Two Truths (And A Lie) About Careers in Construction

Careers in Construction Month—a national campaign to raise awareness and highlight various career paths within the industry—takes place every October to shine a spotlight on construction’s fulfilling professional opportunities.  

Construction is not only the foundation of our company but still a significant arm of our business. We are proud to build stories—but we cannot build these stories or create community impact without the talented tradespeople who lead the charge in bringing these buildings to life. 

As Careers in Construction month comes to an end, we’ve highlighted a few important truths (and a lie) surrounding this professional path and why now is the perfect time to explore how you can build your future in this industry. 

Truth: You don’t have to have a background in construction to have a successful construction career.  

Regardless of your educational or professional background, construction is an industry that can be taught and learned. We have team members who were in a field related to construction—those who studied architecture or civil engineering, for example, but then became interested in construction and made the career switch. We’ve also had civil engineers who felt a pull towards the field.  

But we’ve also brought team members on board who had no background in construction; their experience was vast and varied: military veterans, business majors, farmers, accountants and more. 

With multiple service lines in addition to construction—including development, architecture + engineering, real estate management and capital markets—our team members gain extensive industry exposure. They can also pursue career moves based on their interests, all while staying at Ryan. 

We are supportive of people finding their path. The best part? There are multiple paths to take. All you need is a willing attitude and eagerness to learn.  

Truth: Baby boomers are retiring from their roles in construction, opening positions for the next generation – and a diverse pipeline. 

As baby boomers begin to retire after decades of dedication in their respected construction careers, a wave of roles is opening for the next generation. The construction industry is hungry for dedicated leaders and diverse team members, eager to learn and ready to grow. 

We offer excellent opportunities to build a significant construction career, backed by our strong industry reputation and years of expertise. With our corporate office in Minneapolis and offices nationwide, you have numerous options for where to live and work. Our diverse portfolio includes a variety of notable clients, allowing you to work on large, unique projects and project types. 

With baby boomers retiring, we need to fill the pipeline with more female and diverse team members. Opportunities aren’t limited to a specific type of person or skill set. We prioritize developing a diverse workforce, which boosts innovation, creativity, and relevance to our clients and communities.  

Whether you’re a young adult or a seasoned professional considering a career switch, the opportunities are here. The time is now. 

Myth: Construction careers always involve swinging a hammer and pounding nails.  

Working in construction often conjures an image of work boots, hard hats, hammers and nails. And yes, this is one side of construction. But it’s not the only side.  

The industry is multifaceted and includes a variety of roles and needs—some which are based in an office environment rather than on a project site. Others (such as Virtual Design and Construction) are completely office-based but provide critical services that significantly help with the preconstruction process. Using virtual programs and technologies, VDC engineers can construct a building before it is actually built, thus helping to identify design configuration challenges or potential problems—and solutions—before construction in the field begins. It’s a helpful and necessary part of the construction process that often saves our team stress and headaches and saves our clients time and money. 

But VDC is just one example of how construction roles have expanded beyond the construction site. Here’s a list of our common construction roles: 

Virtual Design
Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) engineers are responsible for creating models and documents for buildings. They get involved as early as proposals before physical construction begins utilizing digital tools and technologies to give visual guides to buildings and what they’ll look like. The role is crucial as they improve design accuracy and save time/resources.   

Preconstruction Engineer
Preconstruction engineers help in various areas such as: preparing detailed cost estimates, planning all aspects of projects, assisting in timelines/budgets/resource allocation, identifying potential risks and more. 

Preconstruction Manager
Preconstruction managers are key in the planning and preparation of projects to ensure they run smoothly once construction begins. They are involved with project planning, cost estimation, design coordination, risk management, procurement planning, permitting and more. They also get involved with budget monitoring and scheduling. Overall, helping set the stage for a successful construction project by addressing all critical elements before construction begins helping minimize risk. 

Project Coordinator  
Project coordinators provide administrative support to the construction project teams in various capacities. They work on projects from start to finish and are involved in many aspects of the project from drafting contracts, working through monthly pay applications, doing project close out tasks and more. 

Project Engineer 
Project engineers are key supporters in projects from start to finish from an onsite perspective. They are heavily involved in day-to-day operations—understanding schedules, budgets, change orders and more. They provide support to the Project Managers and Superintendents as well as communicate heavily with subcontractors.  

Project Manager 
Project managers are steering the ship with projects. They are managing the entire project team and subcontractors as well as having heavy involvement in the projects before they even officially break ground. They are leading meetings, overseeing design, doing negotiations and much more. They are also the ones working closest with owners/clients. 

Assistant Superintendent 
Assistant superintendents are typically on-site 100% of the time and assisting with each step of the building process. They are the day-to-day problem solvers and managing subcontractor performance.  

Superintendent 
Superintendents are on the project site 100% of the time upholding budgets, safety, subcontractor performance and more. They are ensuring materials are coming to sites and maintaining the master schedule.  

Field Coordinator
Field coordinators are responsible for ensuring that we have all the people in place to build buildings. They are training field staff, assisting with project schedules, enforcing safety and more. They are 100% on site. 

Field Engineers
Field engineers plans, designs and manages the building infrastructure, helping to problem-solve and offer assistance almost exclusively in the field. 

Equipment Operator
Equipment operators use machinery and other heavy equipment tools to help accomplish tasks to see the project through the finish line. Moves supplies, earth, heavy materials, etc. to prepare construction site. 

Carpenter
Carpenters build, repair and install frameworks, foundations, floor beams, walls, roofing systems and more to the building. 

Laborer
Laborers assist in the construction process by performing important hands-on tasks in the field such as digging trenches, loading and unloading materials, and operating equipment. 

Cement Mason
Cement masons pour, level and apply the final touches to achieve smooth and aesthetically pleasing concrete surfaces. 

Interested in these roles? Join the Ryan team. View our current openings here.  

What’s Next? 

Interested in learning more about our construction opportunities and roles? Click here to see all our open positions and apply to the role(s) to get the recruitment process started. 

Other steps you can take include: 

• Talking to others currently in the construction industry. 
• Enroll in an apprenticeship program to get hands-on experience. 
• Reach out to an industry organization, such as the Construction Careers Foundation. 

Construction offers fulfilling career paths that can help you build a rewarding life and provide for your family. As the industry expands and new roles emerge, opportunities continue to open for a diverse, dedicated workforce eager to make an impact.