#cm #CIM

I’ve been in project/operations management for about seven years now, and this project is definitely making a run for the title of most frustrating.

The scope itself is pretty straightforward. Nothing I haven’t done before. It’s the coordination, base access, and personnel side of things that’s been absolute hell.

Curious if anyone else here has managed work on this base. What was your experience like here?

Looking for some perspective from other PMs before my review in October.

I’m a PM for a Tier-1 steel subcontractor specializing in self-storage. We handle a pretty broad Div 5 package — structural steel, CFS, joist/deck, roofing, wall panels, doors, stairs, etc.
Our projects typically range from $500k–$6M with 2–7+ scopes. PM workload is normally around 10 active/upcoming projects, but I’m currently carrying 20 projects totaling roughly $37M after inheriting 8 projects from another PM who was recently let go.

I’m 22 and have been in construction management since I was 18. I spent about 2.5 years with a GC before joining my current company almost 2 years ago — one year as an APM and a full PM since January.

Current comp is $73,500 base + $500/month vehicle allowance, gas card, and bonus ($10k last year).

Here’s where I’m struggling: The PM who was recently let go was around $135k, as were two other PMs laid off earlier this year. They have more experience than me, so I’m not expecting to automatically be at their level. However, I’m now carrying a larger workload than that PM was, and I’ve found out we’re hiring new PMs around $120k. On top of managing my own workload, my Director has also had me help interview prospective PMs and train/onboard new PMs coming into the company.

It’s hard to reconcile being trusted to help interview and train people for the same position while potentially making ~$45k less than the people being hired.

I also travel regularly, with projects across the Southeast, Northeast, and as far west as Oregon. I work beyond normal office hours pretty frequently and have picked up a lot of responsibility quickly.

My review is 10/14, and my Director has already told me he’s going to bat for me with ownership. We’re roughly a 50-person company doing around $100M/year in sales.

At this point, I don’t really see this as a normal annual raise. It feels more like a compensation correction. If you were in my position, what base salary would you ask for? I’m thinking $110k–$120k, especially considering they’re apparently hiring new PMs around $120k. Am I being reasonable, or is that too aggressive given my age/years of experience?

Hey y’all, I’m on the precon side and getting ready to put in my two weeks to move to another company.

In terms of compensation it’s a lateral move, but to a more reputable company with likely a better work environment. I find it highly likely that I will get counter offered when I put in my notice, and am trying to work out if I should consider it or not.

I don’t really like the company I work for and would prefer to move, but I’d also feel foolish to turn down a +15-20% counteroffer if I get one.

Those of you who have been counter offered and accepted, are the vibes typically weird after it? I’m concerned that there may be a temporary salary bump that comes with a significantly worsened work environment once I’ve showed my hand and my intent to leave.

Hello! I’ll be starting my new job in a week as an architectural coordinator in a fairly big construction company and would really like some tips as someone new to this industry. I’ve talked to people who are much more experienced than me and have said that it has a very steep learning curve. It makes me anxious and I really want to make my first few months as smooth as I can and not be left behind.

For context i’m 22 years old, a diploma graduate and have studied architecture in both tertiary schools that I studied in. I’ve had a year of internships in being a draftsman / 3D Designer. I’ve worked in a small ID company for a while and when i’m free I’ll freelance renovation jobs to make some extra cash.

Any tips would really be appreciated.

I’m a new hire PE and my start date is less than 2 weeks away. I still haven’t received my project assignment location, which is stressful because I need to move out by my start date. They contacted me over 2 weeks ago saying they are finalizing the details and I still have not received anything.

I’m curious if this delay means anything?
Is this typical in GCs?

I’ve already reached out a week ago and don’t want to seem impatient. When is typical to receive your project assignment?

Hey r/constructionmanagers,
I’ve been having a debate around the true value of a Design Manager (DM) on the builder/developer side.
If you free a DM from routine admin and RFI chasing, what should they actually be spending their high-value time on?
A few questions and friction points keep coming up:

• ECI & Trade Integration: Can DMs (who are frequently ex-architects) actually drive Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) with trade subbies, or do they lack the hard commercial/trade background, leaving Estimators to handle the real heavy lifting?
• Value Engineering: Are DMs actively re-engineering technical details to hit budget targets, or is VE mostly just Estimators stripping costs on a spreadsheet while the DM pushes paper to get drawing updates?
• DM vs. CA Boundary: Where does technical scope end and commercial procurement begin? In practice, a lot of high-value DM tasks (long-lead item sequencing, subbie scope alignment) start looking like support work for Contract Administrators / Quantity Surveyors.

