can competitively bid the project and expect the bids received from the general contractors can be compared like-to-like with each other.

Cons:

• Low bid does not always equal lowest cost. If the plans are incomplete of the owner introduces changes, the cost of the project can increase.
• Because the designer and builder have separate contracts and may be vying for the favor of the owner, design-bid-build may foster adversarial relationships between the designer and builder.
• Because of the contractual separation between designers and builders, not all project information makes it to the builder prior or after bid. This may lead to change orders and increased project scope and duration.
• Taking all of the above cons together, design-bid-build may make it difficult to accurately track project construction costs. 

Design-build: In D-B, the owner has a single contract with a design-build team that is usually a joint venture between an architect and GC. The key is that the owner is dealing with a single team responsible for both designing and building the structure.

Design-Build is considered and alternative delivery method. 

• The owner has one contract with a firm that provides both design and construction. This is also considered single source procurement. This means the owner has a single contract and point of contact. It also means that a single firm, the design-build group, is responsible for BOTH design and construction.
• More commonly, a general contractor will enter into a joint venture with a design firm to create a temporary (for the specific project) design-build firm of the general contractor will hire another firm to perform design services for the design-build firm.
• Less commonly (at least for the west coast) integrated design-build firm may have designers (architects and engineers) on staff.
• Design-Build the project can be phased so that construction begins prior to a complete design. With design-build, construction can typically begin before the design is complete. In theory, construction activities (such as mobilization) can start at the same time as the beginning of design. The total construction duration should be shorter that D-B-B.
• Owners can hire a Bridging Architect or Engineer to create a preliminary design that can be used for the basis of selecting a design-build firm. Bridging documents can range from conceptual drawings to partial construction documents.
• Sector expertise is important in design-build.

There are other delivery methods that D-B-B and D-B, but this is a good starter for CM 10 for now.

SPECIFIC TAKEAWAYS FROM SPEAKERS

Heman Chand:

• Your reputation follows you and is more important than the companies you have worked for.
• Construction management is a tough career for people who procrastinate or are shy.
• You're late if you're on time. Be early.

Rob Clark: 

• The construction industry is a small world. Your reputation is important.
• Look at the entire company when selecting a place to work. Look at all of the benefits (Is it employee owned? How stable is it? What are the promotion opportunities?)

I'm grateful to be a part of Henry Meier's dream team of guest speakers. Best hour of the semester. Slides can be viewed below:

I hate to be Debbie Downer, but every college student should read this chart and understand what's going on in it. First, yes, the cost of text books is outrageous. That's why I do not make them mandatory (you're welcome). When possible, buy used books, share them or find an outlet (Amazon?) that will allow you to get the best deal.
Secondly, and more importantly, check out the delta between College Tuition and Wages. Tuition is growing much faster than wages, meaning the ability to work your way through college is getting harder and harder every year. While it's great that internships are abundant in Construction Management, your internship should not take precedence over graduating as quickly as you can.  
Thirdly, I know it's relatively easy to get student loans, but don't stupidly use that debt to buy a car or consumer electronics if you can absolutely help it. You would be using debt, which comes with interest you will have to pay, to purchase something that is getting less expensive over time. Wait to buy it with the wages you get from your high-paying full-time post-graduation Project Engineer salary.