<p>in construction management, how much travel is involved? is the typical cm away from home on a job site for extended periods of time?</p>
<p>It depends entirely on the job you take.</p>
<p>thank you ken,</p>
<p>if at all possible could elaborate a bit.. i do not mean to be difficult i am just concidering a career in construction management however, being away from family and such for extended periods of time is not something i would embrace.. again thank you, any info you give me is helpful</p>
<p>If you work primarily on buildings, you won't have to be away for an extended period of time unless you can't find a job in your area for whatever reason that may be. There may be times when you'll be required to go to your subcontractor's shops, but those visits don't last more than a week typically.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you work on large scale heavy civil / infrastructure projects, there's a higher probability of required travel, since those projects tend to be less centralized and tend not to be in urban areas. One of my subcontractors right now has projects all over the country mainly in rural areas. They keep the same crew together and fly them all over. This company pays for housing and also for airfare to see family for a weekend or two every month. Not sure how this works at other companies.</p>
<p>If you work for large companies that build all over the country (Kiewit, Turner, Skanska) they usually want people who are able to relocate. There is a strong possibility that you will be required to relocate to whatever project site they need you on. My old boss told me that when he worked for Kiewit (in the early 90s) you were only allowed to deny their request to relocate once. If you did it again, they fired you. He turned down the 1st request to move to San Diego and a couple years later he refused to move to Hawaii. They politely asked him to leave. If you don't have a spouse who is willing to pick up and move @ any time, this can be difficult. His wife was the one who did not want to move to SD, and he refused Hawaii because he knew that the costs of relocating an employee there were much higher than other areas, and due to that he would likely be stuck there for a while.</p>
<p>This isn't always the case, however. If you get on with a company that only does work in a particular area (Northern Cali, for instance) you have a much better chance of being more stable. Although you may move to different area of Northern Cali, as long as your company has work in that area, you will most likely be based there. </p>
<p>I'm also a student, so these are just the things that I have heard. I try to attend the AGC meetings at my school as often as possible. It gives me the opportunity to pick the brains of the project engineers and managers. I suggest you try this also, as it is a great opportunity to explore the field and ask as many questions as possible. They also provide free food and drinks, which is a great bonus! Here @ Oregon State we have 3 meetings a week and the savings on dinner REALLY add up.</p>
<p>thanks buildinglover..</p>
<p>i am also in oregon and hope to transfer to oregon state in the future(from a community college) however i am a little worried about getting in do to an incidint i had right out of high school. i graduated in '06 and went to southern oregon university my term out of high school. however it was during that term that my brothers chemical addiction came to a head and ripped through my. my head was not in a good place during that time and i ended up just not going to class in order to help my familie through those times. as a result i recieved 3 f's. i am still a freshman so i wont be transfering for quite some time. do i need to include those grades on my transcript when i transfer even if it was years ago. and if so am i not going to get in as a result of it?</p>
<p>bennyd16, your academic record follows you whereever you go for undergrad. However, don't be discouraged by the fact that you have a couple of low grades on your transcript. Most schools will ask you to average out your GPA for all courses that you have taken at a college or university, so if you can receive higher marks before you transfer, then your average will be pretty decent. Also, make sure to contact the schools that you really want to attend ahead of time and talk with an admissions counselor about your situation. I believe that most schools will look at your progress and give you advice on what you can do to get a fair assessment of your application. Being proactive about your situation is the best bet in this case. I'm not sure how school's check a student's academic background, but being straightfoward and forthright is probably the best route to take.</p>
<p>Kiewit does relocate people. They don't have enough projects concentrated in any one area to keep everybody in one location usually. I spoke with a rep from Kiewit once and she was very hesitant about making promises about not relocating. She did however assured me that I most likely wouldn't be transferred across regional divisions (their Eastern division spans from the northeast to Chicago I believe). </p>
<p>Skanska USA and Bechtel are likely very similar as well.</p>
<p>I'm not so sure Turner fits in with those companies though. They're primarily a buildings contractor and their projects tend to be concentrated in metropolitan areas. I also know that their regional HR offices operate somewhat independently of each other. Forced relocations are rare. I've never heard of it at my company, which has projects all over the country and all over the world. Then again, my viewpoint may be skewed since I'm in one of the largest markets in the country. </p>
<p>If you're looking to stay in Oregon, you're likely going to have to look for local firms. The only major CM that I know that has an office in Oregon is Turner.</p>
<p>Bennyd16...</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry too much about the F's. If you are able to repeat the same classes at the community college, I would do that. I started off @ a CC as well, and similar to you, I had some problems that hurt my academic record. I was in Portland @ the time, and made the decision that if I was going to graduate from college I would need to remove myself from m situation. So, here I am 90 miles away in Corvallis. OSU is a great school, but Corvallis is VERY boring! Anyhow, are you going to be transferring in as a freshman, or a transfer student? If you have less than 36 credits you will need to meet the requirements of a freshman. If you have more than 36 you will need to meet transfer requirements. The min gpa for xfer students is 2.25. Just makes sure you meet that. The good thing about this school is that you are also allowed to write an essay with your application. I used this opportunity to explain why I believed OSU was a good fit for me, despite the fact that I did not have the greatest gpa, and how I felt the university would help me attain my career goals. It's amazing what one bad term can do to your average!</p>
<p>Which CC are you transferring from? If I were you, I would take the physics and calculus courses there. We have horrible Physics professors here and each class has around 200 students. Our calculus teachers aren't the greatest either, but there are a few good ones. Myspace professor grader has been a lifesaver for me! The minimun gpa for our CEM program is 2.3 as of this year, but I've heard that you need to be around a 2.9 to be competitive. This is not the overall gpa, but the gpa on the particular math, business, science, and engineering courses that are required for admission.</p>
<p>One last thing: when you are accepted into OSU, you gpa from your old school will not be taken into account here. It WILL still show on your academic record, but your OSU gpa will start from scratch. They also do a lot here to help you succeed. In the civil/cem school, you will be assigned an advisor. I'm currently a pre-ce, so I have the same advisor, but I heard pre-cem students have different advisors every year. Anyhow, every term we are required to go pick up our pin number, which allows us to register. If your gpa for the term is below a 2.5 (2.49 for example) you are required to meet with your advisor in order to receive the pin. If you are about 2.5 you can just stop by the main office and pick up your pin. It's kind of a pain to have to stop by every single term just to be able to register, but I do appreciate the fact that they keep tabs on us, and most seem like they really want to help. I could go on forever about this school...let me know if you have any other questions!</p>
<p>As far as relocating, it totally depends on the company you chose to go to work for. I work for a large contractor in Southern California, and one of the advantages we offer graduates is that we do NOT move our employees. Please don't be scared off by moving around, hopefully the economy will improve and you'll have plenty of job choices that will allow you to settle down.</p>
<p>OSU has a great CM program, more engineering based than some other programs, which probably leads graduates to go to more heavy civil companies (Granite, Kiewit, etc.), but I know many builders recruit there as well. Have you met with any of the program reps there yet? All of them I have met are extremely helpful and open, so I encourage you to go speak with them if you haven't already. Are you considering any OOS schools?</p>
<p>Construction management is a great field, and grads have about 100% placement...that is, until this year.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Also, I recently found out that OSU's CEM program will allow graduates to sit for the FE and PE exams in Oregon. Not sure about other state though. The program is ACCE accredited, and grads may take the exam after 6 years of experience, rather than the 4 from ABET programs. Not sure if that makes any difference, but just thought you should be aware of the opportunities.</p>
<p>wow you all have been very helpfull.. lol i feel much better about the whole situation then in the past. thank you all so much</p>