I graduated in 2004 with a degree in business finance but did not know what I wanted to do with my life so I followed in my father's footsteps and became a residential construction manager which I have been doing in Austin for the last 17 years. I've had a lot of success and have been working on an amazing high density project in east Austin for the last 9 years but have been wanting to try something new for a while. Originally my plan was to wait until this project finished up about a year and a half from now before moving on but given the continued challenges with the supply chain and labor deficiencies I'd like to accelerate my time frame for finding something else.

The project I'm working on right now is truly special and sort of the pinnacle for anything I might do in construction management so I feel like anything that might come next within that niche will be a step down. I know I want to get out of the day to day grind of construction management but beyond that I'm not 100% sure what I'd like to do next. I'd like to see where my experience managing projects and supply chains might best translate so I'm hoping some of you might have some ideas. I'm trying to think outside the box here and come up with something new and exciting.

Thank you for whatever help or advice anyone might have.

My company is involved in a large construction project litigation right now. We are using a couple firms that may be something worth looking into - or at least the genre of work might interest you.

First is JS Held - we're using them as an expert witness resource with respect to means and methods on construction. They have a consultant onsite overseeing work, documentation etc. while the project is ongoing during litigation.

Second is Socotec - They don't have anyone onsite but we are using their resources to reconstruct a schedule in retrospect to substantiate a general conditions delay claim against the contractor. I'm not sure what those two particular consultants make but they bill out at really high numbers so hopefully they're doing well.

Good idea thanks! Do you know of anyone I might be able to contact at either one of those two firms?

send me an email please

Thanks

I was a construction manager for 13 years and also wanted to get out of the day to day grind. I transitioned into a project manager and have really enjoyed it. I would be happy to answer any questions you have about it. Also, my office is hiring for a PM position but it is in Tomball area.

If you have experience as a home builder construction manager in development neighborhoods you might look into a PM role with a land development company.

Having field knowledge of the issues builders faced when a lot isn't built right by the developer may be beneficial in design & pre-construction phases.

This thread resonates with me. 20+ years with a leading commercial GC…..secure, well paying job. But sick of what this job entails.

Same.

Not to derail, but curious what roll y'all are in. Super, PM, pre-construction, executive level?

Do y'all think the burnout is company specific or industry?

Do you see yourself changing industries or is the stability worth staying?

I've been in both commercial and custom residential over the last 15 years but have been lucky to work for some really great teams so my experience hasn't been very negative.

ECC said:

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Not to derail, but curious what roll y'all are in. Super, PM, pre-construction, executive level?

Do y'all think the burnout is company specific or industry?

Do you see yourself changing industries or is the stability worth staying?

I've been in both commercial and custom residential over the last 15 years but have been lucky to work for some really great teams so my experience hasn't been very negative.

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General Supt. I work for a good company and with mostly good people on my teams. Have to deal with the occasional ****head, but who doesn't. It's the quality of the trades and their general lack of care that has me beat down. Not all of them, but it's more common than not. Add in a difficult client to the situation, and it ends up being a 50 to 60 hr beat down for weeks on end.
Hard to imagine doing this for 15 more years and I've been casually looking for other opportunities, but can't find anything that comes even remotely close to my current salary.

What is the average salary at your level in construction science?

I graduated in 2008 wanting to get into residential but the market was horrible. I was in the $25/hr range and I was wearing a tool belt. No benefits.

Production builder superintendent $60-$80k (5 years post grad)

Custom home builder PM $75-$95k (10 years post grad)

Commercial Pre-construction manager $110-$135k (15 years post grad)

I'll add that I probably haven't worked a weekend in over 10 years and my hours are consistently around 40/week. I've sacrificed pay for time but with three young kids I think it's been the right move for me.

Big GCs are paying kids $75k+ straight out of college. I'm in the mid 2s, but realize I might have to take a hit if I do decide to try something else.

I graduated construction science in '05. After about 8 years as a PM I changed careers and went into construction wholesale distribution. You are still involved in projects with your customers and your background as a PM is a big selling point. Lots of subcontractors have terrible PM's and if you can make their life easier they will partner with you. There are lots of fields to get in. I'm in plumbing wholesale. Few of my buddies are in roofing distribution. There is big money to be made. Still lots of headaches but much more enjoyable than actually working as a project manager.

ECC said:

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Not to derail, but curious what roll y'all are in. Super, PM, pre-construction, executive level?

Do y'all think the burnout is company specific or industry?

Do you see yourself changing industries or is the stability worth staying?

