From Construction worker to Entrepreneur – Over 25 years in the Construction Industry

I started in construction industry at the age of 16 as a summer worker. My job was to paint staff facilities in Oulu, Finland – a Walkman in my pocket and paint on my shoes. In this article, I share how that beginning eventually led me into structural design, BIM and digital models, and ultimately entrepreneurship – and what more than 25 years in the construction industry has taught me. 

My first summer job on a site

My first job in construction had nothing to do with structural engineering, BIM models, or project coordination. I was a 16-year-old summer worker in Oulu, and my task was to paint the staff facilities at Rudus' production plant.

One moment from that summer still comes in my mind. I had just finished painting the floor in the break room when the workers came in for coffee break – and they walked straight across the freshly painted floor. The site supervisor simply told me to start over and that's exactly what I did. In my pocket I carried an old Walkman, listening to Finnish rock on a cassette tape while working.

Back then, construction wasn't a career plan. It was a summer job like any other. Looking back, however, that was the beginning of my career path that eventually led me from construction sites into design work, BIM coordination, digital models, and ultimately to entrepreneurship.

The spark for design

After that summer, I enrolled in vocational school to study construction. After the basic studies, we had to choose a specialization, mechanical or structural engineering. My reasoning was practical: I wanted to learn how to read and understand the drawings used on construction sites.

During my first year, I had the opportunity to design the permit drawings for a small summer cabin as part of a student project. That was really the first moment I realized how interesting design could be. The drawings were no longer just a stack of papers. They were a way to visualize an entire structure before anything had even been built.

That was when the spark for design was lit – and it has stayed with me ever since.

You never stop learning in construction

One thing has remained constant throughout my career. In construction, learning never stops.

Over the years I've worked in the private sector on construction sites, in structural design, as a BIM coordinator, and with Trimble software environments. I've also worked on the public sector as a building inspector and in infrastructure project management. Each of these perspectives has helped me better understand how construction projects work as a whole.

There is also a great deal of tacit knowledge in this industry – the kind that gets passed down from experienced professionals on sites and through projects, rather than from textbooks. 

Why RYMY was founded

The idea of starting my own company came to my mind already back in 2010.

At that point, I had seen the industry from several different angles and started thinking about how I might use that experience as an entrepreneur. One thing kept coming up: collaboration could be smoother between different design fields and project execution.

Construction projects involve a lot of expertise. But success often depends on how well information flows and how clearly responsibilities and interfaces are defined – especially when multiple stakeholders and digital models are involved.

It still took another decade before entrepreneurship became reality. In 2021, Rymy was founded with a simple idea: bringing a broader perspective into projects by combining practical understanding of design, digital models, and on-site execution.

What more than 25 years in construction has taught me

If I had to highlight a few lessons that might be useful for those starting their careers in construction, they would be these:

• Work on the construction sites. That's where you see how things are really done.
• Listen to experienced professionals. There is a lot of expertise in this industry that you won't find in textbooks.
• Stay curious. Tools and methods continue to evolve, but the learning never really stops.

I collaborate daily with designers, site workers and managers, and project owners. Each group has its own perspective on how things should be done. When those perspectives work together, the best projects are usually created. And perhaps that's what still makes this field interesting after all these years, there is always something new to learn. Above all, construction has taught me that every project is different, but many of the challenges are surprisingly similar.

If you have a project underway and are thinking about structural design, the use of BIM models, or how to make design work better in practice on the site, feel free to reach out. When needed, I can also step in to support site management and project coordination, especially when a project needs a clear overview, coordination between different stakeholders, and ensuring project progress.

Let's have a look at the situation together. Often a short conversation is enough to outline the next steps. 

Author
Markus Ylimäki is the founder of RYMY Consulting and a construction industry professional with more than 25 years of experience from sites, structural design, BIM coordination, and Trimble software environments.