I’m graduating in December and looking for a Project Engineer or APM position with a larger GC ($300M+ annual volume), preferably in OKC.
I’ve been told by several people in other Reddit discussions that I have a strong resume for an entry-level position.
I’ve applied to around 10–15 companies, mostly through their websites, and followed up with recruiters when possible. I’ve gotten a couple of interviews, but I’m wondering if there’s a better approach.
Should I keep applying directly through company websites, reach out to hiring managers, or start using recruiting firms like GPAC?
Just curious what’s worked best for others in the industry.

A retired builder told me about a worker killed by a contractor backing up a truck at 4:30am, before anyone in charge was on site. Got me thinking about the hours nobody’s really watching.

For those running jobs: what goes wrong overnight or early morning? Theft, weather damage, etc.

Do you find out about it first thing when you walk in, or later?

Long-time lurker here. I run a painting subcontractor doing new residential construction for a few of the national builders down in South Florida, and we're at the point where I need a solid PM / operations manager to run the field side.

Figured this sub is the right crowd to ask, since a lot of you live the builder side of this every day.

Day to day it would look like:

- Scheduling interior and exterior paint across multiple communities, lined up with the builders' schedules
- Working with supers on readiness, start dates, and walkthroughs
- Keeping field supervisors and crews on track so homes get finished on time
- Owning punch, touch-ups, QC, and builder issue lists through final
- Keeping materials, draws, and change orders moving with the office

What I'm hoping to find:

- Someone who's been in painting or another finish trade on production / new construction homes
- Organized and doesn't rattle easily when three builders need something at once
- Knows paint systems, prep, and how production painting actually flows
- Bilingual English/Spanish is a big plus
- Comfortable with scheduling and field apps

Pay and benefits are TBD and will depend on experience.

If that sounds like you, or you know someone who'd be a good fit, shoot me a DM. Also happy to hear how other subs have structured this role.

Maybe it's just a California thing, but I'm interviewing for internships, and 3 out of 3 companies I've asked have said they have beer on tap or a wine bar.

I won't name the companies, but they rhyme with BevCon, Belcor Belectric, and Bahill Bontractors

I recently started a new job as a construction PM, and I’m starting to wonder if my expectations are too high or if the bar is just really low where I work.

I was hired to manage projects, build schedules, track budgets, coordinate with contractors, and make sure things stay on track. Pretty standard PM stuff.

But after sitting through department meetings and seeing some of the issues our boss has to bring up, I’m honestly surprised.

For example, one PM who’s been here for two years wasn’t keeping track of their project and ended up receiving the wrong exhaust fans, which led to change orders and delays. Another was tasked with documenting existing structural conditions for the engineers and basically just sent over a bunch of random pictures with no labels, locations, or explanation of what they were looking at.

What surprises me even more is that two of my coworkers, both with around two years in their roles, struggle to put together a basic project schedule. I’m talking about simple things like organizing tasks, adding predecessors, and actually updating the schedule as work progresses.

I’m not saying I’m some amazing PM or that I don’t make mistakes. I still have plenty to learn myself. But I feel like these are pretty basic responsibilities that anyone managing construction projects should be able to handle.

The part that bothers me most is that there doesn’t seem to be much accountability. These issues get brought up in meetings, but nothing really seems to change. It almost feels like you can get away with doing the bare minimum.

Maybe I’m being too critical, especially since I’m still new and don’t know everything that goes on behind the scenes.

For those who’ve been in construction management for a while, is this pretty normal? Or have I just landed somewhere with unusually low expectations?

Would anyone here be interested in starting a peer group for people in the early stages of building a commercial contracting business, whether that’s a specialty subcontractor or a turnkey CM/GC?

I’m thinking a group chat or forum, with a monthly or quarterly meetup or call to discuss planning, landing work, growth, and the growing pains that come with getting started. It would be good to connect with people at a similar stage, share what’s working, and track each other’s progress.

A little about me: I’m based in North Carolina and currently work as a preconstruction manager for an ENR Top 100 GC. I have about 9 years of construction experience, primarily on the GC side, with experience in project management, estimating, and preconstruction. I’ve also worked on the specialty subcontracting side.