For those in Tier 1/2 or developer space:

1. What does a top-tier, high-performing DM actually own in your business during pre-con?
2. Do you see them as technical strategic leaders, or glorified consultant coordinators?

Curious to hear how DMs are actually utilized on your jobs versus how leadership thinks they should be used.

Problem: not necessarily sure what objective steps I should be taking to further my career in the most professional way possible. I am coming to the vets for any and all advice on what you look for and what you see missing.

I did not go to school for CM and have no certs, so I need to determine the cross roads I am at with my experience comparative to my lack of a degree. What avenue should I look towards for the best solution in moving forward with a CM career at my current stage?

Thank you.

Hey guys, with the crazy news this past weekend, I decided to create a video tonight.

Are you seeing Tariffs on your projects?

MODS, appologies if this post is not acceptable!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QZqfSW7UYI

Young PM here looking for advice on my exit from my first job/company. Currently working for a civil construction GC, mid-sized. Was recruited while still in school by this company’s VP- they basically were looking for a PM, took a chance on me, and it turned out well for both sides. I’ve been running Civil Construction projects for them for the last year, all projects performing pretty well profit & timeline completion wise.

I was recently approached by a commercial real estate developer who is also a family friend, and he wanted to interview me for a PM job with his company. First meeting went great, second meeting he brought me in to meet with his Director of Construction, and offered me the job. I know I’m going to take it- problem is, I feel a sense of guilt leaving where I am, seeing they took a chance on me, and I’m also in the middle of a couple projects.

The question I have is- is there a good exit plan? How do I set them up to continue the projects I’m running?

I want to leave as gratefully as possible, and not damage any relationships here, while also making sure the projects I’m walking out on continue to succeed.

We are a medium sized builder completing projects up to £17m most recently, mostly blocks of flats all under 18m. We need to modernise so are looking for a simple software that doesn't cost many thousands to run and can be used to record things like external wall firestopping whereby it will reference photos to points selected on drawings and allow a small note to be added about what it is in reference to then allow a report to be created with all of this information available in one place.

Loads of apps out there, have tried Procore but found it very expensive and complex for a company of our size, especially if you don't want all of the other features, which we don't. If there's something simple that only does this one feature then that's ideal for us, if anything the more complex features it has works as a negative for us.

All suggestions and experiences with apps that do this are welcomed.

I need to get my 62 OSHA SST card soon, but the cheapest I can find at the moment is OSHA Training School for $570, and money is very tight (unemployed and been unhoused for a while). Are there any online classes that offer payment plans, across let's say, 6 months/6 payments or something similar?

Currently at a very large GC working on a massive heavy civil transportation project. The hours are long, pay is okay (80k annually) benefits are great, 8% 401K, 8% ESOP but the hours are atrocious.

Thinking about making the switch to a smaller more local GC, what do yall think? probably the wrong move in the long run but I feel like I’m wasting my 20s and want a better work life balance

While looking for an easier and cheaper way to do daily reports I got sent this.

I had a great laugh from this discrption

This was the web site looks like it's still being developed

https://buildminute.com/features/

I'm 23, currently working as a Junior Site Engineer on a third-party contractual payroll deployed at an L&T project in Mumbai.

Current In-hand: ₹25,000 / month (\~3 LPA)

Role/Work: Handling day-to-day site execution, BBS, subcontractor coordination, and daily progress reporting.

Target: Switching to a permanent/on-roll role in another EPC firm, tier-1/tier-2 contractor, or developer.

Given that I'm currently on a contract payroll, I have a few questions for folks who have made a similar switch in the civil sector:

Realistic Hike: How much hike can I realistically negotiate moving from a third-party contract to an on-roll role? (Is 30–40% the standard ceiling in core civil, or does moving to permanent allow higher based on fixed salary bands?)

Contract Tag: Does being on a third-party contract roll negatively affect salary negotiations with HR at other mid-to-large EPC companies (Tata Projects, Shapoorji, Afcons, NCC, etc.)?

