Dylan Murphy, a 2020 graduate of BFIT’s Construction Management associate degree program, says the key to college and career success is simple: show up every day and be open to all opportunities that come your way.
“Have the initiative to show you want to work, learn, and try hard,” Murphy says. “That’s what BFIT encouraged me to do and it worked out great.”
Murphy now works at Hammond Lumber in Boothbay Harbor, ME, where he has gained experience in sales and merchandising, as well as the paint and building supplies industries. He also works nights and weekends for a dock installation company constructing boating and leisure docks.
When Murphy graduated from high school, he was looking for a path into the construction industry. BFIT’s Construction Management program was the right fit. Most of his classes during the second year in the program were virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Murphy said the faculty made the transition to virtual learning as smooth as possible, finding new ways to teach the key skills he needed to impress employers and succeed on the job. He was even able to connect with a mentor from the construction industry through the construction management mentorship program that BFIT offers in partnership with Harvard University.
“I didn’t really find any obstacles with online learning,” he says. “What you put into it is what you get out of it.”
Murphy said one of the simplest but most important skills he learned at BFIT was good note taking. The faculty in his program encouraged students to keep a daily log to organize assignments and schedules and keep track of daily progress toward goals. Murphy says this skill has proved invaluable in his current job. “From inventory to customer service, if I did not write it down and write it down correctly, my job would be 10 times more difficult,” he says.
Published July 8, 2021
