Sometimes you end up in a career you never anticipated and love it

I began my career in construction project management in 2004 and was trained by the owner of the general contracting company. I was fortunate to begin my construction career performing work on colleges and lower level schools rather than working on small projects. The advantage that it gave me was formal training in reading blue prints, reading specifications, creating contracts and scopes of work, and following rigid communication organization rules.

Throughout my entire construction career those early lessons put me at an advantage over other candidates. The company you select to work for can either enhance your career with proper training or sabotage your opportunity for self-growth and hinder your career moving forward.

There are many things that I love about my career beginning with having the opportunity to analyze and anticipate pros and cons of issues. I negotiate with clients and subcontractors. I don't have to sit at a desk my entire day, but sometimes I do have to. I'm always faced with new issues both good and bad and life is never dull.

To be honest I was always granted leadership positions, and I never imagined I would work in a blue collar industry. Construction was not my first career, I began as a recruiter for Job Corps in 1986, and switched to medical for almost nine years, when the hospital I worked for closed I had a unique opportunity to work for a manufacturer starting in marketing and was soon promoted to General Manager, then offered a position with a construction company.

Of the many things that I love about my career is what I build is something tangible that I can say for years or decades that I built. Think about all of the amazing places you have seen and imagine what it would be like to listen to others talk about the beauty and complexity of the construction. Then imagine if they were talking about your work. It's very satisfying.

I founded Women In Construction Trades to open doors to proper training and advancement for females. Not every female is suited for a desk job, and many females in traditional roles struggle economically. Construction trades can be very lucrative as certain trade workers are paid up to $140,000 a year. Join us here at Women In Construction Trades.

USACE Construction Quality Management (CQM)

ICC Reinforcing Concrete Inspection

Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI)

OSHA 30 Construction

PMP

Agile

Six Sigma

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