I'm a Project Manager at a structural steel firm. I Estimate projects, sell them, and hire subcontractors when needed. I negotiate contracts and see the project through from award to completion.

Pre-bid-I go through all of the invitations we get, and do a run through of the drawings and specs to see which jobs are the best ones to bid. Schedule, type of work, history with cotractor, current bid and shop loads are all factored in. From there, I make a list and assign estimators to different projects.

Takeoffs- I go through all of the contract documents and drawings to find all of the materials and labor we need to provide. It's like Where's Waldo, but missing a couple of Waldo's might cost you a couple hundred grand.

Bids- I use software to nest the materials into stock lengths, and go out for pricing from suppliers. Our TO software also figures labor, but not very well. (That would require the time study I've been trying to talk my bosses into for a few years) I go through every line item and assign or adjust labor, detailing, finishing, shipping, fastener, and management costs. Once I have all of my costs, I put the numbers together, massage them and come up with a number for the project.

Proposals- Once I have my number, I will write a detailed scope of work. A scope lists every item I am providing, as well as what labor I am performing and what labor we expect others to perform. It will also list items we are specifically not supplying, as well as work we just don't do. (The last is only a thing because sometimes GC's will leave something out of a trade and try to stick it up our ass later with some excuse like "Steel suppliers always supply the sheetrock on our jobs" or something else equally stupid.)

Follow up- Once a job is bid, I follow up on it daily or weekly depending on the situation. This is done with a quick phone call and discussion where I try to find out what GC was awarded, If we are low or in the hunt, what exact numbers were turned in from the competition, and if the owner has financing in place.

Contract negotiations- This is pretty simple. It usually involves running through our scope and comparing it to the GC's expectations to make sure everyone is on the same page, sometimes adding or subtracting scope items and costs. Usually schedule is discussed and agreed upon at this time, too. Once it's settled, we get a contract in writing which I go over to make sure they haven't slipped any new or extra items in on us. (GC's and CM's try to do this more often than you mght think) Once I give it the OK, it becomes a job.

Project management-
Detailers-Once I am through the contract phase, I make sure we have all of the latest drawings and specs and find someone to turn that mess into a model, and then into shop drawings. Sometimes we do this in house, but other times, I hire a subcontractor for this. (Hiring a sub involves writing a PO that defines amounts, timelines, and payment terms) Once the detailer is selected, I'll go over the scope with them and make sure they understand what items are required in their drawings. We also discuss timelines at that point. From there, it's a matter of checking in with the detailers every few days and fielding their questions, which I either answer or write a "Request For Information". An RFI is a technical question that the design team needs to answer. A typical job has between 15 and 50 of these. Once we get all of our answers, they finish their drawings and send them to me. I look evrything over to make sure there aren't any glaring errors or omissions, and approve them for submittal. They are then sent to the GC and design team for approval. Those people go over everything, noting any omissions, changes, etc... and send them back to us. I go over their markings, and pass them on to the detailers where they make changes and get everything ready to go to shop.

Buyouts- At the same time that I assign detailers, I am also writing PO's for buyout items. Some of these are really big ticket items, from 10 grand to a few million dollars, that come with their own drawings which follow the same process as above.

Build it-Once the drawings are ready for shop, I make sure they go to purchasing, programming, and the shop. Once it's in the shop, I track production progress and make sure we stay on schedule.

Delivery and post delivery management- Once the job is done, I schedue deliveries ,and erection crews if we are carrying the erector as a subcontractor. Once steel is delivered, my role is mainly in support. I answer drawing questions, and solve problems daily. Problems usually involve things like steel that was damaged in the field, steel that they can't find, items that do not fit. (sometimes built wrong, other times, other trades were built wrong and they need a solution so they can go forward instead of backing up and reworking the other trade, etc...) This phase often goes like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yYN5N8wkM

Change orders- It is common for the design team to make changes during a job. This involves repricing, redrawing, and reworking items. Sometimes these are small, other times they are huge. This process is basically like going through all of the steps above all over again. It's common to have 1-10 of these per job ranging from 1% to 40% of the original contract. Sometimes they are additive, other times deductive.

Structure- We are small and very lean. I report to the owner of the company, and have a couple of guys who report to me.

And yes I like my job

The youtube video is more informative than that wall of text.

Yeah I estimate 80-100 jobs a year, and manage 30-50.

Sell rate depends on how busy we are. If our shop is empty, we get low and sell a lot. If we are busy, we jack prices and go for home runs or nothing.

Good concrete guys cut out a huge part of my job, because good concrete makes a smooth job for everyone else.

Josh @ 3/7/2018 7:49

I love my job right now! I'm a nanny for my kiddo Summer (3 years old) and occasionally help my friend out and nanny for two other kids named Sam & Leo. (Twin 2 year olds). I spend most of my days picking them up from their house and dropping them off at day camp and then just kind of dick around until later in the afternoon when I pick them up. Depending on the weather, we usually go to parks and/or pools. But if it is too hot or too cold, we go home and I play games or watch movies with them. It's great cause I can bring my laptop with me to use when they're napping and I get paid to annoy you all on the board. The schedule is a little sporadic but I get paid for the time between when I drop them off at camp and pick them up because I'm essentially on call, so I can't complain too much. I also have been helping out at the Preschool and working the desk for them on Thursday/Fridays every once in a while because the families don't need me then. FUN TIMES.

My degree is in Education. One of my friends in college became a nanny after she graduated. It was a really sweet gig. They paid her a much better salary than teachers make, put her up in a nice house near theirs, and supplied a car.

We have one GC who also claims to do concrete. They always miss AB's, have footing elevations wrong, etc... They are a good customer, so I can't tell them they suck at concrete.

Josh @ 3/7/2018 8:40

IT IS SO GREAT. If you find the right family, of course. But almost every nanny I meet has great perks with the job. My family asked me to go on vacation with them at the end of the month, and I almost said yes but I have to move on the first and they wouldn't have come back in time. It's definitely cool when you find people that treat you like you're practically family. The mom is a freelance interior designer too so if I ever get sick or need a day off, I can get it off SUPER easy. BIG FAN. How'd you get into steel when you majored in education?

I worked steel (Hands on welding, fabricating) from the time I was 14 until I was about 27. I went back to school, taught for 2 years, and liked it, but couldn't support a family on it. I quit and took a job in a biorefinery that paid about 3x what teaching does, but I hated it. DId it for 4 years and my wife said she appreciated the sacrifice, but I was a miserable bastard to be around, so I should go do something I didn't hate. I went back to the steel biz as a pm/estimator, took a paycut at first, but could still make an Ok living at it. Been back at it for 10 years.

Curry pumps us for info, but hasn't described his job as donkey show fluffer at all?

3 monitors would be nice. I use 2 really big ones as I spend a lot of time looking at drawings, and often think a third would be nice for emails, etc...