4 Ways to Change Your Career from Construction Management
September 1, 2024
Prepare for a career change from construction management with this advice, plus explore four jobs where you can use your construction experience.
Construction managers are tasked with everything from project management to worker safety. They must execute construction projects, on time and within budget. Navigating relationships with stakeholders requires good communication and negotiation skills. Construction managers earn salaries in the six-figure range, reflecting their role's high-pressure, high-stakes nature.
Spending years working in a stressful environment as a construction manager can take a toll, and a construction site's physical demands can also be challenging. If your job isn’t as satisfying as it was when you started your career—or you would like to earn more from an ownership role—it may be time to make a career change from construction management. Are you wondering if starting a new career in your prime is possible? The short answer — yes! A survey of North American workers 45 and older reveals that 40% changed jobs in the past five years, and 23% found a role in a new industry.
Making a career move is within reach, but it requires dedication and perseverance. Here’s how to get started:
- Identify your skills: Write down the strengths and skills you learned as a construction manager, such as project management, budgeting, scheduling, and leadership. To make a career change from construction, analyze how you can apply these skills to other fields.
- Research jobs: Once you have a clear picture of your skills, research industries with opportunities matching your skill set.
- Network: When you’ve worked in the same field for many years, it can be difficult to imagine another option. Spend time networking to gain a new perspective, particularly if you have a specific field you’re targeting. You can join professional organizations or attend industry events to discover job opportunities.
- Find a mentor: A mentor can provide guidance and insights for your journey. If you find a mentor in the industry you’re considering, they can help you make valuable connections.
New Career Ideas
If you’re ready to make a career change from construction management and discover your next professional chapter, the soft skills you acquired on the job site are an asset for numerous paths.
- Supply chain manager: A supply chain manager ensures goods and materials reach their destination. This job requires many of the same skills construction managers use to manage vendors and building supplies.
- Sales representative: A sales representative identifies customers’ needs and builds relationships. If you choose a sales role in construction equipment or tools, you can capitalize on your knowledge of what’s needed for building projects.
- Safety consultant: Construction managers have a strong background in ensuring safety on job sites, making them excellent candidates for roles that focus on creating and implementing safety protocols in various industries, ensuring compliance, and training teams on best practices.
- Franchise owner: Franchising can be a natural fit for someone with experience in construction management. It offers a turnkey business with training and brand recognition. You’ll need to manage multiple aspects of the business simultaneously, focusing on lead generation, sales management, operational efficiency, and growth. Franchisees have strong business acumen and a customer service mindset. Franchise owners have the generally have the highest earning potential, especially in system that can scale through multiple revenue streams.
Build a New Future with Window World
If entrepreneurship sounds appealing, choosing a remodeling franchise like Window World will allow you to chart a new course using the skills you honed during your former career. Window World is the industry leader in custom exterior home improvement products, and we sell more than one million custom window replacements annually. Window replacements provide homeowners with a strong return on investment, trim energy bills, and enhance indoor comfort. Replacing wooden windows adds an average of $14,912 to a home’s value.
With an initial investment as low as $135,000, you’ll receive training and a support team to help you every step of the way. You’ll also have the guidance of an experienced regional business consultant and the technology you need to manage your business. Average gross sales at 56 of our medium market locations were $5,621,237.66 in 2023.*
Get started building a new future and make a career change from construction management as an entrepreneur with Window World today.
*See Item 19 in Window World’s 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) for more details.
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