I am not in your industry, but are there roles tangential to your existing job that you could explore?

Who are your buyers? suppliers? inspectors?

Yes, these are those transitional roles I was referring to. Looking into it all. Thanks.

Do you have an email I can send you some info to? We may have an opening for a remote PM in the supply chain side of construction.

Thomash at aggienetwork dot com

I'm 5 years behind you but in the same boat.

Have been looking to transition to Commercial RE/Development, owners rep, and construction sales from equipment to wholesale.

Its been tough sledding for me so far, but happy to talk over some of the routes I'm trying. What area are you in?

Not directly helpful, but in the event you are using this email for your job hunt, I just wanted you to be aware of this:

Security changes coming to AggieNetwork.com, email

You might want to give them updated contact info.

Email sent. Based on CC09's email below you might not receive it. Let me know.

Received. I'll get back to you. And looks like I'll need to dig into the email stuff. Thanks.

Had a friend who built houses 20 years ago and then moved into Distribution with one of his vendors when he got burnt out. You know the product of lots of your vendors probably better than a lot of them.

Look for a sales or distribution role with a sub-contractor or vendor.

Had another buddy move into a land development role with a builder, so look to moving into an office role such as estimator, take-offs, etc

unearth222 said:

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I would look at construction manager/administrator jobs on the owner's side or A/E side. A/E firms are always looking for people with deep construction experience to help facilitate the construction side of the project from their end, and the hours are more typical office hours with the ability to do most of the paperwork side remote as necessary.

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As someone who has made this exact move, I will second this suggestion. I highly recommend you look into this.

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From my experience it seems tough to transition to the developer or owner's rep role. There just aren't enough of those jobs and a lot of people want them.

I second doing something with your vendors or possibly becoming a material rep…which I guess is the same thing.

You can email me with your thoughts.

I was burned out on the GC side about 7 years ago and got an opportunity to go to work as a project manager for a commercial RE firm. Best decision ever for my career advancement and work/life balance. The hours are much more manageable and the stress level far lower.

If it's something you're interested in, I would look into CRE firms.

Good luck to you and your family, whichever route you choose.

Have you thought about using your experience to sell and manage? We are a paving maintenance firm and always looking for experience! Our PMs are actually a combination of PM, Account Manager, estimator and everything in between.

Shoot me a resume at ronv@pavecon.com if you may have an interest!

Otto said:

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Do you have an email I can send you some info to? We may have an opening for a remote PM in the supply chain side of construction.

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did he take this? this is pretty much what I do. I'd be interested if he didnt take it

Check your PM's

Most major banks have a construction administration group that monitors construction loans, and there is a whole industry of consultants that support them for plan and cost reviews, property condition reviews, and site inspections for the pay applications. I've been on the banking side for 10 years and it definitely beats working for a contractor.

I have been lucky blessed in working for only 3 GC's, long term, in my 35 year commercial construction career. 24 years in the west Texas market and 11 now in the DFW market. They were long term because they all appreciated work/life balance. I value my personal time too much to work for any company that requires 6-7 days a week and 12-14 hours a day to keep up. For the most part my whole career has been run on M-F, 7:30-4:00. I mean sure, there are times I'll work a few extra hours to catch up if I have a large estimate to do or something, but pretty rare. I almost never have worked any weekends since I got out of the field and into the office 25 years ago.

I know I've been lucky in that regard. As with most of us in the industry, I've done some interviews with other GC's just to keep abreast of opportunities but never really been tempted to leave the companies I was already with. Theres been companies I've interviewed with that seemed almost proud of the fact that they had guys still in the office working at 8:00 at night. I just chuckle and run away. No thanks!

With that said, I have definitely thought about going the Owner Rep/RE route just to get out of the direct building side. I'm project management and estimating and the management side does wear me out. I've worked both public and private construction and currently for the past 11 years with a company that is all private. Dealing with some dishonest, a**hole owners and banks being a hassle, it's definitely not fun any longer. I much prefer the estimating side at this point. I can look at numbers and go home and forget about the job every night. I've looked at a few opportunities for full estimating positions, but nothing serious yet. At my age, 57, I may be 'stuck' in what I'm doing, but I'll keep my ears open for anything. Hope you find what you're looking for.

Good info. Thanks.

Look into being a CM or inspector for an engineering or EPC firm. You'll still be in the industry, you can leverage your experience and most of the time those roles are much lower on the time consumption and stress level scale compared to the actual contracting side.

I did it for a while, but it ended up being a little too slow for my liking, might look at something like that again when I'm closer to retirement and don't necessarily need or want to be a GC anymore.

I would also look at USAJobs for US Army Corps of Engineers positions (project managers, construction representatives...), base civil engineers/directorate of public works positions, VA campus engineering. Not great pay but steady reliable 40 hour weeks and even some work from home opportunities.

Lots of great advice in this thread.
I feel for you…construction can be a competitive grind to get anywhere.

Owner's reps jobs can be hard to come by and you'll need a level of polish and maybe even some advanced education or deep networks to land that type of role. Check the public sector (school districts, universities, municipal / county governments) for owners rep jobs.

Architecture firms commonly hire construction administrator (CA) roles and these can be good jobs.

I've had some peers transition to subcontractor roles and that has been rewarding for them.

If you have the right personality, sales or business development could be a great option.

Finally, as someone already mentioned, you may just need a culture change by moving to another company. Network around at other GCs (of all sizes) and see if one could be a better fit.

Well, there is a mutual agreement for my departure in place. Looking like end of March. I felt convicted enough to be transparent with my current employer and we have a mutual understanding. So the search really begins. Thank you all who have given some sound advice. Definitely going to explore all of the options and look forward to finding the right fit for the kiddos and myself. I have had some good conversations already with potential prospects but not exact fits. Optimistic in the process moving forward.

Your work situation is reminiscent of my father's career. Especially the 10 hours/day, 6 days/week work. If there was a concrete pour at 6am, you better believe my dad was on the job site while I was still in bed.

My father spent the better part of 35 years as a General Superintendent with Fluor building big projects all over the world - Puerto Rico, Alaska, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Texas, etc.

After Fluor, he wound up working as the Project Manager for a series of School Districts in his hometown. He built several High Schools.

These ISDs had massive bond issues to spend umpteen millions of dollars on infrastructure and they didn't have any idea how to manage these projects. If you could find the right situation, something like that could work.

Sales could provide you with flexibility in your schedule and more opportunity to control your own destiny.

Good Luck!

What's your location?


Any interest in residential home projects for a major master planned community builder?

I'd be interested if op isn't. Location?

Not my gig, but I can introduce folks.

Greater Houston.

Not interested. I'm in DFW