Construction Management: Industrial and Commercial

Looking to do construction management so you can lie to your parents and say it's better than a business degree?

Go engineering or go to grad school.

Okay, you petulant child. Consider a real major and report back.

Yes ma’am!

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I’m a freshman at LSU and would like to start early and intern ASAP. Which company should I look into interning with?

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It's good that you're interested in an internship so early. Most people wait way too late to get one.

Sign up for Construction interview day and CSA and go to all the meetings and both CID'S ever year. It sounds cliché but try to get some FaceTime with the big wigs that talk at all the CSA meetings.

Sign up for as many interviews as possible at CID and take whatever internship is offered to you for the first one. A lot of companies are assholes and don't want to take on someone with 0 experience, so the first internship is the hardest to get.

Once you get your first internships the next one(s) come easy. Graduate with a 3.2 GPA and a couple summers worth of work and you'll be able to pretty much pick your job and location when you get out of school.

I graduated last year. Had about a year of part time work experience in total between 2 different internships. Had several different offers from multiple companies ranging from 45-65k.

Be prepared to work a shite ton fresh out of school. Pretty much everyone I keep up with from my class works at least 50+ hours a week. You can't go wrong with either the field or office side of things. Just depends what you're into.

Usually, later in your career, the PM track has more steady job prospects but field supers have the opportunity to make more money faster.

Landing a job is all about networking.

Hey sport, your well thought-out advice presented in such a clear and positive manner will not win you any friends around here.



Nicely done.

Attend the Construction Student Association Meetings and get involved. Do the mentorship program, volunteer for the banquet committee, help with the golf tournament, etc. Doing those things gets you opportunities. I ended up getting 2 different internships in undergrad from the mentorship program alone. I met the individual who eventually interviewed and hired me at a golf tournament. The people I know who worked the banquet committee found jobs working for people whom they had solicited for auction items and sold tables to.

Your journey is just beginning. CM is a great field that pays well, and the School of Construction Management has outstanding alumni support and professors that actually do give a damn about you. You will get out what you put in and then some.

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Talked to some people from MAPP and asked them about interns.

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I actually interned at MAPP for about 9 months starting summer of my junior year. They are a great company and have lots of different types of projects from heavy commercial to retail.

They were very accommodating with my school schedule. I had a second job while there to pay for school that forced me to work late nights. They were cool with adjusting my schedule so I didn't have to come in running on 3 hours sleep.

Any of the big BR companies are great places to intern. MAPP, Cajun, Stuart, Arkel, Lemoine's BR Office, ISC, Group. All those are great.

Once you get an internship, I can't stress enough how important is to PASS THE DRUG TEST AND SHOW UP. Internships are easy. Your bosses expect you to be there to learn. You'll do basic paper pushing and stuff that isn't all that exciting. They really just want to see if you are capable of doing what you'll say you'll do.

The biggest pet peeve I came across while interning was other interns not showing up. That is the absolute quickest way to lose a shot at a job.

I saw multiple interns get fired because they would say they'd be at the job from x time to y time, then show up an hour late.

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LSU career services puts out a survey of grads and their beginning salary, CM students are making around $60,000 coming out of college according to this years survey. Internships are a must!

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CM isn't a bad major. A lot of the folks coming right out of school go in to the field where you make more money but work long weeks, get OT, and per diem. The company I work for starts field CM guys out at 32 or 33 an hour while the guys who stay in the office start out at 25 or so. I have an associates in CM and I am making 60k in an office 3 years out from graduating. I interned with this company 1 year before that, unpaid. I had a few years of trade experience coming out, though. I am currently back in school to finish my BS as well.

Good luck and don't waste a summer. Get out there and work, even if you are a helper on a turnaround.

Have no experience in the industrial side, but do in the commercial side. Internship is a huge must. Also some field experience would help.

Don’t just try the general contractors. Try electrical and mechanical contractors as well. The interns we hired in the past all had job offered in the industry before graduation.

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Looking to do construction management so you can lie to your parents and say it's better than a business degree? 

Go engineering or go to grad school.

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I can't speak for everyone, but when I was there, the business school required a 3.0 and CM a 2.5. So, there is some truth to this. The CM people will get all butthurt, but you will be one of the few CM kids that start/finish wanting to do that. Most are former engineers and business majors that can't cut it.