Your title says PM, as in project manager. PM's spend maybe half their time in the office.
Wondering how many guys on this site are office managers?
I was hired as an operations manager at my current employer, but after eight months I was "asked" to get back on my tools. I learned a vast amount about electrical contracting during those eight months. I have immense respect for the people in our office.
An electrician from another shop noticed me putting together a binder of paperwork and said, "I let the office do that for me, because, the office is fifty people sitting around doing nothing."
I said, "Oh yeah, our office is fifteen people jumping through their ass trying to make something happen."
How did you get into the office?
I actually took a year off from my tools to work in the office of my ex-mother-in-law. When my current employer saw recruiter and computer skills on my resume, he figured I could recruit electricians. Not exactly, because I was recruiting city managers!
Did you work your way in from the field or take college courses?
I actually overheard a conversation about me in that regard. The senior estimator thought the person in the office should have a degree. I was doing lot of purchasing, and field experience comes in handy for EC purchasing. After helping a project superintendent with his ordering, my employer was suitably impressed enough to point out that it was my field experience and not a degree that was more valuable in this particular instance.
What licenses would you recommend an office guy hold?
At the time, I had my state unrestricted journeyman card. But really, if your in the office, you don't need a license. But it sure is nice to have to fall back to if office politics is not your cup of tea!
