A while ago, I asked my construction connections this very question.
Two hundred votes later, it appears that the majority of construction professionals (at least in this very unscientific poll!) prefer a field management background for their PMs.
A few quick takeaways:
1) These results align with what most CEOs, VPs, and other hiring managers tell me in our job intake meetings: to understand how to run projects effectively, the field is perhaps the best teacher. The tangible experience of being on a job site may well progress your career more than any early office position or fancy construction management course.
2) While many hiring managers LOVE to see someone with field experience, they rarely hire someone into an Assistant Project Manager position or Project Manager position with solely a field background. In short, I don’t see them “taking chances” on Superintendents too frequently. My advice to field professionals looking to get into the office: do what you can to move from the field to the office in your current company. If that is not happening, you may have to look outside your current company, but it will generally be a slower job search.
3) Only 52% selected a “field management background.” There is no true “consensus” on what the best background is for a Commercial PM. All of my clients are different. Some ONLY want a CM degreed candidate, some want only project management experience, some want estimators growing into PMs, and some want a true expert from the trades! I’ve seen people crossover from residential construction, AND I’ve seen successful PMs coming from other completely different industries (IT, theater, education, sports, you name it).
Company preferences, ways of doing business, and cultural fits are as varied as the people within those organizations.
#constructionindustry #constructioncareers #constructionprojectmanagement