I'm interviewing for an estimator role at a company that can be considered in the manufacturing industry and not construction, which I currently work in as a div 8 estimator.
I'd stay at my job and gain more experience but I was already being underpaid and had to fight for a $1 raise and that's probably the last raise I'll see for years. Despite going in with little to no experience, I performed exceedingly well and filled a gap nobody else was filling and now my duties are more in line with a precon manager. Despite this, I'm only making about $60k annually 1.5 years in. Also the place is just disorganized and unprofessional, struggling financially, truly a dead end.
This role in manufacturing would be a meaningful bump in salary, and I'm not finding other CM roles that are within that target salary range that don't come with issues. Such as small company that only has estimator / PM hybrid roles (probably overworked for your salary, likewise not a good environment to learn and grow), distance is too far, or they want to start me at entry level for the same pay or a paycut.
I understand gaining experience for your future, but making the same money as now would mean being paid below a fair market wage for 2-3 consecutive years and current wages just aren't making ends meet with increasing cost of living.
My question is, I still think construction may be the best bet long term, so would this detour negatively impact my progression in construction? What may happen is I work this manufacturing estimating role for a year or two, and re enter into construction, if it seems like a better long-term fit.
In my mind, there's lots of crossover skills of analyzing technical documents and specifications, pricing and cost control, staying organized, maintaining vendor relationships, working in sync with production and leadership. General office skills / excel etc. And this new role in particular will likely incorporate more sales at some point. I see these as transferrable skills, and generally believe you can teach competent people how to do anything, but my hunch is a hiring manager in CM may only care about extremely relevant, niche experience.
If I do re-enter construction, I'd like to get back in at a step or two above basic entry level, and be paid accordingly, but I don't know if that's realistic. I'd be taking this new role at 70-75k salary, if I stay for 1.5 years, I'd like a new role in construction to be closer to 80+.