Real Property Project Manager 

(Male, Age 23) from South Burlington, VT

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Male aged 23 who works as a Real Property Project Manager in South Burlington, VT. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Real Property Project Manager
Salary $56,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week 40
Company Size (not answered)
Location South Burlington, VT
Years Experience 2 years

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
I work for a company called HDR Inc. They speacialize in Architecture, Engineering, and Project Management contracting. There are many HDR sites around the nation with about 200 employees at each site.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
My duties include updating monthly project updates, as well as creating monthly reports which include: schedules, costs, director’s report, utility and security reports. I also manage the database which holds all of the project information.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
2 weeks of vacation, all federal holidays, 401k, full health insurance as well as dental and eye insurance

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
well

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
Yes, I have to interact with my boss (Program manager) and all of the project managers (9) as well as their supervisors (3). I also have to communicate with people at Headquarters daily. I like this part of my job.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
I work in the field at a federal government location. I do contract services for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 2
Benefits: 4
Hours: 3
Co-Workers: 6
Supervisors: 5
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 7
The Actual Work: 1

A day in the life of…

Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:

5am to 6am
6am to 7am
7am to 8am I get to work at 7:30AM. Put my lunch in the refridgerator. Fill my water bottle up with water and get a coffee.
8am to 9am I fill in my timesheet, and check my personal email as well as my work email. I also check my voicemail.
9am to 10am My boss usually calls me in and gives me a task list for the morning. This morning he ask me to make a few labels for his folders and print out a big staffing sheet that he needs to use later in the day
10am to 11am I usually log and file Occupational Agreements that have built up over night that are in my email box. Depending on the day, I usually ask the project manager for schedule updates for each of their projects. Project managers can have between 1 and 5 projects.
11am to 12pm During this time, I update the RWA (reimbursable work authorization) closeout sheet with the RWA closeouts that have come in overnight.
12pm to 1pm Lunch hour. I eat lunch at the lunch table with other employees. We talk about current events and have newspapers to read.
1pm to 2pm I usually check my personal email during this hour.
2pm to 3pm I update the utility and security speadsheets from the documents that have been sent to me throughout the day.
3pm to 4pm I usually clean off my desk and finish any outstanding issues that have come up throughout the day.
4pm to 5pm I go home at 4pm.
5pm to 6pm
6pm to 7pm
7pm to 8pm
8pm to 9pm
9pm to 10pm
10pm to 11pm
11pm to 12am

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
An alumni posted the job opening on a inter-college website

What was the application process?
I submitted a resume with an electronic application

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
I did have an interview. I drove to the job site and met with my to-be HDR boss. We talked about my job responsibilities and I met with the person that was currently at the position. I also met with my on-site boss to see how we would interact.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
Not many questions were asked. My HDR (alumni) loved my resume and practically gave me the job during the interview

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Not really. I sort of felt my fay through it and figured most things out on my own.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
Sort of. The person who was at my position before I came stayed on-site for another position and helped me along the way. There was no official training.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes. My education background overqualified me for this position. I took both engineering and management courses so I can technical as well.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
Did not have an internship

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Talk to alumni at college and start networking early. The more alumni you know, the better chance one of them will have an opening in their field and can help you get the process of applying started.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
A person trying to get a position like mine has to have social skills to deal with all of the project managers, organizational skills because I usually have a few jobs to do at once, and technical skills because I rely on programming to get some tasks completed.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Yes- At least a BS in Management

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Be aggressive and try to increase your income as much as you can, as early as you can.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Yes, I need to start some where and this is a good spot for me to start.

What are your current career goals?
I know I want to get into manufacture engineering at some point. I will probably stay with my current employer for another year or two and then look for some opening.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?

Educational background

Please list your educational background:

High School GPA:93

GPA School Degree
College (Undergraduate)
or Technical/Vocational
3.2 Clarkson university BS in Engineering & Management
Graduate or Professional
(Masters or Doctorate)

Ask a Question of this Mentor

This mentor has opted to receive questions from people interested in this career or job position. Please be respectful of their time and willingness to help. Include some basic relevant background so they can intelligently answer your question.