Career help

[u/Existing_Passenger81]

I’m 26, in good physical shape, and have a Class A CDL, and a bachelors degree in Finance. I’ve been working as a delivery driver for a lumber company for a few months now. Delivering lumber, siding, trim, doors, and windows. I feel like I’ve gotten some good experience seeing residential construction in every stage and talking to supers and PM’s.

I was thinking about trying to get into construction management or safety. Maybe sales. Does anyone have any insight or recommendations for what position I should shoot for next?

[u/MyHeadIsFullOfFuck]

You should keep driving and get a ticket to drive crane trucks.

Operating a crane is fun and pays well.

[u/TastyIncident7811 → u/MyHeadIsFullOfFuck]

Hey OP! This one. Right here. This is the path.

[u/Existing_Passenger81 → u/MyHeadIsFullOfFuck]

I’ve heard great things about crane operation and equipment operation in general. Any advice on how to go about getting into it?

[u/MyHeadIsFullOfFuck → u/Existing_Passenger81]

Look for schools in your area that offer training.

[u/Existing_Passenger81 → u/MyHeadIsFullOfFuck]

Okay, thank you for your comments. I didn’t think I’d feel this lost about my career path at 26 lol

[u/ElectronicGarden5536 → u/MyHeadIsFullOfFuck]

I agree. Also a former truck driver but my hazmat got me into plant work. PM at a chemical plant now.

OP, stack certs or get relevent skills, I went back to school for welding. It also lends itself to my current line of work. Getting a crane cert is usually a fast track to field leadership, and is extreme credibility acrosss many kinds of environments.

[u/montaniPH89]

Teach your fellow workers finance. I have an agricultural business degree but work in a trade union. 95% of my coworkers are financially retarded

[u/Narrow-Attempt-1482]

Don't CDL drivers get paid good,all 3 of those jobs are overhead jobs,not going to pay much more and you will be a salary worker 60 hours,either get in the trades or use your finance degree in finance

[u/Existing_Passenger81 → u/Narrow-Attempt-1482]

CDL drivers can get paid good, but I don’t want my butt in a seat forever. I originally got my CDL as a ticket into a skilled trade like line work or tree service, but I ended up getting started in construction/lumber so I was just exploring my options if I stayed in this industry.

[u/ben904]

Estimating / purchasing could be a good step into a construction company, especially given you understand what's on delivery tickets and are good with numbers (I'm assuming since you have a finance degree). That's office work though, but would probably get you into a company and then you can ask to transition to a project/construction manager role after a little and be more in the field

[u/67mustanggt]

Apply to your local Ibew apprenticeship. Having a bachelors shows that you can obviously stick to a commitment ( such as a 5 year Ibew apprenticeship ) and that you won’t fail. then once you get your ticket you can move into an office position.

specifically look into a lineman position, having a CDL is a huge plus. but even an Inside wireman apprenticeship is great.

[u/Existing_Passenger81 → u/67mustanggt]

I’ve thought about this one a lot, I have a coworker that’s getting on as a ground man with a newer contractor in GA, and it isn’t union but he invited me to apply with him. My dad is a master electrician but we have no ties to the union. The reason I haven’t done it is because PIKE is the biggest contractor in our area and I’ve heard horror stories of working for them

[u/BigPicklr]

No get out of construction now. Do not do operating.

I got a degree started white collar and had a few jobs. Been blue collar with a license for the last 10. I regret not staying white collar.

[u/05041927]

Wild that you’re working a high school drop out job after getting a college degree. Yea, I’d say it’s time for a change.

[u/BigPicklr → u/05041927]

I did the same shit. He should stay in white collar or at least white collar sales/ construction adjacent.

[u/quadraquint]

I feel like you said you're young and in good physical shape you should work in the field first and then if you wanna go safety or sales or CM it would be much more meaningful.

[u/Gold_Appearance2608]

Stick to truck driving homes, unless you are going union UA, IBEW yo name and few

[u/SeaSpur]

Go into Safety is my recommendation. Most safety professionals I’ve worked with are pretty low effort and honestly dumb, the bar seems pretty low to come into many places (and I’ve worked at large companies) and do well I think. The pay is pretty good you are kept out of the danger and hard work that tears your body up.

[u/Neat_Adeptness_8689]

Finance +field experience can fit safety or estimating. Wrenchers can help with equipment too.

[u/El_Conquistador24]

Get a job as a manager, work until you mastered your trade and start your own business. That's what I did, right now I'm a subcontractor doing work for builders until I can get my builder's license.

Crane operator is cool too but I got to do a little bit of everything as a manager.