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Mark Bordelon

Professor Moore

ENGL-1301

21 February 2019

The Career of a Construction Manager

Construction managers have one of the most important jobs on a construction site. They

watch over everything happening on the construction site and make sure it is all done correctly

and safely. Construction managers have to be able to lead a crew and instruct them on what they

are building. They have to manage the building of homes, schools, skyscrapers, and all kinds of

buildings. Being a construction manager is a challenging but fulfilling job based on the

experience, salary, and employment opportunities.

Construction managers must have the proper training and education to be able to guide

their team. To become a successful construction manager, they must have the proper training and

education. This includes having a bachelor's degree in civil engineering or building science.

Before someone is able to take the test to become a certified construction manager, they must

have at least four years of construction management experience. This experience can be gained

through a course taken at a college or from a construction company that offers internships. This

job also requires a lot of people skills. Construction managers have to have good leadership skills

and be able to give clear orders that are easy to understand since they are guiding a team. They

also need good decision making skills because they are the ones who decide what subcontractors

or personnel they want to hire to get certain jobs done. Perhaps the most important part of the job

are customer service skills. Construction managers must be able to communicate with owners on
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what is supposed to be built and be able to give orders to their team. They will be in constant

contact with these people and it is important to have a close relationship with them.

Salaries for construction managers depend mostly on what state or what metropolitan

area they are working in. Most construction managers work more than 40 hours a week because

they have to meet deadlines and are on call 24 hours a day in case of an emergency. According

to Occupational Employment Statistics for construction managers the highest paying state for

construction managers is New Jersey with a annual mean wage of $138,980 a year and an

employment level of 5,720. The employment level is the rate of how many people are being used

out of how many people are available. The higher the employment level is the better. While the

salary of a construction manager is high in New jersey, the employment is low compared to other

states. California has the highest employment level out of any other state with 32,780 and has as

annual mean wage of $111,940. Metropolitan areas are a prosperous place for construction

managers to live because of how many job opportunities are available. The metropolitan area

with the highest employment level is the New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ

Metropolitan Division, with 10,230 and the annual wage there is $130,590. In Texas construction

managers have three major metropolitan areas with high employment opportunities, allowing

native Texans to stay in Texas and not have to move to other states to do their job. The Houston

area has the second highest employment level out of all the metropolitan areas in the United

States and the Dallas area has the fifth highest. The average yearly salary for a construction

manager in Houston is $107,500 and in Dallas it is $98,740 (Median Pay). For these reasons this

makes Texas one of the most appealing places for employment for many construction workers.
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These next few years look promising for the future of the construction business. As the

economy grows, so does the need for more buildings that harbor businesses. This economic

growth is going to need the construction of new roads, skyscrapers, and other structures. Big

businesses such as Amazon keep expanding therefore requiring more warehouses and office

buildings to be built. For example, Amazon has opened nine enormous warehouses across the

United States and plan to build many more in the near future. Things like public transportation

will also need to be built. Bullet trains are starting to be built in countries across the world and

will require long strips of train track that stretch for miles. Major projects like this will require

many construction managers and will offer substantial pay for them. The Occupational Outlook

Handbook predicts that the construction business will grow 11 percent from 2016 to 2026, which

is the fastest average out of any occupation. This will create about 747,600 new construction jobs

(Construction Managers). Construction managers will be needed more than ever to complete all

of these future projects so this will be the best time to become one.

Becoming a construction manager can take a lot of time, money, and work but the skills

and the salary earned from this job makes it worth it. It can be a demanding job and will

sometimes require long days of work but being able to know that this work is helping expand

and better the world makes it worth it. With so many opportunities in this field there is no need

to worry about finding a job or having to move for this job. This job can give someone skills that

will help throughout daily life, not just at a construction site. This is good honest work and is a

perfect match for someone who enjoys working with their hands and is a strong leader. With the

way the economy is growing there is not a better time to become a construction manager than

now.
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Works Cited

“2017 Median Pay.” ​U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics​, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 13 Apr.

2018, ​www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/home.htm​.

“11-9021 Construction Managers.” ​U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics​, U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, 30 Mar. 2018, ​www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/oes119021.htm#(1)​.