I am a Senior Project Manager with a property developer in the Turks and Caicos Islands over the past 26 months. I started my career in the construction industry by attending Seneca College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada where I earned a diploma with honours in Civil Engineering. I started working in 1999 and worked my way through several companies and positions until 2006 when I started managing construction projects as the company I was working for at the time needed to fill the role and did not have a person readily available. I continued as a project manager for many years in different countries and several projects, mainly high end resorts and hotels.

Having a Master’s Degree in Construction Management will make me more marketable and boost my opportunities of advancing into strategic roles such as a director position.

I look forward to learning more theoretical and managerial techniques that I may not have acquired through work experience. In a changing and advancing world there is always room for learning and improving and I seek to be better at what I do through this new course I enrolled in.

At the moment I am at a Senior Project Manager position, I would like to move to a level of Director of Construction but feel the necessity to gain some additional credentials and degree to be equipped and considered for higher roles that may be future opportunities to me.

When I get started soon I would be dedicating a few hours each day during the week and several more on weekends to accomplish my studies required to obtain my overall long term goal of getting that masters degree.

Becoming a project manager. It took several years and a willing Managing Director to give me the opportunity to prove myself. But I finally got a construction project to manage directly from start to finish. I learnt that a lot of planning is required especially when the project is located on a remote island, logistics played a big part and could have had a huge impact on the success of the project if proper planning was not in place.

Discipline and commitment, I believe, are the key drivers behind sustained success.

At the large Italian-owned design and build construction company, we were assigned a small project with a restricted timeframe but no project manager was available to take it on. The managing director decided to give me a shot at it as I had requested for years to get an opportunity to do so. I finally got the break I was waiting for, and I was not going to let myself and the rest of the team down. I had to make an impression as I had this one shot at success as the hotel had its opening dates already planned, I had to complete the project within time and of high quality. Upon handing over to the hotel operator, the hotel manager commended me on delivering some of the best work they had seen.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The inspiring story of a young boy who never gave up despite growing up in one of the most challenging environments, overcoming numerous hardships and losses to achieve success. His dedication, and commitment to survival and becoming better resonates with many people today.

My dream job is to have my own consultancy firm. My next job would be a director of construction which would bring me closer to achieving my goal. But first, I need to complete my master’s degree, which will lay a strong foundation.

Don’t fixate on making more money, focus on what you offer and be the best at it, rewards will follow.