Advice for getting into the field

For most, land surveying isn't just a job that puts food on the table. Surveying is something we do because there is a passion about the work and the profession.

My strong advice is to try and get some field experience before you commit to any formal education program. If you find you have that passion, great. Work your ass off and the future is bright. If you can not find that passion, quit. Quit and go find something (almost anything) you can be passionate about.

Hope that helps.

Larry Phipps

IMHO, you need to find a school that concentrates on boundary law.
Surveying is unique from what I've seen in the sense that you use all aspects of the brain; you have to be analytical yet philosophical, determined yet patient, aggressive yet yielding.

Its a fun ride, just be preapred.

Larry P nailed it. For the best, surveying tends to be more of a calling than a j o b.

He's dead on about the passion, too. You have talents and you have interests. Find that sweet spot where the strongest of your talents intersect with your strongest interests. That is where you will want to be.

Stephen

Apply for a rod man's position. Take whatever is offered, and then see what Surveying is really about.

As noted, this is a career that you have to LOVE. With your current skills, you should quickly move up the ladder. Starting at the bottom, will give you a perspective, that no school can give you.

Plus.... spend enough time cutting line, and you will have great motivation for continuing your "class room studies"

good luck and sincere best wishes
Frank

Really, Larry is right.

I found something I was passionate about, and NOW I have 8 kids!

Nate

I agree with what's been said, so far...

Look at the NSPS Certified Survey Technician too. Some places are requiring this now, and it never hurts!

An entry level position is getting harder to find, and then trying to advance without further education may be impossible.

Look at 4 year colleges if you can afford it, or else figure out how to go part time if there is one near you.

Where are you? Rough country might discourage you.
I used to work with a GIS guy who wanted to go in the field.
He lasted two weeks and never showed up again.

As for myself:
I was a software engineer for near about 25 years.
Then I became a carpenter and farm hand.
Then I started hanging out at a surveyors forum having just built a workshop for a retired surveyor who needed a website.
Then I built his website and published it.
Then I did some contract programming for some fellers - LarryP included.
Then I get a phone call out of the blue about going surveying.

My mathematics background suited me fine to the job.
My computer science background suited me fine on a rain day when everyone else got sent home on account of the nasty weather.
My computer background also suited me fine when we did field-to-finish work.

A few years ago, surveying dried up here in GA and I lost my job.
So, I went back to software engineering.
I would be happy to be back in the field at a moment's notice.

Best of luck to you.
E.

All of the advice above from my friends is spot on.

When it come to your formal education, I would not enroll in more than one program at a time. You need to devote your time to one program at a time. The legal aspects of surveying are not to be taken lightly.

I own my own small surveying firm, and am currently enrolled in two boundary law classes, and it is all I can do to stay on top of them and run the business.

Good luck.

Larry is correct

Surveying is a profession that no matter what position you have with the company, at some time you must be willing to do any part of the work.

To become the surveyor, you will need to be able to teach someone to do any specific duty of any position.

As with any occupation, you must like the work or you will never be happy doing it.

Good Luck

Land Surveying is definitely a careful blend of education and experience. The mixture of two is always greater than the sum.

I would suggest to someone getting into our field to retain everything possible from their exposure to both the book and the boot. Good luck.

Student

I have two categories of individuals I hire. One are people with bachelors degrees looking to be registered. The other are people on felony probation or parole. If I can teach those two how to run a gun, surely you have the snap to run a gun.

Oh, must have a valid drivers license though. 🙂

> Larry is correct
>
> To become the surveyor, you will need to be able to teach someone to do any specific duty of any position.

Ditto that about teaching. When I was a Tai Chi Master and teaching, I always got asked questions that I could not answer on the spot. Being me, I searched out the answers and it made me better for it. And, it made the student better for it as well - which is the point.

Larry is good people. I know him well. You would be well to meet him some day.

Running the instruments is one thing. Knowing where and why to go with the instruments is an entirely different thing. One can be mastered in a couple of days. The other, decades.

Do you enjoy solving puzzles of all sorts? If not, stick with being a button pusher.

Larry is right about the passion. You can perform at a much higher level than most others if you get into the right profession for the way you are hardwired. Concepts and ideas that others struggle with will be a breeze for you. Sounds like you might think that you already have some of that passion.

I think your approach is good. While the surveyors above have all given their advice, I can tell you there are surveyors who have made a very good living at it. Other surveyors like to stay low budget, low tech and low pay. My suggestion is to get all the appropriate education and courses you can now. Seems like life changes after you get a full time job and it becomes hard to return to school to finish a degree, etc. I like the idea that you are taking GIS too. If it turns out that you don’t like the field, you can get on with your GIS work. You will also find that much of the foundation learning can be used both ways. If you are in an area where you can get some summer intern work; that would be ideal.

