I just recently graduated with a degree in marketing and can’t find a job for the life of me. 250+ applications while still working 40 hours a week. It’s getting exhausting and I’m starting realize I need a different route.

Thankfully for me, my dad is huge in construction. Has 30 years of experience. Works on some huge projects. The one he’s on now is $40mil. I’ve been talking to him about my interest in what he does, and he said he could get me a job as a junior estimator. I wouldn’t be working in the same office as him because he travels a lot, but I’d be working for his company.

I spent a few hours looking over one of his big projects with him and it’s a lot to take in. The takeoff, the scope, all the working components. Hell, even some of the excel functions didn’t make sense to me. The general premise of it did, but that’s about it.

Am I cut out for this still? Or am I just gonna be an embarrassment tackling a position like this with no experience.

I’d like to add I’m not some typical marketing student. I grew up on a farm. I’ve worked a few blue collar jobs in the summers. I’m no stranger to work.

OUT OF MY CHEST. I've been going on this sub for a few weeks checking how y'all handle project misses, and I feel mine's so astronomically wrong. It's not just "there's a second floor?!?!" miss -- it's more so "what the fuck are these sheets I don't think I've seen this" on a multi-level, multi-million dollar project highly detailed project.

Submitted this massive bid a year ago, got awarded this year and we're already doing the project now. Have had some second-guessing at the time of award, but boss was happy, and at the time I was confident I got through it properly. As we're going through it I'm quickly realizing how many I've missed/not accounted for in this scope. Just stressing over this for weeks. I've not had the strength to face the music and see where I went wrong and how much the impact is. Every time I open the plans I start to feel sick and I end up doing something else entirely.

I’ve been in commercial construction for about 10 years, mostly estimating/precon, and I’m considering making the jump into construction consulting.

The role I’m looking at would be working with contractors on estimating, precon, procurement, operations, WIP/financials, process improvement, training, etc.

That side of the business interests me. I like estimating, but I’m probably more interested in building better systems/processes than just turning out bids forever.

My main concern is that I’d be new to consulting, so I may have to take a slight step back in title/pay at first to get into it.
Has anyone here made a similar move?

Mainly curious about:
Better or worse than estimating?
Work/life balance?
Travel?
Billable hour pressure?
Long-term pay/career growth?
Did it open up more opportunities?
Would you do it again?

Trying to decide if this is a good next step or if I’m better off staying on the Senior Estimator/Chief Estimator/Precon Manager path.

Appreciate any firsthand experience.

Currently work for a smaller Civil Contractor as an estimator/PM doing earthwork, drainage, paving, utilities and site demo. Used to do a lot more commercial work but have pretty much gone full civil.

What is the opportunity for career growth in each one? I kind of miss the estimating the commercial jobs and running them but civil is a lot easier to estimate and run in my opinion.

What’s yalls thoughts?

I am finish flooring, Div 9. Back in February I did some budgeting for a school renovation. Well it came out to bid and they changed almost everything:

-Bathrooms from sealed concrete to ceramic.

-Added about 15 rooms.

-Added a small gym.

-Changed the pattern work. From straight lines, to curves you would see tripping on acid.

-Went from 6 different colors, to now 26 (attic stock really hit that one hard).

How do I politely tell them they are stupid and made this mess?

EDIT: I am just venting. I find it very stupid that they added so much more and are shocked.

I'm hoping to get some honest feedback from experienced estimators, particularly people working for specialty subcontractors.

I came into my family's commercial flooring business about 5 years ago with essentially zero construction experience. I don't have a college degree or previous experience in construction. Everything I've learned about reading plans/specs, doing takeoffs, estimating labor and materials, pricing jobs, writing proposals, etc. has been self-taught.

We're a small commercial flooring/specialty concrete contractor in Utah. Our work includes polished/burnished concrete, sealed concrete, epoxy coatings, self-leveling, concrete repair, and similar specialty flooring.