I've been in both commercial and custom residential over the last 15 years but have been lucky to work for some really great teams so my experience hasn't been very negative.

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Commercial GC superintendent.

I think burnout has been industry wide and a lot of it has to do with what KnuckleSandwich said. It's nearly impossible to get a project done on schedule with the quality of subs we get these days.

I took a good pay cut and left a larger GC to move my family to a small town and get more time with them. It was a great company and a really hard decision to leave. I work less hours now but some of my subs are downright terrible and none of them have the manpower they need. It's less fulfilling in the light commercial work and its somewhat depressing knowing what I could be making if I would have stayed with a bigger company, but being able to be home and actually present with my family helps me justify staying.

I've thought about changing industries but there's not a lot of options out here in a small town in the hill country.

I'm a senior builder for a large corporate builder and i echo what knucklesandwich said in that the biggest drawback/frustration in this industry is the trades and their lack of care and attention to detail which makes it almost impossible to finish a project. My actual hours worked per week aren't bad and with bonus I'm in the high 100s to low 200s every year so I'm afraid if I switch into something else I'll take a pay cut but I have to figure out a way to not have to work day to day with the trades anymore. I'd love to switch to another industry altogether but I'm not sure how that would work.

I'd be interested in hearing more about wholesale distribution sir if you have time. Could I shoot you an email?

I hear ya man. I think it might be a decent job if the trades didn't suck so bad. I thought that part might get better once things slowed down a bit in the residential world but it seems to be getting worse actually. I'm so tired of my success or failure being entirely dependent upon whether or not Pablo or Juan is going to show up on time and actually do a good job and not Jack something else up in the process of doing his job.

Thanks will do!

In order for you to make the comission you do, you can't afford to keep around an employee talent base. You can't even afford to hire union trades. So you get what you get, and ultimately its the property owner who suffers. Paying you $200k to manage trades who can't get a 90 edge square.

Yep the trades suck there's no question about it

Interesting read, especially give construction mgmt is what I really wanted to do. Honest question, if the trades suck so bad, why not be the trade? If there's a way to develop and grow the trade to something scalable and compensate competent folks, seems like there would be plenty of opportunity for the grabbing. Maybe I'm wrong.

I think thoughts of a career change in the 40s is very common. Maybe bc by 50, it's almost the thought, well I better just stick this out to retirement. I feel like the 40s is a slump in job satisfaction.

Yea that makes sense to me

The problem is that the industry schedules and manpower have been running leaner and leaner as time goes on. Owner wants their building finished quicker and with less costs. GC's take a hit on their fee and then turn that around by reducing management on the jobsite. So the PM's and Supers are forced to do more with less. Compound that with the aging trades and struggle to find young tradesmen and it becomes one big stress nightmare. The quality control issues usually stem from having enough management on behalf of the trades. They are also trying to do more with less.

I understand your reasons for wanting to get out of the day to day construction operations. It's not for everyone. I'd suggest finding a job in the construction services industry that supports projects as opposed to managing them.

I think that will probabaly be my best bet long term. I have a year to a year and a half left (maybe a bit more) to figure things out.

Or you can do work for an owner's rep. It's construction management but you get to point fingers and tell people what's wrong as opposed to actually having to grit teeth getting stuff fixed.

Owner's rep for a commercial project? I'm not real familiar with this. Thanks.

Building on Sims' consulting post.

I've gone COSC > EPC (downstream projects) > MBA > Big 4. Picked up PMP and PE along the way.

I've moved on to M&A, but this is the consulting team I used to work for: https://www.ey.com/en_us/capital-projects-consulting-services.

Let me know if you're interested in the consulting tract. I'm still close to my prior colleagues and can refer. Pros: exposure; interesting work; remote day-to-day, but still some fun travel; money. Cons: well, you're a consultant and that has a rep; WLB; it's a pyramid scheme.

I'm at 6 years in consulting. 3/4 up the pyramid and will exit within the next few years. It's served its purpose, but a wild ride.

Thank you sir. I'd definitely be interested in the consulting track.

KnuckleSandwich said:

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To my fellow frustrated builders……there is no doubt our skill set related to scheduling, problem solving, risk managing, strategizing, do whatever it takes mentality can translate to other opportunities.
Problem is that we're too damn busy to find something else .
I guess the silver lining is that most people aren't willing to do what I (we) do & the compensation will continue its upward trajectory.

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I know lots of people in construction that have been burned on bonus structures and will never trust an employment contract offered to them. So i see lots of them refuse 100k jobs with equity or unlimited bonus b/c they fully believe it will never be paid.