My plan is to start as a specialty interiors contractor focused on drywall, metal framing, and painting. Initially, I’d pursue very small packages, subcontract the labor, and build the business on the side. The goal would be to build enough capital and consistent earnings to replace roughly 75% of my current income before making the jump full time. For context I already have my unlimited GC license in NC.

Once I’m full time, I’d focus on growing the drywall and interiors business, taking on larger packages, and building the team to support that work. From there, I’d like to use my experience and relationships to expand into GC work, preferably smaller retail and hospitality projects, with the possibility of small multifamily deals as well.

Very long term, my vision is a company doing around $20–25 million annually while keeping overhead lean. I’d like to stay involved in day-to-day operations, ideally with another PM, possibly an APM, and the field support the workload requires. That’s a long way from where I’m starting, but it gives some context for what I’d like to build toward.
I’ve seen smaller projects struggle with communication, follow-through, and execution. I also understand how tight hard-bid work can get and the pressure that puts on contractors. Part of my goal in staying lean is to remain competitive while still doing what we say we’ll do and delivering a good project.

I don’t have everything figured out, which is really the reason for this post. Is anyone else at a similar stage interested in putting a group together, talking openly about the process, and helping each other grow? Whether you’re still planning or already tackling your first few jobs, I’d be interested in connecting. Feel free to shoot me a dm if so.

Hey guys. Been a PE for almost a year now. I’ve learned A TON and have been on such a cool project with a great project team, so I have no complaints in that regard. I enjoy work most days, but always curious about what else is out there.

What I am wondering is what career development looks like for me in terms of pay down the road and if I can make more money in a different field like sales. I see a lot of people saying how shitty their pay is and only make 100k-150k even late careers. Which don’t get me wrong that’s still good pay but I feel like based off of what I’ve seen there are careers in different fields that have better pay for amount of stress.

So for anyone late in construction careers or others that have made a switch can you chime in if it’s worth to stick out or try something new. Money isn’t everything to me but it is something I take into account when making life decisions.

Hey everyone,
I recently just got offered an internship with Garney for the upcoming summer as a field engineer and wanted to know what you guys thought about them. I’ve done some research and see they have some great opportunities but want to see what you guys think. Any input is much appreciated!!

What kinda stuff do you give your guys during cold weather? We gave out popsicles & sodas on hot days but kinda blanking on hot foods to have on hand now that it's cooling down.

I’m currently in contact with an employee through their personal Facebook account, so I’m a bit worried and want to make sure the company is legit before proceeding. Has anyone worked there or applied there before? How’s the work environment, and is their staff house for female employees safe and decent?
I’d really appreciate any feedback or personal experiences. Thank you!

For the bros and ladies with office based positions ( not on site) what are your day to day hours ?

So what is everyone using these days?
Big guys, little guys, solo contractors.

I'm trying to find what has everything you need an nothing you don't.
Procore is expensive, Fieldwire has decent reviews.

Is there anything ya'll are using to put together schedules and logging your daily reports?
Aside from Excel or notebooks.

Cheers!

What types of companies provide the best opportunities to own equity in some day. Would it be a subcontracting business, or a general contractor?

What stage and how much revenue would be a target company to pursue buying a stake.

What kind of skills and experience are needed to be an equity holder. Can a regular PM do this?

I feel it would be very rewarding and motivating having a stake in a company, and not just collecting a salary and the occasional bonus.

I’ve recently been hired into an estimating position collecting bids for new builds for restaurants, gas stations, etc.

I’ve been in construction project management for 5 years slowing moving up from tiny projects into bigger projects.
My new job being the biggest I’ve done.

In a month, I’ve noticed a constant stream of requests for extensions, late submissions (1-2 weeks), last minute RFIs, revisions.

The best way I can compare this to is like being a teacher trying to collect homework assignments with my own deadline to submit grades to the higher ups. 😅
I know I need the bids…but they’re useless to me if we’ve already submitted our own bid or because they’re sent in so last minute, that I’m overwhelmed with emails that I can’t look at them in time.

My co-worker says to always just politely accept the bids as to not discourage sub-contractors from sending and just mark them late. But I don’t want to lie to them if their bids just get filed and not looked at and then they call in a month looking for feedback.

Hey so i manage big solar construction projects..

