What firms are actually hiring this fall

If you only read recruiting sites, you would think the built environment hires two kinds of people: executives and laborers. That is not the phone we are on.

In construction management, the open seats are senior project managers, superintendents, project engineers, estimators, and the occasional project executive. Healthcare and mission-critical work are pulling experienced field people out of ordinary commercial jobs. Firms feel that. A superintendent who has finished a data hall can name a number. A good commercial superintendent can too. They are not the same person, and pretending they are is how searches stall.

Architecture firms are hiring project architects and project managers more often than they are hiring design directors. The set still has to get out. Construction administration still has to be done by someone who will go to the site. A license helps. A record of finished buildings helps more.

Interior design hiring splits in two. Studios need project designers who can document workplace, hospitality, or multifamily work. They also need people who will own FF&E, because a beautiful concept that cannot be bought is not a project. Design director searches happen. They are not the whole market.

Engineering is the most straightforward and the most license-sensitive. Civil land development in Texas is busy. Structural and MEP firms need project engineers who can be trusted with a set, and discipline leads who will review it. A PE matters when the work requires a stamp. It does not turn a poor project manager into a good one.

If you are hiring, say which of these you need. If you are looking, say which of these you are. The vague version, "a leader," wastes everyone's month.