\u201cI really don’t have a background in construction,\u201d Sierzputowski said. \u201cI grew up on a farm, so I knew how to swing a hammer. That\u2019s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c(But) I never really knew what I wanted to do growing up. My dad is an engineer, and my mom is an accountant, so I like to say as an estimator, I found the exact middle between the two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sierzputowski originally considered engineering but was uncertain. While she didn\u2019t know what she wanted to major in or what career to pursue, she did know that she wanted to go to Purdue University. Since her father was a Purdue alumnus, she said she has long loved the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs I was looking for colleges, I found the idea of construction management. I thought, \u2018Oh, it’s not quite as technical as engineering. It’s not just drawings and math.\u2019 It’s more of \u2018how do you actually build it?\u2019 And I found that just really resonated with me. It clicked. I just fell in love with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
Explore Purdue’s online MS in Construction Management<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n As she explored the field during her undergrad, she learned to appreciate the technical aspects. By the time she completed her bachelor\u2019s degree in construction management technology, she knew one day she wanted to return for her master\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just had such a good experience with my undergrad through Purdue,\u201d Sierzputowski said. \u201cAnd, in the construction industry, Purdue is seen as very reputable in construction management.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduation, she joined Messer, married her husband, Nicholas, whom she met at Purdue, and mastered her role as an estimator. In this role, she reads building plans, manages site logistics and determines what\u2019s needed to construct a building. That includes calculating minute details such as the number of window planes, ceiling tiles and doors needed to complete a project. She also computes the time and dollar amount each stage will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI try to quantify every aspect of the materials, and I assign a labor productivity to it,\u201d Sierzputowski said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI consider all of the general requirements: your job site trailers, your fuel, and just all the things that go into making a building a building and I assign material and labor cost. I also work with subcontractors. Then I put together a full building cost. I turn it over to the owner and say, \u2018This is how much you can build your building for.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After discussions with her husband, Nicholas, Sierzputowski decided it was time to enroll in the MSCM program in 2024. With her employer\u2019s tuition support and the degree\u2019s 100 percent online modality, she completed the program while working full time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI knew I wanted to further my education\u2026before life got crazy,\u201d said Sierzputowski (pictured left). \u201cIt felt like it was a good investment in me and the future that I could have, the career I could have. It helped that my company said, \u2018We think it’s a good addition. Those are good skills for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Sierzputowski, the experience was invaluable. She said she interacted with classmates from Germany, Africa and across the United States. Teammates worked in both government and private sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeing online made it a lot easier to meet people from different backgrounds,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI worked with people who are architects and I worked with people who had no construction experience. Being able to interact with them and learn from their experiences was really cool. A lot of knowledge came out of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the undergrad program covered the technical side of the profession, Sierzputowski said the master\u2019s program introduced the business aspects of construction such as drafting business plans and proposals and facilities maintenance and management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCurrently, I just think about the building,\u201d Sierzputowski said. \u201cBut one day I\u2019d like to sit in a meeting with an owner and ask, \u2018Have you thought about these design choices? If we make these modifications, it could change the cost and schedule.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the three months since completing her degree, Sierzputowski said she has already seen benefits such as being assigned more complex tasks at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, she hopes to lead projects as a senior estimator or an estimating manager. Because of her positive experience with her previous Purdue programs, Sierzputowski said she is already wondering if she should pursue her doctorate in construction management technology in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI’m a little intimidated by that, but we’ll see. It’s not off the table,\u201d Sierzputowski said. \u201cPurdue would be at the top of my list to get a doctorate for sure, because at this point, I don’t think I can go anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more about Master of Science in Construction Management at the program\u2019s website.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before one nail is hammered and one brick is laid, Trevor Sierzputowski can see a finished building project and calculate how to take it from concept to reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":1133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"area-of-study":[91],"person":[74],"class_list":["post-10337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-success","area-of-study-construction","person-students"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AdobeStock_210779359-scaled.jpeg",1800,1200,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AdobeStock_210779359-scaled.jpeg",1800,1200,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AdobeStock_210779359-scaled.jpeg",1800,1200,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AdobeStock_210779359-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AdobeStock_210779359-300x200.jpeg",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AdobeStock_210779359-1024x683.jpeg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AdobeStock_210779359-1536x1024.jpeg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AdobeStock_210779359-2048x1365.jpeg",2048,1365,true],"rt_custom":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AdobeStock_210779359-scaled.jpeg",1800,1200,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Marcia Sweet","author_link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/author\/sweet10\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Student Success<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Before one nail is hammered and one brick is laid, Trevor Sierzputowski can see a finished building project and calculate how to take it from concept to reality.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10337"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10506,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337\/revisions\/10506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10337"},{"taxonomy":"area-of-study","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area-of-study?post=10337"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=10337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TrevorS-Purdue-Fall-Graduation-Photography_SPS64622-1024x769.jpg\")
<\/figure>