Understanding General Construction From an Education and Background in Everything Except Construction and Contracting Services
As a recent graduate in Business Administration (Managerial Informatics), I must say I do not think I ever thought I would find my first job out of college working for a general construction company; a contracting service for construction work didn't even cross my mind when thinking of what I wanted to look for as a career. I also have to say, that even though this is completely new information and new systems, and a whole new learning environment, I absolutely love the things I am learning in construction, in the process of it, in the process of managing the bids and subcontractors, emails and emails, and constantly looking up new terms and words that I need to know in order to understand anything about construction and building.
For example, a "take-off" versus a request for a bid estimate from a subcontractor, or knowing that I have to reach out to different sections of contractors by each project that I come in contact with. One project may need numbers and organization for a small home remodel that needs a framer, painter, roofer, and someone to drywall perhaps, as others are more in depth requiring a design, which involves an architect, an excavator for demolition of new buildings or for other residential and commercial remodels and additions, a concreter, a mechanic (HVAC), a drywall-er, a painter, a roofer, an electrician, a plumber, and sometimes a landscaper or tennis court designer!
From learning how to find potential projects, to the bid system, to the subcontractors that we work with and find, to creating the best possible, most affordable proposal to offer any customer, to getting some jobs and not getting the job, to creating systems for customer relations and team communications, to building a new Website, to answering the phone and filing the daily office paperwork is another side and scope of duties working for this Western Slope, general construction contracting service company.
