Maybe I’ll work as a Construction Manager
Do you want to make five to six figure numbers a year? If so, construction manager might be the right job for you. What is the day-to-day life of a construction manager? It may seem easy to some people by hearing the name, and you might think that all u do is walk around making sure that nothing goes wrong, and nobody gets hurt. Which technically is managing the construction site and just for that u get to go home with easy five-to-six-digit check a year. Well, it is not. It is much more than you think but if you are dedicated and like this job you will get it done. As a construction manager you will oversee much more than that, you will be in charge of keeping the budget given for the project the same and giving an estimate period for the project to be completed and even more. It is not so simple as it seems now, is it? Challenging work is needed to earn those kinds of checks.
Construction manager is an important job for us and the future generations. This is important because our world and community are growing. New Construction projects are being planned and approved to be built daily around the entire world, whether it is a new apartment complex or a new company. Because of that a construction manager is an important job to us and the community. We do not want people to get hurt or people to go bankrupt in the middle of a project and do not want the project to take an extremely long time. A construction manager will prevent all that and not let that happen to the project owner. Without a construction manager maybe constructing a building may be impossible. So, what is it that you need to be a successful and well-known construction manager? It’s not easy to run a construction site, one unwise decision can cause a life or multiple, even a collapse and that is on you. So, you got to know what it is a construction manager does and what a day of work may look like before you consider it.
As a day-to-day life working as a construction manager. It is known that they have responsibilities and things to take care of. They may not have an everyday routine that is the same but what they do on every construction site may be remarkably similar. What do they do, or what daily routines they may have, you may ask. One important thing that as a construction manager is done would be keeping the budget given to complete the project. According to the an author Han he says “… Yet, through its construction timetable of more than a decade, it remained on budget and on schedule. This pro-gram involved a remarkable array of innovations both in construction methods and in management of contracts and interfaces.”(Han 1) This tells us that after the long construction project of building a bridge it kept its budget the same and that is known to be accomplished by the construction method and management that made it get accomplished. That is just a small responsibility they have, imagine how many more they have and do in their daily construction site. They have many more responsibilities to take care of in a construction site daily.
Working as a construction manager has various responsibilities, to work and be a good construction manager u must be a good leader. One who people trust and look up to and who can be trusted to be able to accomplish the goal they have. A professor in Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia informs that “The construction manager must act as a leader throughout the life of the construction project. Acting as a leader enables the construction manager to plan, monitor, and control the progress of a project very effectively”. (Burger 1) As a construction manager if you can be a good and strong leader you can wanted to run more jobs knowing that you can inspire your workers and make sure they feel welcome to the family of workers in the construction site. You will be able to plan things out, control the things in your construction site and organize the daily accomplishments that are to be met before your hard-working crew can stop for the day. This is the best first step to becoming a good and powerful construction manager. That’s just one step into being a construction manager, a good one. Imagine what else u must do as a construction manager, I can assure you it’s not just being a leader. There are many more responsibilities that tie in after u prove to be a strong leader.
A typical daily life in the field of construction management when it is going smoothly, is mostly simple. They may have a busy schedule, which can be tiring but it is not as stressful if you are keeping track of everything going on in the project you are in charge of and have a planned day ahead of you. If you do not know how to keep yourself or your daily agenda organized, you will get stressed and that can simply be avoided. Throughout the day u may have a meeting with the owner of the project or the architect that designed the project. You will also have to be focused and make sure everything and everyone is good. As Rachel Burger says in her article “Their days are split between meetings, planning, working with documents, and maintaining a presence on the job site. Construction managers must have the analytic ability to keep their projects running smoothly as well as the ability to inspire workers.” (Burger 1) She just shows us that a common schedule includes those things. Maybe someday u will not have a meeting, but it will be remarkably similar on the job, keeping in mind if everything is going as planned.
