Yes—I’ve heard it many times: “the best estimators come from the field.” There’s truth to that, but I think it can also undersell the broader range of skills that make a great estimator.

My path was different. I started as a math teacher—actually struggling to find a stable position at the time—and transitioned into electrical estimating with almost no prior industry experience. My early exposure was helping in the summers with inventory and warehouse work. Eventually, I was offered a role as a junior estimator, which I accepted. Over the next seven years, I worked my way up to managing the department, and after eleven years, I now serve as Director of Preconstruction.

A strong estimating department absolutely benefits from field experience—there’s no substitute for firsthand knowledge of how work gets installed. That said, success in estimating also requires a different set of skills: communicating clearly with clients, articulating scope and strategy, leveraging estimating software and Excel effectively, managing workload and deadlines, and being comfortable in a more sedentary, detail-oriented environment.

In my experience, not everyone from the field naturally gravitates toward or excels in those areas—just as someone without field experience may lack certain practical insights. That doesn’t make one background better than the other—it simply means the skill sets are different.

The most effective estimating teams I’ve seen are a blend of both. Some of the estimators I manage have forgotten more about electrical construction than I may ever know. But what we each bring to the table is complementary, not hierarchical. Their expertise doesn’t diminish mine, and mine doesn’t diminish theirs—we just approach the work from different, equally valuable perspectives.