Why it’s never too late to leave your desk job for a career in the housing industry

Adam Hopper worked as an accountant for a big Australian bank for a decade, until he found himself retrenched last year. In just six months, he has completely changed careers, swapping a desk for a construction site – and he couldn’t be happier.

When you’ve done one thing for 25 years of your life, it’s an understatement to say starting again would be confronting. Yet this is the situation Adam Hopper found himself in late last year.

A change in direction

Ten years with Suncorp (and 25 in the industry) came to an abrupt end, leaving Hopper and his wife Branka to decide next steps.

In the funny way things work out when the timing is right, the pair’s ongoing discussions about moving to Wollongong near Branka’s family became simple: Hopper was offered an opportunity at a well-established and reputable Wollongong construction company.

“This was an industry I always had a passion for it was a pretty easy decision in the end,” says Hopper.

Hopper worked as a builder’s labourer for his grandfather during school and university holidays over two decades ago. “I was on my first site at 9 years old,” says Hopper.

Adam Hopper with his son, Xavier. Image: Supplied

Knowledge is power

Only having done “a few room renovations for my family and myself,” Hopper decided to enrol into an online course in Construction Management.

“At 47, I thought I was stuck in the career path I had been on for over 25 years,” explains Hopper. “Fortunately, a lot of my skills were transferable and are being supplemented by a Certificate IV in Building and Construction with Open Colleges, which helps with understanding the process, regulations and jargon.”

If Hopper wasn’t clear he was on the right path, receiving the Houzz Residential Construction Management Scholarship might have been a clue.

Newfound job satisfaction

There are two things Hopper loves most about moving into the Construction industry: “Being part of creating something from nothing and being able to show [the work to] our four-year-old son, Xavier.”

Hopper loves the feeling of creating something tangible he can share with the world and his son, and “[has] found a loyal and tight-knit group of people that are creative and take pride in what they are delivering.”

Construction Management means he is exposed to all facets of the construction and development process, from site selection and feasibility, concept and planning, estimating and tendering to the construction process itself. There’s also back office operations, too.

Hopper says this new path is “a pleasant change from the sometime sluggish corporate world” and that despite “only [being] on the job for a month, I already know that the right decision was made.” 

His advice? “It’s never too late!”