Sundt joins the industry in celebrating Women in Construction Week by featuring Liz Gonzales, one of our Estimators in Arizona. Liz graduated Magna cum Laude from Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s degree in Technology, majoring in Construction Management. She is a Certified Professional Constructor who joined the company in 2007 as a Building Information Modeler. She served as a Project Engineer for seven years before becoming an Estimator last year.
How did you get involved in the construction industry?
I started college majoring in architecture but soon realized that field was not for me. Through the classes I had already taken and a cooperative education experience as an assistant estimator for a casework company, I decided to change my major to construction management.
What do women need to do to succeed in a field that’s usually dominated by men?
In my opinion, everyone needs to work hard and ask for help if needed. Do not try to act like you already know everything if you do not. Just be honest, up front and willing to learn.
What’s the environment like for women at Sundt?
The environment is welcoming. Overall, I have not had any major issues as a woman working at Sundt. In fact, the first project I worked on with Sundt in the field as a Project Engineer had a female Project Manager and another female Project Engineer.
What has been most interesting about each of the roles you’ve had at Sundt?
As a Building Information Modeler, learning Revit (3D building design software) and Navisworks (project review software) was the most interesting part. I had previous experience with AutoCAD (2D design and documentation software), but it was really interesting to learn the 3D modeling aspects. As a Project Engineer, I found change orders to be most interesting. I enjoyed the process of change orders from the initial document creating the change to the final subcontract change order written. As an Estimator, one of the more interesting aspects is constantly switching your mindset between hard bid and guaranteed maximum price. In one day, you could be working on each type, and then for the next month, it could solely be a GMP. It gets interesting sometimes to switch between the various types of deliverables.
Sundt is seeing more women enter decision-making positions within the company. How does that make you feel about working here?
This is very exciting for me as I appreciate seeing women valued. It helps give me incentive to continue to work hard to possibly achieve one of these positions in the future.