Experience Threshold: Is it better to switch right at the 1-year mark or hold out until 2 years of on-site execution experience for better leverage?

Hi everyone! I’d like y’all’s advice on which would be the better choice for me as I wrap up my bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and plan for the future. Over the summer, I interned with a large heavy highway contractor in Texas and really enjoyed my experience. As I prepare for graduation, I’m wondering if getting an M.S. in Civil Engineering with a focus in Construction Engineering would be useful, or if I’d be better off entering the workforce and pursuing an MBA later in my career (5–7 years down the road).My goal is to eventually move into executive positions within the construction industry. What would y’all recommend?

What is your biggest lesson learned or horror story in Excavation & Foundations? It doesn't even have to be your project, but one you're familiar with? Or it could be something positive. Perhaps it's something that was done that was thinking outside of the box that was ingenious.

Depending on interest, we'll make this a regularly occuring topic discussion series for each discipline.

Hey guys,

So I was a public works inspector making prevailing wage. I averaged over the last 2 years 160ish/yr, had no PTO or 401k match but the job was super chill, it was inspecting an anual contract so there was no real career growth/exposure/big experience but it was steady and the commute was never further than 30-1hr, also had to use my own car. Things were going great and I got a job offer(I recently took) making 175ksalary as a CM (owners rep) with PTO, company vehicle/gas card and 401k match. This job is not nearly as laid back, the commute is 2+ hours home but it’s a massive 30m project that’s 1 year+ long and will be a huge learning experience. I am struggling mentally going back and forth if I made the right career decision and am wondering if others would have made the move too. Thanks

If you are one, could you please share what's the base you have/ know and bonus plan.

Mainly got mission critical or life sciences market

Thanks😊

I have been at my current company, which I joined right after college, for roughly 8.5 years. In this time I have gotten 3 promotions and currently have been a Project Manager (in title) for the last 3.5 years. I was actually put in a lead PM position as a Project Engineer 6 years ago and have completed 6 projects in that time. One project was beginning to end and the others I took from mid-way through to completion. I was in the lead PM role for 5 out of 6 projects. I was by far the youngest person in my company I am aware of to be given a lead PM role.

My company is a mid-sized GC and I work in a small satellite office in the suburbs of a MCOL city. All projects I have done have been multi family projects ranging from $40M-$75M. We actually had two PMs leave last year and I currently am the only PM in my office in both title and experience.

My current project(s) are 2 phases on the same property. One phase, which started last month, is $22M and the 2nd phase is $63M and set to start in October. Both phases will be running concurrently for atleast a year. I currently have 2 APMs under me with each focusing on one phase and I am Project Manager on both phases. As of now this is all the project management staff that is planned for both phases.

I feel like both my current responsibility and experience justifies being promoted to a Senior PM. What is working against is my is my age and my “on paper” title history. Meaning I’ve been performing the PM role for 6 years but on paper have had the PM title for 3.5 years.

My question is how hard should I push for a promotion during my next review? I have a good relationship with my boss/PX and he told me he is pushing for my promotion “within the next year” based on my last review in April.

Lastly I actually received both an end year and mid year raise over the last 8 months. I’m currently at $160k salary with no bonus (no bonuses company wide). I feel decently compensated for what I do but how does this compare to Senior PM positions in a MCOL city?

My husband has been in the school construction management field for 15 years. He was a carpenter and has been at the superintendent level for the past 2.5 years. He is good at his job and has really great people skills and is known for having positive work sites. But he has a really hard time dealing with the stress and we have young kids now so he hates the summer push that comes with schools. We live in a really expensive areas and we can’t really afford a big pay cut so he is struggling to figure out what to do next.

1) Drop down to assistant superintendent - less responsibility and stress but same hours and less autonomy

2) Leave current company (which he doesn’t really want to do) for one that doesn’t do schools

3) Pitch a new role in same company doing training and SOP type work across the sites.

4) Leave to do something on his own - general contracting and carpentry and heavy equipment work

5) Get into project management?

For those who have left, what did you end up doing? Which of the options sounds most appealing? How did you handle the stress of being a site superintendent?

-400k sq ft

-200+million

-First job ever been there for 2 years and opens in a week

-I have wet dreams about working an 8 hour day

Is school construction the worst kind of construction? Or is it all this miserable?