That being a schedule for a smooth project it can change with a blink of an eye. You may have your entire day planned but if there is one problem everything changes. As the author from “a day in life of a construction manager” said “One day, you could be meeting with stakeholders. The next you could be on the job site investigating the source of a project delay.” (Burger 1) This is something that will never be planned. One day u can have a planned meeting about how the site is going and can randomly change to making phone calls wondering why the cement truck still has not arrived as an example. So, in reality There are 2 ways a day can go but will always be in that area of having meetings or trying to solve small to big problems that develop. The one thing that every construction manager can tell u is Inspiring your workers is key to having a good construction site and a safe one as well. If u see a Construction manager with a bad temper or that simply can have a good relationship with the subcontractors, then it is not going to be as easy as it should be.
We know that something in a construction site can go wrong in terms of building a project. As a construction manager their biggest fear would be project failure. If you hire the wrong people or crew, they might not have the experience to complete your task/project. Or it can even be the construction manager in charge of the project not being able to keep up with the projects from lack of work time alone or experience of the occurring problems they may run into. Based on the article “The Fears that Keep Project Managers Up at Night” it says that “Project failure is one of the most common fears among project managers. Past negative experiences, lack of experience, and other factors can all lead to project managers who are too tense to manage their teams.” (The fears that keep project managers up at night) This explains to us that a construction manager who may be running their first construction site and may not have the requirements to do so causes the construction site to fail in its requirements leaving a bad reputation in your profile. Which is you as a construction manager before you get assigned a project to run alone you need to make sure you are ready to do so.
As I spoke to someone in the construction manager field, they told me how to be a good leader. Being a good leader can be stressful but worth it. I was told to be a good leader you must involve your crew in big decisions you may have to take, you must consider their thoughts and ask them what they think may get the job done in an effortless way for them. You must consider the hard work they do and cannot just choose the first best option If there is another way to consider that maybe less work for your crew and will get the main job done. Another way of being a good leader that I was told is by inspiring them to make the project happen. If someone is having a bad day a good construction manager should realize and offer a moment to talk to them if they need it. This construction manager told me how a project is from start to end they start by sitting with the architect who designed the plans they talk through it and once that happens, they both sit with the customer and the construction manager asks for their budget once that is settles, they go on to giving the option to complete this project within budget. Then they come to a period needed to complete the project. Once all that is done, they go on to hiring subcontractors that fulfil the requirement of completing this job. From there its all work on site, building getting the materials. One thing that this construction manager does is throughout the job period some days he told me he would go out and get them coffee or something to eat on him, he told me that he thinks that is what a good leader also does he considers their hard work and gives them something to show his appreciation .
Maybe construction manager is the job for you! It pays good and is a fun career for those who like construction. Construction will never die out, there will always be new projects to take charge of an abandoned buildings, for example being bought and transformed into something new. Those checks may not seem as simple to get now, but it sure is good pay for the good amount of work needed. A construction manager will forever be needed, if there is no Construction manager remember the task will be hard to complete or even impossible.
Work cited
Burger, Rachel. “A Day in the Life of a Construction Manager.” The Balance Small Business, The Balance Small Business, 7 May 2019, https://www.thebalancesmb.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-construction-manager-845349.
“The Fears That Keep Project Managers up at Night.” Z, 30 Oct. 2018, https://www.zstream.io/blog/the-fears-that-keep-project-managers-up-at-night.
Author: s.han. “What Does a Construction Manager Do?” Everglades University, 12 Mar. 2021, https://www.evergladesuniversity.edu/blog/what-does-construction-manager-do/.
the money we have but don’t
In my community there is one big and well-known phrase that is, “money doesn’t grow on trees”. Throughout my childhood until I turned fifteen, I never understood the point of that phrase and why it was said so much. I say the age of fifteen because that is the age I started working, and spent MY money, that I earned with my blood and sweat. That phrase was always annoying to me. Every time I would ask for something like a toy or clothing at an unreasonable price which now at the age of eighteen, I realize it was an unreasonable price I would always, always, always get hit with that phrase… ” money doesn’t grow on trees”. It is fair to say, as a little kid I found it dumb and so annoying because I did not understand the hard work needed to get money. now that I’m eighteen, I look back more to when I was little.
