I am considering becoming a land surveyor. How many enter by becoming a civil engineer? I live in PA but would like to have the option of licenses in other states. PA allows an internship or 2 year survey degree.?ÿ
How difficult would it be for artificial intelligence to replace surveyors??ÿ
How competitive is it to get contracts? I am currently an auctioneer and it is very difficult to get clients in the current market. I am looking for a career where I am more in demand. Electrician or exterminator is the other consideration.?ÿ
My final concern is the dealing with snakes.?ÿ
How difficult would it be for artificial intelligence to replace surveyors??ÿ
I am more concerned by LOW Intelligence trying replace Surveyors!
Loyal
Gealing with sankes is easy, avoid them, they are just as afraid of you as you are of them.?ÿ Walk a wide circle around them and keep doing what you are doing.
I personally have not known many Engineers entering land surveying, but, as a Civil Engineer, if you have design experience, that could make you more valuable in the field as you would be already familiar with things to look for and locate on design jobs.
Artificial intellegance will never replace Surveyors.?ÿ There are way too many things that require knowlege, experience, legalities and the ability to improvise and adapt.
Your career choices are what they are and if you have the ability to be dually licensed as a PE & LS, that's your golden ticket.
an possible exterminator worried about snakes????ÿ?ÿ
First, let's look at the options stated:?ÿ Civil Engineer, Land Surveyor, Electrician, Exterminator
It all depends on whether you merely want to be employed by someone with one of those titles or if you want to be the business owner providing those services.?ÿ There is a world of education separating each of those professions, in descending order as listed.?ÿ Almost anyone can become an exterminator, with a minimal amount of formal higher education.?ÿ On-the-job training is the primary focus to becoming an exterminator.?ÿ Licensure as a land surveyor requires both years of field experience plus two to four years (State dictates this) of college classes.?ÿ Licensure as a civil engineer requires both years of field experience plus a degree in Civil Engineering.?ÿ Proof of this experience and completion of a college degree then leads to requesting to take the licensing examinations.?ÿ About 70 percent of those taking the examinations fail on the first attempt.
Those of us contributing here can provide a wide variety of assistance to you if you are absolutely certain that your goal is to become a Registered Professional Land Surveyor someday.?ÿ Some can provide guidance specifically for successfully completing a degree in Engineering.?ÿ A much smaller number may be able to comment on electrician and exterminator knowledge but all of us started out somewhere close to where you are now.?ÿ Researching your options is an essential part of life.
It would help if you would share more information about your current location (State/Province/Country) and level of education and work experience.
There seems to be a shortage of Surveyors and Civil Engineers these days. That is true for a lot of other skills as well. It seems to me that for a long time there was a surplus. Certainly technology has cut down on the grunt work, but the most important tools in the surveyors kit remains the shovel and the machete. I can't see AI changing that. Maybe robot dogs will.?ÿ ?ÿ
For any given level of experience engineers tend to make a little more money than surveyors. That gap is closing, some, but it still exists.
I've often said that being both an engineer and a surveyor is a very tall order. Many dual registrants are good at neither. It is just too much.?ÿ
For either you are looking at several years of training, both formally and on the job.?ÿ
Snakes? In Pennsylvania? Probably not a real big concern. Even when I was in Oklahoma, where they are common, I never saw one in 3 years.
Snakes? In Pennsylvania??ÿ
This indicates there 21 species, many of them rarely seen. Three are venomous but all 3 have such low population they are candidates to be listed as threatened or endangered.
PA allows an internship or 2 year survey degree.
I'm not sure what you mean by this, I could be misinterpreting what you are saying, but PA requires more than 2 years of experience or a degree to become an LSIT or a PLS.?ÿ I believe you need either a 4-year degree in surveying or 4 years of experience under a PLS to sit for the FS exam, to become an LSIT.?ÿ Then, after you pass the FS exam and become an LSIT you have to gain an additional 4 years of experience under a licensed PLS.
It is a similar process to become an engineer in PA.?ÿ Like many other states, additional experience can replace education, so you don't need an engineering degree.?ÿ I believe you need 8 years of experience under a PE, or a 4-year degree, to obtain your EIT.?ÿ After you become an EIT you need to gain 4 years of experience under a PE to get your license.
This is only what I remember of the rules, and I suggest if you are serious about this, to read all the statutes and rules governing licensure in the state.
If you don't get a degree you will still need to dedicate a lot of time to study, over many years, to get a professional surveyor or engineer license.?ÿ You won't know what you need to know from experience alone, you need to study.?ÿ I think a degree is the best way to go and gives you the best odds of passing the professional exams.?ÿ A degree will also allow you to get your PLS license in more states.?ÿ NJ requires a 4-year degree (ABET survey degree,) they recently changed NY to require a 2-year degree, and I believe OH requires an ABET degree.
Good luck,
?ÿ
I'd go with the electrician thing.?ÿ Cleaner than being a surveyor or plumber.?ÿ Usually in demand.?ÿ Out of the elements for the most part.?ÿ
No snakes too, since that's a concern of yours ; )
It's been my experience that much of automation and AI has and will continue to, screw things up enough that I'll likely have job security for life. Go with what puts a bounce in your step and blows your hair back. Personally I enjoy the physical and mental challenges of surveying. The thought of pulling romex wire or spraying for cockroaches for the rest of my working life, just doesn't hold that much appeal. You're much more likely to excel and be in demand for something that you're passionate about. I guess it doesn't hurt I think snakes are pretty cool, long as the venomous ones keep their fangs out of me.
My wife has an exterminator hit our house on a set schedule.?ÿ We had the same guy for years, then he retired.?ÿ His replacement was a nice young fellow.?ÿ Now, he's gone because he finally found a job as a teacher and could make far more money.?ÿ Might keep that in mind.
Licensure as a civil engineer requires both years of field experience plus a degree in Civil Engineering.
Can still do it with only OJT in Washington state. No degree required. Not sure if you would pass the test without the book learning, however.
It's been my experience that much of automation and AI has and will continue to, screw things up enough that I'll likely have job security for life. Go with what puts a bounce in your step and blows your hair back. Personally I enjoy the physical and mental challenges of surveying. The thought of pulling romex wire or spraying for cockroaches for the rest of my working life, just doesn't hold that much appeal. You're much more likely to excel and be in demand for something that you're passionate about. I guess it doesn't hurt I think snakes are pretty cool, long as the venomous ones keep their fangs out of me.
If he works in AK, no issues with snakes!
@dmyhill?ÿ
It would be a rare bird who would be able to pass the EIT or whatever it is called today exam (Engineer in Training).?ÿ The vast majority of that is based on about 95 percent of the undergraduate engineering courses plus their prerequisites in calculus, differential equations, physics, chemistry, etc.?ÿ The PE exam might get passed by a few with a ton of work experience and number crunching experience in some of the hard core subject areas being tested.?ÿ Getting through the EIT would be the killer.?ÿ Cookbooks, software and company-specific procedures reduce the working knowledge of too many on the nuts and bolts of doing what it is that is to be done.?ÿ Much like using software to calculate the area of an irregularly-shaped tract takes a couple of minutes while doing it manually, especially if a couple of tangent curve equations are tossed in, can take 20 minutes or more.?ÿ Especially if you haven't done it manually for several years.
I am considering becoming a land surveyor.
That's like saying "I'm considering becoming a foot taller".
N