Over the last 5 years I've probably helped win around 30–40 projects totaling roughly $2-3 million. I honestly don't know if that's a terrible number, a decent number given the size of our company, or somewhere in between because I don't have anyone experienced to compare myself against.

The company is currently struggling, and as the sole estimator, I've started questioning how much of that is actually on me. I'm not looking for reassurance — I'd genuinely like some honest criticism from people who have been doing this longer than I have.

One area I'm particularly curious about is relationship building.

I've realized that I probably haven't been as good as I should be about consistently following up with GCs/PMs when I submit a bid and don't hear anything. I tend to focus heavily on the estimating/takeoff side and then move on to the next project.

How much of an estimator's job should be relationship building and staying in front of GCs/PMs?

Is that primarily the estimator's responsibility, or is that normally handled by a business development person, owner, project manager, or salesperson?

For those of you working for smaller subcontractors where there may not be a dedicated salesperson, how much time do you spend maintaining relationships with GCs and PMs versus actually estimating?

I'm also curious about something that has been bothering me.

Even when I do win a project, the relationship with the GC/PM can sometimes be damaged by things that happen after the bid — crews showing up late, creating unnecessary messes, poor communication in the field, etc.

As the estimator, I may have spent weeks developing the relationship, getting invited to bid, putting together the proposal, following up, negotiating, etc., and then something happens on the jobsite that I had no control over.

How do experienced estimators deal with that?

Do you consider yourself responsible for maintaining the GC relationship throughout the entire project even though you're not running the job? Do you stay involved with the PM/GC after the project is awarded? Or is that normally considered strictly the PM's responsibility?

And ultimately, how do you evaluate yourself as an estimator?

What numbers or metrics do you track to determine whether you're actually doing a good job? Bid-to-win ratio? Gross margin? Number of repeat customers? Revenue per bid? Something else?

I'd really appreciate hearing from experienced estimators, especially commercial specialty subcontractors. If you were in my position, what would you focus on improving over the next 1–2 years?

I'm completely self-taught, so I'm sure there are things I don't even know that I don't know.

Need to update the old desk calculator. Anybody have one they like using?

Anyone know of any good calculators/conversion tools that converts cm into inches with the fractions already being rounded up within 4ths of an inch or 8ths of an inch. For instance, if I convert from this calculator off google search I found of 240.40 cm into inches I get 94 - 41/64" When I rather have it say, 94 - 5/8" It would also be a bonus if it also shows feet 7'10-5/8" as well. However, I mainly need everything in inches.

For context I'm comparing cabinet shop drawings with countertops and it needs to be match the cabinet shop drawings.

Especially in Ontario non-union projects does being cor certified help with bids for a non MEP trade?

I work for a concrete subcontractor as the lead estimator. I do 90% of the takeoffs and estimates. Ownership does the remaining 10%. I recently was awarded our companies biggest job ever. And the work will take our field crews through the end of Summer 2027.

What do you guys do in the interim? Practice estimating? None of the bids coming due soon align with our availability. Short of the company expanding its field force, what do you guys recommends I do in the mean time?

Thanks!

so I've been at the same company for over 12 years, 9 or so of them as the sole estimator.

If all goes the way it looks to be going, I'll probably be accepting a new position by end of day today and putting in notice here tomorrow. I already got a offer letter at the end of day on Friday but replied with a counter that I believe was reasonable and was told they'd review on Monday and get back to me. Essentially asking them to meet me in the middle of what I originally asked for and what they offered.

So that leaves me to planning for an exit where I am. I don't want to burn bridges or play the whole "not my problem" thing. At least not entirely. I feel like the least I could do is compile all the most important information required in my day to day activities into 1 location so my boss and eventual replacement don't have to search as hard.

I basically made a spreadsheet that has all the various account log in details for anything and everything I use daily and a comprehensive list of all of our vendors with the products they sell, thier phone number, our account rep with thier email and phone number and any specific information that is unique to how you need to work with them. Then took all product price lists and data sheets and put them in folders by manufacturer.