Not everyone has to be a rodman for a year before moving up to instrumentman. Not everyone has to be an instrumentman for three years before moving up to Party Chief. Not everyone has to be a Party Chief for 10 years before applying to take the LS test. You will have to prove yourself and show capability to move up. You will have to keep learning after you get the job! Since there are not many rodperson/chainperson or instrumentperson jobs around any more, it makes it more difficult to find the entry-level job. They are out there and you just have to find one. Getting a scholarship and staying in front of the surveyor chapter that awarded the scholarship is an excellent way to be visible. Larger companies with larger projects typically tend to run more two-person crews. Construction staking is typically done using two persons. They would be the ones to look at for your entry-level jobs. Government still does hire some entry level surveyors but that works better for those who are not white males. So if you are not one of them, you may have a chance there. Oh, if you are mechanically inclined, that may be a good indicator. Do young people still have any way of demonstrating that nowadays?

Why not answer some of the questions asked by some of the surveyors here and see if we can help focus your mind on some possibilities.

An entry level job in surveying usually has no formal requirements. Entry level normally is not an instrument operator. Usually, you would start out as the grunt guy who is handed a sledge hammer and a bag of rebar and told drive this here for several hours a day or handed a machete and pointed in a direction and told "chop until I say stop". Although it should not take long for a motivated individual to move up the ladder.

I would suggest that if your interest is in surveying as a career path, you would need to think hard about if you want/need to become licensed early on. The reason being that if you are working towards a degree and working, it may take a while to complete a degree. Many states either are moving toward or currently do require a 4-year degree for licensure - not all surveying requires a license and each state varies on what does require a license. Your state requirements can have a big impact on which direction you need to go. You can probably contact your state's licensing board to find out what is required.

I would suggest trying to speak with surveyors in your area to see just how much value the certificates you intend to pursue would be. Not that any educational opportunity is not useful, but you might find that the time spent in the certificate program would be better spent working towards the bachelor degree.

You might also try speaking with the surveyors in your area about working a few days to see if it is something that you really want to pursue. Surveyors arrive at the current career path by a large variety of methods. For some, they caught the bug while in college. For others, they grew up in the profession. Some were dropped into it because they were the quickest to pick up on how to use the new gadget that the company ordered for layout. Many find that they are not interested in the work after just a couple of days.

Good luck to you.

Send me an email with your phone number and a best time to call. I was a professor for 45 years and can maybe help you. I've been registered as a PE since 1973 and as a LS since 1974.

I also had an active practice as a PE and LS for about five years and worked in numerous National Parks as a PE and LS during approximately 30 summers.

There may be some interesting info on my web page also - http://888SURPASS.com

daw@uh.edu

> One is a 24 credit hour GIS certificate and the other is a surveying certificate requiring 18 credit hours.
>
> What I'd like to hear from you professionals is whether you think this is an adequate amount of education to become a survey aid/instrument operator.

> I'm open to pursuing a bachelor's degree in a related field but would like to make sure my expectations are reasonable for getting an entry-level job.

Thats more than adequate for getting an entry level job. The certificate programs are also a good idea, giving you the freedom to pursue multiple angles educationally after you get your feet a little wet working survey.

My advice, seek employment with multi-disciplinary firms - preferably you'll gain surveying experience not just in boundary, but in engineering & construction, and possibly environmental support work as well. Additionally, those type of firms would be more likely to have greater interest in GIS capabilities. That type of well-rounded exposure should give you an adequate impression on what you'll want to pursue further. The trick of course will be actually finding the employment - good luck!

I'm in Florida. Hot, buggy, physically-challenging field work shouldn't be an issue for me. I spent the last two years working for the Florida Park Service on a travelling team doing resource management so I did a lot of chainsawing, trail clearing, and prescribed burning.

I like being in the thick of it.

I'm glad to hear you say that about the GIS. I've done resource management work for the FL Park Service these past two years in a temporary program (lots of burning, invasive plant removal, chainsawing) and I realized that the software is used often by the park service as well as the forestry division. I was hoping to get a broad enough set of skills so I'd have more jobs to consider in this cruddy economy. Luckily I have a job currently that pays my bills, it's just not one that I want to keep for an extended period of time.

Also, I'm not a white male. I'm a white female. So maybe that'll help me out with the government job search 🙂

In regards to being mechanically inclined I have to admit I haven't had much opportunity in life to test that. I have a mind for math though.

I intend to do what some of the others suggested and find a local surveyor who is willing to let me tag along with them for a day or two.

Thanks for the advice.