Intern Learn

Hi. My name is Jordan Jones and I am Project Engineer for 361 Degrees Consulting and Building Group. I am a Colorado State University graduate with a B.S. in Construction Management and have lived in Denver, CO my entire life. I love the outdoors and all it has to offer, which is why Colorado is where my heart will always call home.

I went into the construction industry because I love putting things together with my hands. Ever since my toddler years, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of bringing together materials to create something more valuable as a whole, than the individual pieces. I have always seen construction projects as a life-size puzzles that takes just as much brain power and human resources, as it does tangibles. I truly believe that construction was my calling in life.

My journey with 361 Degrees Builders started in early March 2019. After seeing their job posting on the CSU job portal, I was able to get an interview and accept an offer shortly after. My dream throughout college was to work for a smaller sized company where I could learn fast and grow into a more meaningful position. I saw this as a great opportunity to grow within my profession, and even after my first few weeks of work, I was amazed at how much I was able to learn by working alongside Billy and Steve. Being the smaller company we are, it takes much more of a team effort from everyone to accomplish success. Having been able to work underneath Bill and understanding how he runs the business, I have been able to learn more about this industry in my first year then I have any other point in my life.

As his employee, Bill wants to make sure you understand: what you are doing, why you are doing it, what happens if you don’t do it, who’s going to need it/read it, etc. Construction has so many different moving parts, it can be overwhelming when thinking of it all. But once you begin to see the network and interconnectedness of all trades and information, you become much more comfortable with the flow of work and understand the chain reactions of work that happen.

The most important thing I would say I got out of my internship would be the comfort level within my position. It took a lot of learning, but with my team's help, I am able to feel confident and competent of the projects I’m working on and can direct the needed work accordingly. The biggest thing that has been stressed to me is to think through the constructibility requirements of whatever it is we are building. If you are able to think through the chronological order of all steps needed to complete a task, you can check the logic and understand what needs to happen before material is even on site.

My next biggest learning point Was understanding the effort you put in during pre construction will pay off and make your life so much easier when you are in the field building. I knew preconstruction was an important part of the building process. What I didn’t realize: all the hard work and thought that goes into the preconstruction phase is what determines 75% of your success. I was always under the impression that on your feet problem-solving is what could separate you from the pack. Although this is important, it is the legwork you put in at the beginning that ultimately gets you over the finish line.

It took me a little time but I eventually found the culture of this core group. It's made up of people that love to work hard and over deliver on expectations. We are all very active people who enjoy spending time outdoors, year round. Bill loves to emphasize the importance of a work and life balance and how it can contribute to better productivity and overall well-being. We are incredibly lucky to be able to live and work in this beautiful part of the world and believe it's important to protect what we have for the generations of people to follow.

The environment for our work is comfortable but busy. I found it to be a great place to start my career and learn very fast. Efficient communication is probably the biggest asset we have as an organization, being the size we are. Everyone seems to be able to articulate their thoughts very well and give clear direction for the steps moving forward. Although everyone might be working on their separate projects, we collaborate and work as a team every day, multiple times a day. It’s a great way to assure all team members are on the same page on a daily basis.