Barely started doing Div 22 estimating. What set of labor units is recommended? Also, what’s the reasoning behind price per fixture? Most of the plumbers in my area do price per fixture so I always end up lower

I've been checking on doing this option and I want to check if anyone has found success or stability in doing so. Would also appreciate tips from the veterans hehe

I aim to target the Australian market for this.

I just took on a role as an operations manager at a company where the fencing estimator quit. I have someone outside the company whohasfone rebar estimating for over 25 years. With Blue Beam should he be able to do DOT fencing estimates as a side job for me without being educated about fencing?

Came across a reel that talked about NASA planning to build on the Moon which led to searching info about it.

Still didn't get to know if construction people would actually be required to build on the Moon.

We deal with all sorts of products and systems that get installed on exterior elevations and ceilings.

The hard part is ordering enough material when they are such complex items such as boards needing x amount of clips, x amount of fasteners, trim pieces, rivets, adhesives and sealants, etc.

This wouldn’t be too much of an issue if the lead times for some of these items weren’t so excessive such as 8 weeks.

I’ve messed around with Chat Gpt to help make a bill of materials but was wondering if there was a takeoff software that can help with this. We use third party firms to help on large projects, but the small projects with material items that have lengthy lead times has been a pain point for us when ordering material.

The subcontractor company I work for uses ConstructConnect Takeoff, also made by planswift but am just usually surprised when almost everyone doesn’t even talk about it. Anyone tried using it? Or what software do you use?

I don't have a construction management or engineering degree. I got an opportunity to be a project engineer for a small subcontractor. I want to start learning on my own so I'm looking for textbooks used in University or any resources to get me up to speed. I'm eager to improve in this role and I don't want to disappoint.

To students in University right now, what textbooks have you used?

To those working in the field with an unrelated degree, what is your advice?

Looking for some advice here. Been in PM/ field mgmt side for long time and looking to transition. Wondering how one gets the knowledge to be hireable as estimator. Never had a CM degree so it was always learning on the job, but im in a big metro area and theres a lot of competition. Those degrees mean something to Linda and Ashleigh from HR, regardless of someone’s actual knowledge about a role. So what’s the key to breaking in? Do I have to go back to school? Certificates? It seems as though learning on the job is out of favor, most job listings I see want extensive experience, so I’ve zero idea how anybody actually becomes an estimator.

Anyone here have experience estimating NCDOT/SCDOT erosion control work?
I’m looking to connect with someone who has experience estimating erosion control and seeding items for NCDOT and/or SCDOT projects.

Mainly things like hydroseeding, permanent/temp seeding, erosion control matting, silt fence, inlet protection, mobilization, etc.

We’ve started bidding more DOT work and I’d like to have a quick conversation with someone who’s been doing it for a while to compare notes on estimating, production rates, and how you approach the bid items.

Not looking for anything crazy, just a quick conversation with someone who knows the DOT side of erosion work.

I don't know if you guys remember this thread I posted earlier this summer where I bashed AI for not being capable of reading a simple structural column schedule and extracting it all into text/Excel for me.

I'm eating my words now. 😅 Fast forward a couple months and not only are these things reading them, they are creating takeoffs with them. 😱

If your job predominantly consists of doing takeoffs all day, better expand your toolbox soon.

EDIT: Longer 4 min vid of this with a little more detail

Hello!

I wanted to get peoples opinions on AI Takeoff Software for the electrical industry. I am an electrical estimator and I have seen a bunch of different names out there:

AEC Inspire
Beam AI
Bluebeam Max
Bobyard
Boon
Countfire
Drawer AI
Monco AI
On Screen Takeoff
Platometer
Togal
TryBeam

I have personally used OST and Bluebeam but they were the non AI versions. Curious how Max is? I heard it’s just has Claude integrated into the system.

I did a Drawer AI demo 4 months ago and was unimpressed. Same with Beam “AI”, they are just a third party service and don’t really have AI, it ended up being manually done in India.

