At the starting line

Faust has high hopes for new career

Patrick Faust Family: Married to Dena, who works for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections Hobbies: Fishing, ice fishing and attending and watching Brewers, Badgers and Packers games Faust’s adjective to describe himself: Detailed Pet Peeve: “Those who have a lack of attention to detail.” Most gratifying part of the job: “When the owner is able to take occupancy — that’s a great feeling.”

At 23 years old, Patrick Faust knows he still has a lot of dues to pay.

But that’s not keeping him from being excited about where his new career is headed.

“The advantage is being so young and being thrown into situations,” he said. “It’s a learning experience. Hopefully, 10 to 15 years down the road, I will have learned a lot.”

Faust recently joined general contractor and construction manager Creative Constructors LLC, Menomonee Falls. As a project manager/estimator, Faust oversees commercial contracts ranging greatly in size, level of difficulty, deadline and cost.

And, as a project manager, there are times when Faust finds himself overseeing workers much older than he is. That, Faust knows, is where age can work against him.

“It’s hard to get the respect,” he said. “You just have to show them that you’re not telling them how to do their job. You have to have a way with people, or no one will have respect for you.

“You’re there to work with them, not against them.”

The issue of age would be a moot point if Faust, who lives in Lomira, stuck to his original career plan. He initially wanted to work in the business and financial end of construction.

And it was with that plan in mind that he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to pursue a business degree. But a small taste of the building end of the industry was all it took to point him in a new direction.

“I had a summer job in residential construction,” he said. “I really fell in love with it. It was fast-paced, always on the move.

“No two projects are the same — that’s the excitement of the industry. The financial end was more sitting down … less communication.”

That decision led Faust to the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where he completed his degree in construction management in February. He said he selected the school based on the reputation of its teaching staff.

“Nothing about [the curriculum] is theory,” he said. “It’s all reality. You’re taking what you learn outside school and applying it toward school.”

Faust furthered his hands-on training during school with a two-year internship at Creative Constructors, learning and refining the same skills he now brings to the job every day. After graduation, he worked for a few months at a mechanical contracting firm in Milwaukee before making the switch to Creative.

Faust’s new job has him overseeing five to six smaller projects or two to three larger projects at a time.

“You have a lot on your plate at one time, and you have to be able to prioritize,” he said. “Time is an issue. You have to fight through that.”

But having that fast-paced career is exactly what Faust was looking for.

“You’re putting out fires,” he said. “Things come up every day, and you’re creating solutions to problems.”

Juggling the demands of time, budget, quality and safety are all part of the daily routine now for Faust, who envisions himself in the same industry 10 years from now.

“I’d like to be a lead project manager in the construction industry somewhere,” he said. “I’d like to be in the Milwaukee area.”

And reaching that goal, Faust said, goes back to a 23-year-old’s willingness to make the most of a new opportunity.

“You have to have a good attitude going in,” he said. “Talk to as many people as you can. You never get out of that learning mode.”

— Sharon Verbeten