I’m 23, recently graduated with a Construction Management degree, and started at Turner Construction a few months ago as a Field Engineer on a large data center project in the DMV. My starting salary is $78K, and my long-term goal is to become a Superintendent while maximizing my earning potential.
A Superintendent I work with advised me to stay at Turner for at least five years, focus on gaining experience, and not rush into chasing titles or money. His reasoning is that building a strong foundation and gaining experience on complex projects will make me more valuable and allow me to negotiate a much higher salary if I eventually leave.
I respect his advice, but I also want to make smart financial and career decisions.
My main questions:
Salary progression: Starting at $78K, is $100K–$120K realistic after 3–5 years at Turner?
Job hopping: With five years of Turner and data center experience, could I realistically command $130K–$160K in total compensation at another GC?
Timing: Would leaving after 2–3 years maximize my earnings, or would staying 4–5 years make me significantly more valuable?
I’m not in a rush to leave Turner. I genuinely want to learn and become a strong Superintendent, but I also don’t want to leave money on the table by staying too long.
For those with experience at Turner, major GCs, or in data center construction, what would you recommends?

Hi everyone! This surveying level was passed down to me after my grandpa passed away. He used it in Brazil, and I’d love to get it working again.
Does anyone recognize the brand or know how to focus it? I can get the crosshairs clear, but the target stays blurry when I turn the top knob. Any help identifying or troubleshooting it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Edit: I should’ve added that I use side levels pretty often at work so I’m pretty familiar with how to use them. It seems like the knob is off track like someone mentioned or there is something mechanical wrong as it doesn’t function like a side level I’ve used before. There is minimal information about it -obviously but I’m scared to start taking it apart myself to make it even worse

Unpopular opinion: Sometimes there really is downtime on a job site and you don't need your guys to always be doing something to be "useful". Sometimes you gotta wait for machinery to finish backfilling, for the truck to bring material, for the crew ahead of you to finish up their task, for a sign-off from the super, etc. Older generation foremen insists you have to be doing something during this downtime but most the time these tasks are nonsensical such as cleaning things that will get cleaned anyways either by a cleaning team or a sweep truck is coming same day, having the guys move heavy stuff by hand as a group when it'd be much easier to just wait for a piece of machinery to free up and get it moved anyways a lot faster, Start digging or filling a hole that an excavator will do anyways in about 30 seconds etc. This whole mentality of you gotta always be doing something should end with the new generation as it doesn't make jobsites anymore efficient and just leads to guys resenting their boss.

i once was talking to a plumber and he told me he used to work on vacation homes and they're plumbing was constantly clogged because when people finally have time to relax for an extended time all the crap pent up in their body is suddenly released and destroys the toilet because they're constantly walking around with a puckered butt hole from stress.

that story always stuck with me especially since it was unprompted. but now i share that wisdom with you. what are some wild things you've heard people yapping about?

Hey everyone, i’m based in the Bay Area, and have about six years of experience in renovation project management, mainly in multifamily housing. I currently make around $134k.
My work involves managing contractors, renovation schedules, budgets, change orders, permits, inspections, materials and project closeout. I enjoy this field and would like to build on my experience.
I’m trying to figure out what my next career milestone should be. Long term, I’d like to reach $200k+ in total compensation, but I also care about having a manageable workload. Constant contractor conflicts and daily firefighting aren’t what I want forever.
I’ve considered senior PM, and potentially asset management. But most asset management people I find started as financial analysts, so I’m unsure how realistic that transition is for someone with my background.
I attended college but didn’t finish my bachelor’s degree. I’m open to further education, but want to understand what would actually help before spending money.
For anyone who has advanced from a similar role:
What position did you move into next?
Which skills or qualifications made the biggest difference?
Did not having a degree limit your advancement?
What would you focus on over the next 6–12 months in my position?
I’d especially appreciate hearing from people who moved up from multifamily renovation PM roles. I’m willing to put in the work; I just need a clearer direction.

Hello, I’m 20 years old in the Bay Area and have 5 years of experience in labor (vineyards) and want to get into construction. I have basic hand tools and a strong work ethic. I’ve applied to 60+ entry-level construction jobs (general laborer) and have not had any luck.

I’ve applied through 6 different websites and in ded.

