Estimator
What the work is
Calculates and investigates the cost of wages, materials, overheads and other operating expenses.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Calculates, analyses and investigates the costs of proposed expenditure, wages and standard costs
- Prepares records of standard costs and values for items such as raw materials and packaging supplies
- Prepares quotes and contracts on jobs, materials and services
- Records cost variations and contract price movements
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the estimating office of a medium-sized building and renovation company. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A tender you priced carefully is accepted, and the job runs close to budget
- You catch a missing item in the plans before it costs the company
- A site manager tells you your numbers matched the real cost almost exactly
Hard days
- A supplier changes a price after you have already quoted
- A client wants a firm number when the drawings are still unfinished
- Someone senior pushes you to lower a price so the company can win the job
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 541231, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.