Time For A Career Change

As a General Foreman for an electrical contracting company I have luckily managed to stay steadily employed throughout the last few years. I have my crane operators cert. (required in WA state), I have a thousand hours or so on excavators, and I continue to look for new opportunities to make myself more valuable to my employer. In my experience with running projects, when I ask for someone from the "hall" (we are a union company IBEW local 191) with excavator experience I usually get someone who has run one on weekends. Operating on weekends in your backyard is completely different than production digging around buried utilities 12' off the fog line of an interstate. With the numbers that are put into today's bids there is no room for even the smallest mistake, every one has to run at max efficiency. I don't have the time or patience to deal with someone who is "learning", not on my dime anyway. Right now, there are plenty of operators who are highly skilled with years of experience that are available to work immediately.

Please don't misinterpret this as discouragement, just more of a reality check. Right now the construction industry is a tough one to stay in for people who were steadily employed a few years ago, it is twice as difficult for "newbies".

As a recommendation, I would steer away from most construction jobs unless you know someone somewhere that can hook you up and get you in the door.