As I look back at the knowledge I have now, it makes me realize how my parents were right. And how I was so inconsiderate with the money they worked so hard for, to give us a roof over our heads, food on the table and so many more ways that the money could have gone to. Now I find it now unreasonable to get the things I did or asked for because that money could have helped with something way more important and useful in life than a plastic toy, that sooner or later might have been lost or broken.
this phrase was very important in my Peruvian community. Mainly because of the reason many families didn’t have money to get luxury things and sad enough, sometimes to not pay for necessities needed in their day-to-day life. Many kids in my county Peru would kill for the things I have, and a lot of times I would ask for more. They couldn’t have the things because of the lack of employment there is in Peru. Although I’m sure many kids did ask for things, parents as much as it would break their heart, would respond… ” no puedo no tango la plata”. (I can’t I don’t have the money) and kids who didn’t understand that would be told “la plata no crece en un arbolito”. (Money doesn’t grow on trees). like my parents grew up in those circumstances, when they moved to New York those phrases just stayed with them.
My first experience with this phrase, that I could remember, would be when I went to Walmart with my mom and dad to do some grocery shopping. I was probably eight or nine years old. I loved legos during this time frame and wanted so many of them. that day I wandered off to the toy section, like always. There was this new Lego set that just came out at Lego airport. I was so fascinated by it and wanted it. I remember the exact price was ninety-nine dollars and ninety cents. As any child would do when they wanted something, I picked up the box and ran to my parents. I asked them, could they get it, and my parents would never shut me down as soon as I asked for something, I can’t say I’m spoiled, because in reality I’m not. but if there was candy or something with a reasonable price I wanted and they had extra money, they would get it. It wasn’t always but it was something. So, after I asked, they asked me “canto cuesta?”(how much is it) I answered them JUST NINETY-NINE DOLLARS! all excited. My parents didn’t say no they told me, “No hay otra cosita que te guste mas barato” (is there something more affordable u like) and my annoying and inconsiderate self-answered, “no! quiero esto”. (No! I want this) Understanding that they meant that, what I wanted was too expensive. At that point I would get frustrated, and start crying and would say, u guys don’t buy me anything. My dad would just look at me and say, “money doesn’t grow on trees” escoge algo mas barato. (Choose something cheaper). At that point of him saying that, it would get me annoyed and would just walk away. I would never understand what the point of saying money doesn’t t grow on trees. I found it dumb to say and annoying to hear, because obviously money doesn’t grow on trees, I knew that. Now at the age I am I still find it annoying to hear, but it’s not dumbed to say because it’s the bare truth said in a nice way, and it’s something that now I understand that that money had better use.
Another Time that I could remember, was when my parents were getting a new car. My parents have been talking about getting a new car for a while now, and that day came. My parents had a Ford Edge, it was in good condition but was just old and had seen a car they loved, which was a Honda CR-V. It was the year 2012 and I was about eight or nine years old. I was going with them so I could look at cars too, like I found it fun and very into cars. On the way there I asked them what kind of car they were planning on getting and they told me Honda, I them they should get a BMW. I loved BMW and wanted to be driven around in one and possibly one day own one for myself. My dad just answered it’s way too expensive, and I just answered how? thinking all cars were the same price or around the same price range not a huge difference. I always thought BMW were the best cars but, my parents didn’t they thought for it to be problematic and a headache in owning one, that’s why they would go to Honda it was reliable and had cheap replacement pars if needed. But I didn’t understand like I was little and thought to myself, that’s so dumb they have the chance of getting nice car, but they get Honda. When my parents got to the Honda dealership, I would say get out the car. time to get an ugly car, like BMW was the best thing out there to me. The moment I said that that’s when they hit me with the famous quote money doesn’t grow on trees and of course just got annoyed in hearing that. They told me tenemos suerte que podemos tener un Carro que nos lleve a Lugares. cuanta gente hay que quisiera un Carro pero tiene que cojer bus o tren a las cinco de la mañana para llegar a las siete al trabajo. (We’re lucky that we can own a car that can take us places. how many people out there that would love to own a car but have to wake up at five in the morning to take the bus and or train to get to work at seven.) And like I was still a little boy I never looked at it as a big deal. But when it was me to walk around instead of driving around, I realized, I am lucky to have my parents that own a car it’s a big deal and a privilege. As well as when I got a car, I worked hard for it, and it was a privilege. Not something that I need to survive because there’s other ways of getting around than driving. A car isn’t easy to have, it’s not something you buy and have forever, you still have to make oil changes, put gas, change the tires and so much more, so in reality it’s a responsibility to have. Now that I own a car, I realize why they went for a Honda and that was the same reason I went for a Honda and it was because the parts are cheap the insurance isn’t as expensive and so many other reasons that many won’t understand till they have it I may not like it, but I’m glad I have a car that can take me to point A to point B. that’s my reality
this phrase is a very known phrase in my Peruvian culture seeing how money isn’t easy to get in Peru. Money is something that comes and goes but the way it goes has to be a good decision. I can say my parents made good decisions with spending the money they get because there isn’t a day that the food on my table isn’t there. money doesn’t grow on trees and a lot of family in my culture would kill to have a percentage of what I have. money doesn’t grow on trees. You want it? work for it, make it a goal but be sure to accomplish that goal.
