re: Construction Management & Career Change

OP, if you’re just burned out from the travel there are options that don’t require a very drastic career change. The two that come to my mind immediately are:

1. E&C firms that have more of an engineering/reimbursable focus. Specifically the ones that do a lot of scope development work for small to medium projects. A lot of these companies need PM’s with construction knowledge but they don’t necessarily need those PM’s to actually manage construction. And when they do, it’s often small, local projects.

The best example I can think of is a company like Hargrove, who does quite a bit of scope development work for local plants out of their BR office. From what I have gathered, these guys are mostly home every night and they don’t have to deal with the stress of managing large construction projects. That said, I’m not sure what your exact background is. Most of the PM’s I’ve met at these firms are engineers.

2. Manufacturers that have E&C services arms. Think tank fabricators, skid manufacturers, analyzer manufacturers/integrators, etc.

These guys usually manage multiple projects at a time, and they don’t spend a ton of time in the field because the field portion of those jobs doesn’t last too long.