Inside an internship at Graniterock: Chris Yoshida

By Chris Yoshida

Coming out of my second year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Graniterock gave me my first internship opportunity.

Throughout the summer I met a lot of people and learned a ton about the industry. I have been guided by Matt Crigger, a private work estimator at the Construction Division Office in San Jose.

With Matt’s help, I have learned the various components to bidding a job. Mostly I’ve worked on takeoff, but I also have been involved in bid proposals, job walks, bid reviews and turning the bid in on a bid run.

My biggest take away from these experiences is how much construction knowledge is needed to estimate a job. Every job has to be planned out before we know if we will win the work. It’s crucial the estimator knows how the work is performed so the proper equipment, labor and materials are accounted for.

My experience went beyond the estimating department. I was also able to get involved with operations and managing a project. I was able to be a part of jobs with a variety of components, such as paving, structure excavation and underground.

It was cool to see projects planned inside the office actually get built out in the field. Seeing how information was relayed to the guys in the field showed me how I could improve the work I do in the office to coordinate better with them. 

One experience that stood out during the summer was working at night on the Highway 152 job in Gilroy. I had never worked a night shift in my life, so trying to nap during the day was new for me. It was really interesting taking part in this job because there were so many safety concerns because we were doing the work at night (also because of the traffic on HWY152). My responsibility was to document 22 data cores along the roadway. It took me getting used to the fast pace that the rest of the crew would work at. But I caught onto their pace quickly, realizing the importance of efficiency with a tight window of time that we could hold traffic to do our work.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at Graniterock. I now have practical experience with a variety of different jobs and a better understanding of how the construction industry works.

Looking to the future, I am still in the process of choosing a career path. But my internship with Graniterock has made construction a top choice for life after graduation.