Job: Estimator, Construction (United States)

I hired on as an exempt employee with a moderate annual income, as the chief estimator for a privately owned concrete company in Dallas Texas. Weekly meetings were held to review and schedule projects, and assign those projects for bid to either myself or one other estimator. A couple of months go by and I'm informed of the junior estimator's employment being terminated, but that I would continue the work load with the support from other office personnel. Several months later with the work load expectations consistantly increasing and any support dwendling, I'm having to work longer hours and weekends to maintain an almost impossible schedule. The eleventh month of my employment it happened, I was unable to bid a scheduled project. I was expected to accurately estimate and quote six projects in five days, one of which needed forty man hours minimum. I worked forteen consecutive days averaging twelve hour days and failed to work all nite into the fifteen day and was fired...I had fallen asleep after going home for dinner around ten that evening and failed to return until eight that morning. Get your job expectations up front and in writing, be sure your not hired to do physically impossible expectations. By the way, when I asked how I was expected to start and complete a minimum 40 man hour scheduled project in less than eighteen hours with no help, I got no answer.

Make sure that you haven't been late to work or been slacking off before asking for a raise. Be ready to give a response to anything your boss may say when you ask.