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Can an old solo go back?
What are the chances a city would hire a 60+ year old surveyor that had been mostly self employed for 20+ years?
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16 Replies
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LRDay, post: 350142, member: 571 wrote: What are the chances a city would hire a 60+ year old surveyor that had been mostly self employed for 20+ years?
Chances are good! My state DOT hired this 63 year old surveyor after being solo, part time, contractor, self employed, and all the things most would black flag one for. Sometimes they just need a free thinker. It’s not about pushing buttons to get it done.
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And they would be mighty lucky to get him!
Of course, getting him to behave like a typical city employee, however, might be quite a challenge.
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Holy Cow, post: 350144, member: 50 wrote: And they would be mighty lucky to get him!
Of course, getting him to behave like a typical city employee, however, might be quite a challenge.
Can such a character adapt, maybe that is the bigger question.
I always thought that age discrimination started at about 40. Maybe the middle aged supply is used up. Maybe a plus is they can assume if they need to get rid of you it won’t be as long before you die.
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I think at your age, you would be better off in an engineering consultancy firm. With your experience, you will be put into their section that prepares bid documents or one that does the work progress reports. No more fieldwork I think for you, time to do office work.
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LRDay, post: 350142, member: 571 wrote: What are the chances a city would hire a 60+ year old surveyor that had been mostly self employed for 20+ years?
I’m 78. Self employed in Northern California. Still at it, over 20 years. Licensed since 1965. Worked for engineers as an employee until I decided to be on my own. But my boy does all the major physical work so if I set up on a spot where I can see him without moving around I’ll be in good shape. I am so busy I can’t find help so sometimes I turn down work or return retainers for taking too much work.
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Having worked in the public sector myself for almost 37 years now, I can attest that age discrimination at hire- and beyond- is much rarer in it versus private industry. From the way I see it, the odds are at the very least somewhat- if not substantially- favorable. Just my opinion.
The only superior evidence is that which you haven’t yet found. -
The city I work for hired me at 51. In the last 2 years they have hired a Traffic Engineer a PE and a project manager a PE&PS, both are in there 60’s. Experience means a lot. I would say your chances are good.
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For years we have been told that the average age of a surveyor is X, and there is going to be a shortage of surveyors because of retirement. I think we have actually reached that day. So yes, I think your chances are better than ever. My 2 cents, Jp
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LRDay, post: 350146, member: 571 wrote: Can such a character adapt, maybe that is the bigger question.
I always thought that age discrimination started at about 40. Maybe the middle aged supply is used up. Maybe a plus is they can assume if they need to get rid of you it won’t be as long before you die.
Government is where all the big decisions are made, it can be fun.
Usually Cities are more rational than State Governments so you may not see as much goofy stuff like having to turn in a perfectly good ATV trailer to be auctioned off (“surveyed out” in State-speak, believe it or not) because it is a vehicle allowing the department to buy another actual vehicle such as a truck or fire engine. In return we get a brand new ATV trailer (I admit it is very nice and a bit larger, easier to see in the mirrors) because it isn’t on the books as a vehicle, it is a mere piece of equipment. Now I am arguing they should replace our 1994 Suzuki ATV for the same reason (it is on the books as a vehicle).
Once your spirit is broken, there is nothing to it! 😉 You learn to keep your head down and do what you can do as best as you can do it.
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For a second I thought this was a Star Wars spoiler…
Age is no longer the limiting factor it once was. I produce more now as a 1 man crew than I did 30 years ago with 4 people. Experience (and modern equipment) are pretty cool. Go for it. Just be sure to do what you can be happy doing… -
A former survey manager of mine took a job with the DOT when he was in his mid 50’s and hung in there until retirement. He found the “pace” fairly frustrating but managed to adapt. Another PLS from the same office, at about the same age, later took a job in the same DOT office and decided to bail after a couple of years.
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Norman Oklahoma, post: 350251, member: 9981 wrote: A former survey manager of mine took a job with the DOT when he was in his mid 50’s and hung in there until retirement. He found the “pace” fairly frustrating but managed to adapt. Another PLS from the same office, at about the same age, later took a job in the same DOT office and decided to bail after a couple of years.
My office is more like a small survey company with one client, the Department we are housed in (the State Fire Department and Forestry Department combined) so it’s usually reasonably paced and everyone is a go getter. Our boss is great. All five of us are licensed. Sometimes we bootleg a job for other Departments that don’t have their own Surveyors. We are supposed to do an interdepartmental agreement but that may be too painful for a one-day job.
The DOT can be excruciating; a friend works there, they are driving him nuts.
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A city I used to live in and surveyed in for about a dozen years recently hired a new city surveyor when the incumbent retired. I really wanted the job but they were offering what amounted to private sector party chief wages around here.
I liked the idea of focusing on a small geographic area and really drilling down the survey history in the area. Kind of a surveyors version of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_map
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LRDay, post: 350142, member: 571 wrote: What are the chances a city would hire a 60+ year old surveyor that had been mostly self employed for 20+ years?
Chances are good
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I’d think that the chances of the City hiring the surveyor are pretty high.
The more pertinent question might be “How long can a surveyor put up with the bureaucracy and workplace politics at the City after having worked as a sole practitioner for 20+ years?” In other words, what’s your tolerance for putting up with daily BS and having to implement policies or decisions that you view as less than well considered?
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For one thing, I would have to learn to not say “Are you f***ing kidding me?” every time some silly*** departmental policy was about to ruin my week. And, I gave up on office politics nearly 30 years ago. It would be a challenge, but I could probably do it with proper incentives in place.
What might work best would be to be in a position to mentor the future leaders rather than doing all of the day to day details and physically strenuous parts of the job. Strategery (a Bush term, I believe) would be one of my better skills to bring to the workplace.
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