In our 40+ years of experience as career advisors in the construction industry, we’ve helped thousands of candidates manage their career growth. From recent graduates who want to know the best way to make a strong impression on their new industry, to seasoned managers with their eye on C-suite promotions, we’ve seen it all.

Our executive search experts want to share their insights with the industry that has given us so much over the years. To that end, we’ve created our Career Pathways Series, a handy guide to help employees at every level take the next step in their careers. So far, we’ve advised our readers on how best to pursue their long-term goals of becoming a Senior Estimator, Senior Project Manager, Project Executive, Director of Operations, and Regional Project Director.

For this article, we spoke with Tim LaBruyere, Executive Vice President of our General Construction Division, about what it takes to become a Senior Superintendent. Here’s his unique perspective:

Let’s start by breaking down the titles: What makes a Senior Superintendent position different from a Superintendent role?

Tim: At some companies, especially smaller ones, the difference is just in semantics – a Senior Superintendent does single projects that are larger than the other Superintendents’ work. They might have another Super on site helping them, or they might be the only one on site. For larger companies or those with significantly bigger projects (think $100M to $1B plus), there’s a very distinct difference. In those cases, a Senior will be leading a team of Supers and Assistant Supers on site through the life of a single project.

What’s the difference between a Senior Superintendent and a General Superintendent?

Tim: A General Superintendent is almost always someone who can also be called a Field Operations Manager. All the field staff for multiple projects report to the General Super – they have a say-so in guiding and growing the field guys, overseeing the work they do. A General Super might also be running very large projects, maybe with a couple of Senior Supers reporting to them. The usual difference between a Senior Super and a General Super is that a General is focused on overseeing Superintendents and field personnel that are doing multiple projects, while a Senior Super is focused on running a single project.

What’s the most common career path to a Senior Superintendent role?

Tim: Senior Supers are generally grown in the field – start out as a Field Engineer, become an Assistant Super, then Super…just growing through the field.

How long does that growth process usually take?

Tim: It could be 5-plus years in an environment of small projects, or 10 or more years from the start of your career to a Senior Super role. It’ll take longer at bigger companies focusing upon large technical work. For a General Super role, that’s definitely part of office and regional management, so it’s a longer climb to that role than to a Senior role.

Do Senior Superintendents need college degrees?

Tim: Currently, companies with more complex work are more likely to have Senior Supers who are degreed. The use of technology in the building process (BIM, LEAN, Notepad Schematics instead of paper drawing, etc.) will continue to create the norm that Senior Supers will have degrees or strong technical training in their growth curve.

What would you say are the top three things your clients want to see in a Senior Superintendent candidate?

Tim: Superintendents need to be good builders, of course, but a Senior also needs to have good leadership skills that stand out. Those skills will show through in communication with their people, subs, clients, and all stakeholders in their project. They need the full gamut of people skills: strength in building teams, mentoring people, presenting to clients on pursuits and during a project, and communicating with all participants on their projects (including their team, subcontractors, architects, clients, and all other stakeholders).

Are you seeing any recent trends in what’s being asked of Senior Superintendents?

Tim: For starters, technology has changed so much that these days, even Superintendents aren’t rolling out blueprints – they have to be tech savvy. So technology use is much more prevalent a requirement for Seniors and Generals than it ever has been in the past, and it’ll become mandatory in the future. That tech growth isn’t going away; it’ll keep stepping forward. So while you can still do a project with a hand-developed schedule and minimum use of technical tools in certain cases, that’ll be gone in five years. People who can’t or won’t learn those new skills and new ways of handling themselves in the field are being phased out, even now.

So, a big change in those “hard” technology skills. What about on the soft skills side?

Tim: The need for those soft skills will only continue to increase in importance. Superintendents are more involved than ever in building teams internally and externally, with trade partners, clients, and all stakeholders. Strong Superintendents are now asked to grow their business skills more than in the past.

Finally: What advice would you give an Assistant Superintendent or a Superintendent who wants to become a Senior?

Tim: Work hard. Spend time asking people, “What can I help you with?” Not just your boss, but anybody. “I see you’re really busting it today. I have some free time – can I help you with anything?” Pick up little bits of new information from everyone with whom you work. Those tidbits will accumulate and will help you solve the bigger puzzles. Work to become business savvy, a mentor, and a problem solver. Have an open mind that lets you learn from everyone. A steady diet of that behavior and you just might be a CEO one day.