I am curious which of these programs can accurately get counts quickly, I tend to do very large projects with lots of repetitive counting and it would be nice to have a tool that would get counts faster.

Thx!

I’ve spent a stupid amount of time building out my estimating setup and I’m curious how other guys handle this when they change companies.
I’m not just talking about a few QuickBid assemblies.
I’ve built a whole process around how I estimate so everything connects and I’m not doing the same work over and over.
My OST is set up with my own style sets, conditions, naming, colors, takeoff organization, assemblies/items, etc. Then that flows into how I have QuickBid built with my items, assemblies, labor, materials, production, and the way I break everything down.
Basically I’ve spent weeks building it so I can go from plans → takeoff → pricing as efficiently as possible without reinventing the wheel every estimate.
Now that it’s built, estimating is easy as hell compared to starting from scratch.
So what do you guys do when you switch jobs?
Because that’s where I see the problem.
Say I go work somewhere for a few years and keep improving everything. I make better OST style sets, better conditions, better assemblies, better QB items, better formulas, better production setups, better workflow, etc.
Then they lay me off or fire me.
They’re sitting there with a dialed-in estimating system that I spent hundreds of hours building and improving, and I’m the one who has to go somewhere else and start all over again.
Obviously I’m not talking about taking a company’s confidential information.
Their vendor pricing, material pricing, labor rates, customer information, bid history, company-specific markups, project history, all that can stay with them.
I’m talking about the actual estimating structure and knowledge I built:
OST style sets
OST conditions
takeoff organization
assemblies and items
QB assemblies/items
formulas
production logic
naming standards
workflow
how everything connects together
Basically my personal estimating “toolbox.”
Do experienced estimators keep a clean personal/master version of this stuff with no company-specific pricing in it?
If you switch companies, do you ask them to give you a laptop and QB/OST licenses and then load your system onto their machine?
Do some of you work off your own laptop so the system stays yours?
And if a company specifically wants the estimating system/database you already spent weeks or months building, do you ask to get paid separately for it? Bonus, one-time payment, higher salary, whatever?
Because to me there’s a difference between:
“We hired you as an estimator and you’re using your experience to do your job”
and
“We hired you and now we also own this entire estimating system you spent years developing.”
Maybe I’m looking at it wrong, which is why I’m asking.
I’m trying to figure out the cleanest way to protect the work I’ve put into my system without being shady or taking anything that actually belongs to an employer.
For the guys who have jumped between estimating companies before, how do you handle this? Wipe the hard drive if you leave ? lol

Thanks.

Hi all,

I’ve been estimating for around 3 years now, and am looking for some advice. I work on a team, but collaboration isn’t really the biggest thing. Each estimator has a handful of projects on their plate and kind of do it themselves. My direct report is our VP of Sales, and a director of business development was added in more recently. My title is estimator. We billed like $20-30M last year as a design build contractor.

I am finding myself consistently having to remind our VPs that my projects exist or are ongoing, on top of the new business development guy dropping TI’s with 7 or less day turnarounds on top of my role as a design build estimator. These guys are in meetings all day or not in office, which makes communication about the projects additionally difficult.

Having to manage communications with them is becoming a huge time sink. Additionally, I am writing the proposals, scope outlines, etc. that I would consider sales facing and items that are considered final send items to the client. I am responsible from first call to final contract proposal. I am really grateful for getting this experience in contract writing and sales meetings. I’m also expected to attend design meetings well outside of working hours (4-7PM 2x a week)

I am still new to this field, and won’t pretend I know it all. I feel I am being stretched really thin at the moment between all of this. Is the scope of responsibility “normal”? I am back and forth on if I am not cut out for the stress of this job, or that it gets easier as time goes on.

I started my estimating journey last year. I worked as a commercial flooring estimator for a couple of months on Australian projects, and now I’m working with landscape, hardscape, and irrigation.

I’m confused about where to take my career from here. Is there a good future in these trades, or would switching to another trade be better?

If anyone experienced in estimating can share some advice on how I should structure my career, I’d really appreciate it.Hey,