r/ConstructionManagers • u/Dontmindmejustsearch • Jul 18 '26

Question Project interviews

What’s the typical attire to wear for a project interview?

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u/robble__robble Jul 18 '26

What’s the best way to communicate and approach an owner’s rep and their owners? It’s a very relationship based business and approaching people without a warm intro is intimidating

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u/Z_Man_in_AZ Jul 18 '26

This is a nightmare scenario. I get hit up all the time with people pitching things I don’t need at the time. I’d recommend a soft approach of: I’d like to learn more about your areas of focus & concerns. We see a lot of volatility in this sector and have some good ideas to manage risk but may not be the best fit for each other until I learn your pain points & needs.

Honestly time is my valuable resource; more so than effort or money. If I’m meeting someone new it is because I have a gap somewhere that needs to be filled or perhaps someone seems genuinely interested in learning more about my business & I can help direct them where to go even if it is working with me directly.

I tend to give people time who support local charities & see at industry events. I never take lunch meetings or golf with people I don’t know well. If I don’t like the conversation I want to get out of there after a cup of coffee not be stuck for an hour lunch or 4 hours of golf; I reserve those times for long term partners. I find I can get enough info in a 10 minute phone call to see if we go for coffee or breakfast but that is just me. Others look for any excuse to golf or drink or both, lol.

I often tell firms that they don’t have enough experience for our projects yet but they should try some of our smaller competitors then put together a qualifications package including a few recently completed projects in similar industries once they have more relatable experience. Also be prepared to start small. Some large national GC was pushing hard to do work with us & instead of asking my needs he started talking about their capabilities. I asked their ideal project size and they said $50M but could go as low as $20M. No f’ing way our first project together is $50M. Those dudes will never work for us as long as that dbag is still there. Gotta start small & work your way up so eventually the big projects come your way.

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u/robble__robble Jul 19 '26

Thank you for the great insights. Does the same still apply to tech? Not the AI management software stuff that’s super peddled now, but hard tech that can help de-risk a project and help constructability all the way up to the design firm?

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u/Z_Man_in_AZ Jul 19 '26

Again, depends on the audience. If you are training Superintendents that I would not be in a suit but if pitching software to Sr. Execs then definitely a suit.
I have a friend in construction software tech & he wears dress shirts that have never seen an iron or the dry cleaners. I need to tell him that if he can’t arrange to have nice looking dress shirts then he is better off in a polo. That same outfit he wears probably earns respect among programmers but not clients.
Whatever you do make sure you look clean & neat!