Engineer/estimator skills for your resume and career

A quantity takes off or known as Construction or Material takeoff, is a thorough measurement of machines, materials, equipment, and labor needed for a construction project to complete. It is usually managed by what you call an estimator during the project's pre-construction stage and eventually divides it into the smaller category for the project to estimate, measure, and assess easier.

A construction project is an organized process of constructing, redeveloping, renovating, or otherwise improving a building, or structure. The project phase begins usually as a broad criterion that is then made with the help of a brief, feasibility analysis, funding, and planning. The majority of construction projects are one-time jobs.

Material costs refer to the cost of materials used to manufacture a product or provide a service. Direct material costs can be defined as the expenditures for the materials that can be traced back to the products that they produce. They are the costs that can be calculated from the manufacturing process to the finished products. The direct materials cost involves the exact amount of money spent on the direct materials in the production process. Tracking the materials cost allows the manufacturers to streamline efficiencies and cut costs.

In a large context, historical data is the total collected data about all/some past events and circumstances about a particular field. Historical data comprises data that is generated either automatically or manually within a given enterprise. This data is used to study and understand correlations, trends, patterns, and other statistical relationships that drive insight into the performance of a business. Historical data has two sub-categories called descriptive and diagnostic data. Descriptive data aims at explaining WHAT is happening while diagnostic data focuses on explaining the WHY behind it.

A Bid Package is a term used in relation with construction projects and subcontractors. The phrase refers to the collected set of documents which are necessary in order to respond to an invitation by a company or, less often, an individual to bid on one of the said construction projects. The necessary contents of the package may differ from one invitation to the next, but they will most definitely include such items like an offered price package for the whole project, with the various expected costs labeled within.

A computer program is a set of instructions that can be executed by a computer to perform an operation or task. Computer programs are devised by computer programmers in a programming language. Everything a computer does is through a computer program.

A request for quotation (RFQ) is a document that a corporation submits to one or more potential suppliers obtaining quotations for a service or product. Typically, an RFQ seeks a detailed list of prices for something that is measurable like hardware and it involves more than the price per item. RFQ, call for bids and invitation for bid generally mean the same thing.

A Project Specification is a document that details the plan of a project and how its execution is going to look down to its specifics. It explains how the project will be managed by outlining its features, objectives, budget, goals, roles, descriptions, and timeline for delivery. A project specification is necessary for any project to be successful since it's a comprehensive document with everything needed by the user.