It's a tall order, but someone has to build it.

As senior project manager for Ledcor Construction Limited on the 30-storey Epcor Tower in downtown Edmonton, Mike Roper (Carpentry '00) works an average of 10 hours a day keeping the job on schedule, managing and reporting on budgets and monitoring the trades' progress.

Nearly four years after he started on the project, tenants have moved into the building and construction is drawing to a close. As with every job throughout his 18-year career, Roper's efforts are rewarded each time he drives past the tower - the first new office tower built downtown in more than 20 years - and beholds the concrete results of his labour.

In 1993 I was looking for a summer job. My dad was a truck driver with Ledcor and I got on with the company as a labourer on a job at Bonnie Doon mall. It piqued my interest in carpentry and construction work. I did a four-year carpentry apprenticeship with NAIT, graduated in 2000, and got my Red Seal.

The way I became a project manager is a little out of the ordinary; most don't go the field route. I went from labourer to apprentice carpenter, journeyman carpenter, lead hand, foreman, superintendent, project manager and now senior project manager on the Epcor Tower since November 2007.

Communication skills are key - I learned that the hard way on many occasions. You have to be able to deal with so many different kinds of personalities out there. If you can't get across what you need to get across, it can make or break your conversation.

The work-life balance is good. I'm usually home in time for supper and to see my wife, 18-year-old daughter and six-year-old son. Working longer hours during the week is a personal choice so I can have my weekends free.

I like building stuff. It's a really good sense of satisfaction to be able to say, "We built that," when I drive around Edmonton. It's really cool.

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Job description: Project manager

Pay: Average: $95,000

Location: With another potential skills shortage on the horizon, companies are now looking to get staff in place across Alberta

Work hours: Average: 41.9 hours/week; Mike Roper: 57 - 60 hours/week

Training: Extensive experience as project manager, plus construction and/or engineering credentials