When Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” When thinking about construction work, learn to know where the money is.

Yesterday, an old friend stopped by and told me about his good job with a local CM firm. The owner of this large and multi-faceted construction outfit predicts 2012 will be the worst year we’ve ever endured. My friend plans to retire next year (I think he’ll be 62) and start a small consulting business helping banks and bonding companies close out projects of bankrupt contractors. My friend has some other job opportunities available and stated something I’ve always thought, “For good guys, there’s always work.”

He also mentioned that his firm had nailed a couple of large sewage treatment plant projects and had been looking for capable project superintendents to run those projects. They have been unsuccessful in finding any first class supers with appropriate experience. The firm had previously paid some headhunters huge commissions for supers that didn’t work out.

So here are a few great opportunities for the right folks. Here are a few pots of gold, but how do you find the rainbow to follow?

Of course, you can keep checking Monster.com for construction job postings, though that site isn’t particularly construction focused. You can also think deeply about whether you’d be willing to relocate for a great job…or for any job. If you’re willing to move, you have a whole world to study for opportunities.

An article in The Economist shows the amazing clout the emerging economies now have. For example in 1990 the emerging economies made up less than 20% of the world GDP. In 2010, the emerging economies account for almost 40%, compared to the developed economies. The graphic below shows many other fascinating trends.

Steel consumption and copper consumption are both already at 75% for emerging economies. Let’s assume lots of those materials go into manufacturing, but factories need to be built to get that done. So even though construction, like politics, tends toward the local, your experience and skill set may be in demand in the international community. Give it some thought.

If you excel in your job, effectively completing projects on time and with profits, meeting all the performance goals, you should still be in demand. If you’ve limped through your career, putting in the least amount of effort to get by, you’re probably already reaping what you’ve sown. So I’m talking to the life long learners, the high performers when I say: don’t get discouraged, start doing rainbow research to see where the construction gold pots reside. Then go get yourself one.