And every month my manager asks me for that one complete percentage number that we are at currently

Honestly it is just a guess like the site team and the schedule are never on the same page

How do you report progress that is honest and also for the leadership to understand easily

Got offers from clark,hitt,dpr in nova/dc area. Any advice before I make a choice?

I got an opportunity to interview with BCEI. I never done an interview before. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you guys.

Hello all I have been working construction safety for almost two years at a pretty big gc . The pay is good and I don’t dislike the job but I’ve really become interested in the operations side . Now even though I said project management i understand I’d have to start off as a project engineer or field engineer and that’s fine . I was just wondering about some ways I could maybe go about it. I was thinking of maybe either seeing if I could get into a construction management masters. (I have a degree in occupational safety and health) and seeing if my construction experience would me get in. Any advice would very welcome !

I'm often out doing site inspections and need to check construction drawings, measurements, and other documents on the spot. For personal use, a phone is enough. But when I need to show the same drawing to a couple of coworkers or clients, it becomes frustrating. Passing a phone around and trying to explain details on a small screen isn’t ideal.

I’ve considered bringing a tablet or a compact projector, but I don't want to carry extra gear that I might only use occasionally. How do you guys usually handle this? Do you use tablets, projectors, or some other solution when you need to share plans and data with a group?

I've (F late 20's) been in the construction industry for 4 years, started as a PE, APM, Junior Estimator, then promoted to Estimator with my own office and estimated all finish outs while a team of 3 guys handled ground up.

I'm still young and learning and the largest project I've been awarded was a renovated Wells Fargo HQ around $900K. Not that impressive compared to what's out there I know.

I interviewed at this small GC that specializes in mostly ground up restaurants and some finish outs so they hired me as an Estimator. Interviews were great and sounded promising.

The first red flag was the estimating department lead and my manager was a young man with 1 year of estimating experience and 1 year at a GC. Stepdad is the owner. I didn't connect the dots because they have different last names.

I don't get to estimate anymore. They make me do cold calls all day and I have to prepare a detailed call sheet with notes and contacts and a requirement of 60 calls a day and AT LEAST 6 subcontractor proposals per TRADE (even on $800k finish outs) or the boss tells us we're not bidding the job because I didn't try hard enough for coverage. I'm not allowed to read drawings because I need my time spent making cold calls.

My inexperienced manager tells me this is what being an estimator is when I try bringing up that this wasn't what I applied for. I hate using the sexist card but he speaks to me this way because he can. I truly believe they hired me thinking I'm a woman so I'm organized and will suck it up and do admin work all day. I don't read plans, I don't use OST or bluebeam, I call subs if they're interested in bidding and when they ask me for a summary of what's going on, I have to transfer the call to the senior estimator because I don't know what's going on.

I've brought on several amazing subs from my past companies, but they still don't see my value.

I want to leave so bad but I need to wait a year before I hop around. I had 3 job offers the same week and I beat myself over choosing the wrong GC every day. I know I can do better.

I always told myself I'd try to have passion in the career I choose, and I chose construction management in college and I did have that passion until now. Just a vent, thanks

I was a Scheduler for a large M&E Contractor for various large scale Pharma and Data Center projects.
Progressing rapidly, lead a project with 2 juniors less than 2 years into the role.
Had notions of learning a trade and I set off to do just that.
A year later and I’m not satisfied, I miss the chance of career climbing, the competition.. I’m bored wiring up boards on site.

Long story short, they want me back. And they want me on rotation for a hyperscale Data Center project in Europe (I’m Irish), it’s 3 weeks over there 1 week home. Big project in terms of scale and company value. Business largely seems to be moving that way so it’s a good place to be career wise.

I start back in 2 weeks and I want to hit the ground running.
My old boss is now higher up, he’s delighted I’m starting back. His boss was glad that I decided to rejoin too.
I’m off to a good start but I want to capitalise on it.
At the very least they see my diversion as a great way to gain some site experience, no harm considering I came into this with a Business degree.

There were talks of me becoming a Senior Scheduler in 2 years, I want to hit that target.

Any advice?

Got offered the summer associate position and was wondering about housing - if in the DC area they said they offer "local university housing".. was wondering if this was GWU or American.. if anyone has any thoughts or comments pls let me know