“I need a job opportunity which allows me to strike a better work-life balance while staying in the construction industry.” Having gained six years of experience in on-site management, Furu was seeking a career change opportunity with this idea in mind before joining Midas as a construction manager (CM). He explains why he was drawn to office design and the company’s unique training system, which has produced many excellent talents.
I was looking for a new job opportunity to strike a better work-life balance
Previously, I worked for a construction company operated by one of my relatives. There, I was managing building sites for residential houses. I was always very busy trying to satisfy the large house-manufacturing corporation under which we operated in order to procure more job contracts. The industry is notoriously short of labor, so I was often at work on site even weekends. I was in my mid-30s and starting to notice some physical decline, which prompted me to look elsewhere for other job opportunities.
A building appears where there was nothing before and attracts people and fosters various activities. I am fascinated by this aspect of space designing, and this is why I was looking in the same industry for my next job. I had a feeling that, given my age, this was going to be the last career change I could afford, and I came across Midas soon after I started a job search with a determination to land on a perfect opportunity.
Midas seemed to me to be a good match profession-wise, and its portfolio was very appealing. The quality of the company’s performance was apparently high, but it turned out to be more than I expected. Midas has an established track record as an office design expert company with its firm standing in the industry. The portfolio is full of prominent clients. The company’s high profitability probably allows the employees to be more flexible in their workstyles. I, too, benefit from this, that I have more time for my private life than before I joined Midas.
Every project is fully tailored—there is always something new to learn
A CM is mainly responsible for coordinating with contractors to align them in terms of schedules and on-site work details. It also involves cost estimation and verifying contractors’ quotes before the work is implemented, and once the work starts on site, I also inform the client, the building owner and so on of the progress in the work. In a nutshell, this is a position responsible for engaging stakeholders and driving projects.
In my previous job, I had the responsibility up to the handover of the newly built space for living, but the interior decoration was totally off my hands. By contrast, designing offices includes the coordination of furniture down to desks and chairs. If the client wanted both to boost communication among the employees and to secure a quiet space where people could work undisturbed, we could arrange some work cabins in a free-address office. This is another exciting aspect of office design in that you find functional solutions based on your understanding of the client’s business challenges.
No two offices are identical. Every project is tailored to the client’s needs, and there is always something new to learn. So, you gain more experience through the challenges and build confidence as you go. Whenever a new project starts, I make sure that every detail is thoroughly checked and that I take actions proactively. It is part of CM’s responsibility to be alert so as not to overlook risks that may later develop into major problems.
The company’s confidence in me is my drive to meet their expectations
Though I joined Midas as someone with prior experience, I started out as if I were new to the industry. Three months passed quietly, and my boss said, “Are you going to be like that for much longer?” This was a wakeup call for me. I was shadowing senior colleagues, which appeared to the boss as I was not trying hard enough. It was a moment which really shook me up.
Immediately after this incident, I was given my first assignment to be in charge of an office layout change project for a big client. I was not fully confident, but I told myself that everyone had high expectations of me. Eventually, I pulled it off with a lot of support and advice from many people, and it was a fantastic feeling of satisfaction to have played a key role in a project and completed it.
Midas has a culture of training talents on the job. This is only possible because people work closely to one another, so there are always experienced seniors near you. A talk about an internal renovation project emerged recently, which led to a survey conducted among all employees. To the question “what do you like about Midas?” almost all chose “the ease of communication in the organization” and “the sense of team solidarity.” This is one of our important assets. Midas is a collective of people who are not only talented, but also ready to support one another. As a member of this community, I hope to live up to these expectations.