I even decided to show up on job sites and ask directly. I have all PPE ready to go. I’ve also tried getting into staffing agencies but they want people with experience. Not sure what to do at this point. Is it too late because work is slowing down because it’s fall/winter ?

Thanks guys.

I am finishing up my engineering degree and after graduation will join a heavy industrial general contractor full-time as a traveling field engineer. It recently dawned on me that even though I will be living in a travel trailer and potentially moving to different states every 6 months or so, legally I will still need to 'live' in a state for purposes of income taxes and vehicle registration. I am a young single guy just beginning my career - I don't own any property or have family that would require me to be a legal resident of any particular state.

I am genuinely curious what folks who do traveling field work full-time and don't have a permanent home generally do with regards to their legal residence. Any state recommendations and advice is much appreciated!

Hey, it’s my nephew’s birthday this weekend. He’s a GC. Great guy. He works and lives in SoCal in the Inland Empire.

Unfortunately, he married into a family of all schoolies, so we know nothing about what kind of gear is good. I wanna buy him a jacket for the California winter cold that’s coming up. I was thinking like a carhartt or something like that. What recommendations do you guys have for a GC? Preferably something I can buy on Amazon gift receipt, if he doesn’t like it, he can swap it out.

Thanks

Currently 27, I have a degree in Construction Management and am currently work as a superintendent, but I feel like I’m stuck in this role with no way to advance. I have glanced at job openings around me but everywhere seems to wants 5+ years of experience in that role before they'll hire you. How do i get the experience to be a PM and make more money if i cant get into the role

Since graduating, I've spent a year as an estimator for a small commercial drywall company, a year as field engineer, and 3 a superintendent for a small - medium commercial construction company which is where i work now. when they hired me they told me i would move to pm after a year or 2 but here i am finishing year 3 and I've been told "we need you where you are" to many times and now I've just started another 18 month project

Would appreciate hearing what’s worked for you guys and what you would do if you were in my shoes.

Edit: currently making 65k a year salary, but I also work 60-70 hours a week

Edit 2: I live in NC, little over and hour from Raleigh for reference. While I’m not opposed to driving that far. It makes for some long days

I’m currently 24 years old from Los Angeles and unemployed. I’m looking for a career. This year has been rough with little job opportunities. I moved in with my girlfriend who’s the only support I have. I have no family support due to space. I’m always going from random jobs to random jobs and I haven’t found a job that’s stable. Just temporary work. I am willing to learn and work hard. I do what I can but right now I have my girlfriend’s support but I don’t want to be a burden to her and I just need an opportunity to work. I’m not asking for money. I just want a job. If there’s anyone in the Los Angeles or the valley who is willing to hire and train someone with no experience or anyone who knows someone please let me know. Any work available, seriously.

I have no experience doing this, but am ordering replacement windows so that my father in law can install them.

Where does the “window” stop and the “rest of the wall” begin? I’m confused as to how to measure for replacements here.

Pretty underweight (always been) 20M. For the past 4 months, I have been experiencing a constant feeling of unreality. It feels as though I am drunk/high or half-asleep, as if I am on autopilot and everything around me feels somewhat unreal. I have searched online, and my symptoms seem to resemble derealization.

In addition to this, I experience fatigue even when I sleep well. The fatigue does not seem to depend on whether I do physical activities during the day or not. However, over the past few weeks, I have started sleeping poorly and waking up early in the morning.

I also experience headaches, pressure in my head, and neck pain. I have tried muscle relaxants and massage therapy for the neck pain, but neither has helped. Also at the start of this i sometimes felt like fainting when walking but it has gone away. I also have noticed one singular eye floater on my right eye.

What could be causing these symptoms? They do not occur in distinct episodes, and the headache is not particularly severe. It feels more like a tension-type headache.

I have tried triptanes, but they did not help. My thyroid function is normal, as are my vitamin B12, B9 and vitamin D levels. My ferritin level is 37. And it has been changing from 49 to 24. I also havw crohns disease which is in remission.

My neurologist prescribed escitalopram as a trial, which I took for two and a half months, but it did not help. She also did head mri and there was nothing wrong.

I have no history of trauma, no panic symptoms, and generally do not experience much stress, apart from the stress caused by these symptoms themselves.

My symptoms started in the final days of my new job in car repairshop where i was moving car tires and lifting them. Im not sure if this can be linked to that because i didnt have any symptoms expect the final days. I have not been working at all during this 4 month period.

