Construction managers, or construction project managers, supervise construction projects. This entails managing budgets and schedules, understanding risk, listening to concerns from field operators, coordinating meetings and ensuring smooth communication between stakeholders as they work toward completing a project. Duties can also include responding to work delays and emergencies, ensuring the projects they manage comply with requirements like safety codes, and choosing subcontractors.

“Your job as a construction manager is not to necessarily try to control everything, but to listen to the parties that are involved in the project and navigate that environment by acknowledging everyone’s viewpoints and how they see risk,” says Lars Herman, president of San Diego-based Herman Construction Group Inc., a nationwide general contractor. “It’s about building that path forward as a team.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 4.5% employment growth for construction managers between 2022 and 2032. In that period, an estimated 22,900 jobs should open up.

People take a variety of routes to enter the construction field, though it’s common for construction managers to have a combination of experience and a bachelor’s degree in construction, engineering or a related field.

“Bachelor’s degree programs in construction-related majors often include courses in project control and management, design, construction methods and materials, and cost estimation,” according to the BLS. “Courses in business, mathematics and communication are also helpful.”

Earning a college degree and completing an internship program is just one way to start your career path toward construction management. Other individuals join the industry and advance after extensive on-the-job training. They may get an entry-level job with a small construction company in the contracts or compliance department before moving to a different department, such as estimating, and gradually build a knowledge base of the construction industry as an employee.

“Now, all of a sudden, we’re building that well-rounded team member who can add value in different parts of the organization on a much larger scale,” Herman says. “So that desire for young talent to come in and just be really curious is important because there are a lot of facets of construction.

“A degree is helpful. However, experience in construction goes a long way,” he adds.

Some states require construction managers to be licensed, according to the BLS. Check with the licensing office for the state you’ll be working in to determine if that applies to you.