A fresh perspective on the construction industry

- When you look around the construction industry today you tend to get a picture of people that look like me. That's great. I look okay but as an industry that can be a problem because we're a multi-trillion dollar industry and we're projected to continue to grow throughout the next decade. We really need more people in this industry. We need to start to diversify. Well, there are companies like UEB construction here. We're on their project site filming and they've really started to leverage this concept of an internship program where they bring younger people in, teach them on the job, and get them interested in construction. So we're here with Chloe, who is an intern on this construction site and, Chloe, can you just kind of talk to us about how you got here? - Neither of my parents were in construction, no one in my family was either. I grew up in Seattle and there was a lot of construction going on there, like all the high rises downtown and stuff and I would just always, had like an interest for it. I was very curious growing up so I decided to try it when I came to school and I love it and I can't see myself doing anything else. - That's really cool. So what, what are you going to school for? What's your degree program? - Construction management and I have a minor in business. - Can you tell us a little bit about the construction management program? I think a lot of people don't realize that that's an actual degree program. Sometimes they skip over the fact that there's actually a construction management degree. - Yeah - So what do you do in that program? What does a construction management degree entail? - Its a lot of different stuff that does apply to the construction site, like coming from school to work and work to school. I've noticed that what they're trying to teach us there is what applies here for sure, face to face but, its a lot of safety, MEP. Just very general stuff that you'd have to know in order to come here and work. - What about learning about all of these construction processes out here? Building science type things. How much of that do you go through in school? How much, I don't know design courses or material courses do you do? - So, we do have labs that will actually apply to construction, like we'll have to form walls and columns, stuff like that so we can actually get a hands on experience. One thing I have noticed though is that you can't learn what I learn here in a classroom. It's very different. It's much easier to learn here. My past two years of school, I've learned more this summer working here than I have in a classroom. - That makes sense. - Yeah. (laughing) - That's cool. One of the things that I talk about a lot is the construction industry today looks a lot different than it did twenty years ago. - Yeah. - So we're using a lot of software and kind of trying to leverage technology. What kind of software do you end up having to learn in order to do your job out here? - I took a class actually my freshman year and I used one of the first classes I took and it was all about the programs and stuff like that. It was a lot of Bluebeam, Revit, AutoCAD, stuff like that. Like Project, that's the scheduling program. The only one I really used here is the scheduling and Bluebeam. - Okay. What do you use for scheduling out here? Is it Microsoft Project? - Yep. - Okay, nice. How often do you get in and access that program? How much work is it to keep everybody out here on the project scheduled properly? - It's a lot of work. It takes a lot of different meetings, but the one thing I have noticed is that communication is super, super big, like if subs don't think they can get something done they need to let us know, and we need to let the other subs know because one person follows the other so if one person falls behind, then everyone after them falls behind too. - [Jim] That makes sense. - Yeah. (laughs) - How about things like digital drawings? Do you guys use Procore out here? - Yes. - Do you have much experience with... - With Procore? So I use Procore mostly for change orders and stuff. - [Jim] Okay. - Not so much the drawings. We do have all of our drawings for the project uploaded on there so that all the subs are able to log in and see the same thing that we're seeing. And then they'll always have access to it. I know a lot of them have Ipads and phones that they use out on the field. So they can just easily pull up the drawings and see on there. - That's gotta be better than the big paper drawings, right? - Some people still bring out the big, heavy sets and they'll carry them out there and they'll show everyone. I'm just like, alright, whatever you want to do. I'm like a paper person though, I get it. It's easier to look at. - [Jim] Alright. - (laughs) - Talk about your experiences so far, or would you have any recommendations for other people that are interested in construction and paths that they should pursue? - Coming into it as a girl I always knew it was going to be a male dominate field. I didn't realize how male dominate until I got to class. My first day freshman year, there's you know our classes are usually like 70 kids and only three of them are girls. One of those girls is usually a civil engineering major. So she's not really even construction. So that's always really interesting. Advice, I'd say you just have to have a really strong personality. You can't take things personally. Boys are boys, so you just kinda have to work with that. Handle that the best you can. I've never been sensitive. I have two brothers so I was super okay with it. I work really well with the team. So that's very fun. - So you're a couple years into your construction education. You've got some experience on the job site. So, is this where you're going to stay? - This is where I really want to stay, yeah it's an awesome company. I've heard nothing but amazing things. I have friends that work all over, like in Scotsdale, here, and they have nothing but great things to say about it. - So, Chloe I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. I think this is great information, great advice for anybody that wants to be in the construction industry. I think diversity is obviously important across all industries, but the construction industry really has some work to do to catch up. So I think it's great that we have companies like this that are really making an effort to diversify, bring in more people as our industry continues to grow and expand.