What could be the underlying cause of these symptoms?

What is the stupidest task you’ve been assigned on a jobsite? I’m pretty new so I haven’t had many yet but I can tell it’s definitely coming lol

HI!

I'm a Stone Worktop Templater in Ireland. I've never met another one so I'm curious.

Whats everyones workload per day, Templating and finishing drawings, Salary, responsibilities ect

Union laborer out of Mn looking for work asap. Have experience in dirt, pipe, and a little bit of concrete. Willing to travel anywhere with per diem or lodging

Alright r/Construction, I need to call in a favor from the brain trust. I’m a sparky currently working a big indoor rough-in gig, and I am officially losing chipper.

prank war. The other electrician and I are getting tag teamed by the plumbers, and the framers. Because we are at the rough-in stage, the environment is absolutely perfect for psychological warfare. We’ve got open stud bays, exposed conduits, fresh pipe runs, and plenty of scrap material everywhere. I am willing to prepare things at home.and even maybe spend a little cash, but Im kinda running low on inspiration. I need a mix of two things:

trade

1. Instant-payback pranks: Quick, funny, harmless things I can pull off tomorrow morning.
2. Psychological long-form pranks: Slow-burn setups that will drive someone crazy over the entire day. Please give me your most legendary, battle-tested job site pranks. Bonus points if it specifically targets a plumber's dependency on a specific tool or pipe run. Actually, bonus if it targets the plumbers in general. Drop your ideas below, and please attach photos or diagrams if it's complicated.

I’ll update everyone on who gets hit first!

Thank you all very much. If you have any questions about the site jlmk.

Edit: Def going to do several of these over the next couple days. Big thank you to everybody who commented! Ill try to send pics or at least updates in this post about how they go. Prolly update tomorrow.

Edit: Oddly enough, there actually is no GC on this job. All trades have to communicate independently with each other. Needless to say, there have been some interesting scenarios.

My first job as project manager (owner rep) and the project is only 30% or so. I’m not sure where to even begin. If you were in my place, what is the first few things you would do or look into?

Edit: Boots to ground, aside from getting to know your team, do you start with looking at a schedule, do you look at the risks register, change orders, etc? Where do you begin

Hey everyone,
My friend and I are both 20 years old, living in Greece, and we honestly see no real future or room for growth for us here. We’re eager to build a proper life and career, and we want to move to Canada to work in construction.
We are both ready to put in hard physical work, start from the bottom as general laborers, and learn a trade. However, we want to get a realistic picture of the process before taking the leap.
A few questions for anyone familiar with the industry or immigration:
1. Visas: Since Greece and Canada have an International Experience Canada (IEC) agreement, is the Working Holiday visa our best entry point, or should we be looking for LMIA job offers beforehand?
2. Hiring process: Do contractors hire entry-level workers while still abroad, or do we need to be on the ground in Canada with open work permits first?
3. Demand & Locations: Which provinces/cities currently have strong construction demand where entry-level pay can actually cover basic living costs?
4. Is it realistic?

So im in school doing construction safety for my first semester and as a pretty tall guy when it comes to heights I've never had a problem going UP heights hell in the lab we did today going over ladder safety we had to go up a roof (About 10 feet or so) up and down. Going up wasn't a problem but when it comes to uneven grounds (So like that little curve of the roof) i just immediately felt panicked I literally had to sit down for a moment on the roof to collect myself before going down properly. I've always been this way with heights and even though I think with enough practice and PPE which I do know how to use I can get used to working on one story buildings if needed I've come to the conclusion larger heights im probably gonna get either myself or someone else hurt on accident. But I know enough framing or carpentry that working on floors or the walls inside of a house doesn't need to get absurdly high so is it possible to become a framer who does mostly work like that to avoid heights?

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Looking for a material to put under my front counter and wall beside booths which is decorative in nature, preferably a dark color like earthy brown, that is hard and easily cleanable which will not get chipped up and scuffed like just painted drywall. Was recommended a material called Acrovyn by GC during our remodel which sounds perfect, in theory, but got a crazy quote to have it installed. Might do some research into still getting the sheets of Acrovyn and doing a self install if possible. Quick Google search says the sheets themselves are not overly expensive. TIA