final portfolio
Since the beginning of the semester, I think my work hasn’t improved much. I think that my work did get a bit more organized, but it still can be better. Personally, I never really like reading or writing which I think is a big reason in which I don’t dedicate myself to do the best I can. I think I just do the work to get it done and to submit it. I don’t have the heart to write like others, I simply just do the assignment and submit it. I don’t really reread what I wrote unless I know it’s very crazy and unacceptable to submit, but if I finish my assignment and think I did good I submit it right away I don’t bother to reread what I wrote or even see if I can fix things up. Throughout the semester my least favorite assignment was the last one, unit 3. I didn’t really like it because of the video essay that we had to do although we had different options, I knew that option was the best for my topic. I thought it was my best was to get through to my chosen audience which was Cuny students and to be honest choosing my audience I also didn’t have much of a choice, it was the best choice I had. coming in English composition ii in the beginning of the semester was going to be very similar to English composition I. I thought it was going to be reading more small articles and writing and answering questions given but I was wrong it was more work towards a big assignment which I didn’t even want to do. Honestly, I think I can strongly say my writing didn’t change at all. It may have gotten more organized but it’s not to the point my level of a student should be at. in the beginning of the semester,
I think my work was very disorganized like I said. I feel like I would just write anything that has to do with the topic to get out of it I would just write and write put down no punctuation at all and at some point, my work would not make any type of sense to it. now at the end of the semester I can’t say my work of writing has changed I think that It’s the same messy and all over the place. like I said just improved a little in my organization skills, and I think if I did the work we had to do to build up to the big paper with time and dedication I would not have this problem. but deep inside of me I find it useless and a waste of time even though another part of me knows my work would be so much better if I did it the correct way from the start. English wasn’t my first language and a lot of professors and teachers told me they realized it reading my work I honestly think it not noticeable. for that I can say that I don’t know how I can improve it. sometimes I think it’s because I don’t use big words as much as others but at the same time, I’m not one hundred percent sure what it is they realize to say my first language was not English. people thought I wasn’t into it because of English being my second language but I can assure u I hate doing this in Spanish as much as I do in English.
Something I can say that I learned but even though I know how to do I still don’t do it is how to organize myself by doing small brainstorms of ideas on what to write and how to write it. I think it was a good thing I learned it and that I would definitely use it in my future life in college or even in my future jobs before submitting in big papers or work reports that may talk about the plans for an existing project or upcoming project. and having a well-organized report and understandable report will defiantly help me become a bigger construction manager. and known as someone who knows how to make a point and support it in an organized fashion and understandable way too. My experience revising my classmates’ work was kind of annoying to me personally. While reading their work I just didn’t care. Also, while reading their reports on something I got so lost because I didn’t understand their way of writing, seeing how everyone has a different form of writing and getting their point across. Also, something I can say there are people with a high understanding of words and that would include those words that I would have no idea what it meant and just but that get me all confused and not want to read the rest. I think the I didn’t adapt in a quick way to online as others I was so use to paper and pencil and would just get all stressed and annoyed of all the websites, we had to use for each class yes at some point I was going to get used to it but I’m always going to miss my paper and pencil.
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