The guys with 20 years experience are few and far between; but you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a party chief with 2 years of experience 10 times.?ÿ
The guys with 20 years experience are few and far between; but you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a party chief with 2 years of experience 10 times.?ÿ
Guys with 10 years experience are usually PLS's.
The guys with 20 years experience are few and far between; but you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a party chief with 2 years of experience 10 times.?ÿ
It has been my experience that the same problem exists with far too many "Land Surveyors" as well.
I know several folks who traded in their BOOTS for Penny Loafers as soon as they got their "ticket," and pretty much stopped learning anything (or as much) from that point forward.
Just my (unpopular) 2 bits.
Loyal
The guys with 20 years experience are few and far between; but you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a party chief with 2 years of experience 10 times.?ÿ
Guys with 10 years experience are usually PLS's.
The hydrology requirement here separates the wheat from the chaff. ?ÿ
You got to really want the license to work all day then spend two days a week for two years driving to the one campus in the state that offers the courses in night school for something that you'll probably never use after the state exam.?ÿ
I could not imagine the amount of professional apathy an individual would need to possess to still be designated a ??field hand? after 20 years...
I could not imagine the amount of professional apathy an individual would need to possess to still be designated a ??field hand? after 20 years...
This industry was built by "(un)Professional Field-hands"?ÿthat were a hardy bunch.?ÿ Proper supervision of?ÿa good seasoned crew of dedicated boneheads could result in a lot of good work done in a short amount of time.?ÿWe don't chain?ÿmiles and?ÿmiles anymore.?ÿ We rarely clear line and opt for field procedures?ÿallowed by our modern equipment.?ÿ?ÿA good "crew member"?ÿis a term that has definitely changed over the years.?ÿ?ÿ?ÿ
But there use to be a breed of workers that loved the work, were good at it...and had absolutely no idea what to do except what their PC told them to do.?ÿ And they did it well.?ÿ I know that sounds crazy, but it was the norm and it worked.?ÿ And there was really no "professional apathy".?ÿ On the contrary there was an esprit de corps that welded together men into a team that was capable of some amazing production.
?ÿ
I moved west with 20 years experience under my belt. In those 2 decades I worked in every geographic region of the US and several countries on 3 continents. I was a field hand (and a very good one at that). ?ÿIf that's 'professional apathy' I'm happy to be lazy.
I could not imagine the amount of professional apathy an individual would need to possess to still be designated a ??field hand? after 20 years...
Conversely, I can't imagine the amount of professional arrogance required to read the term field hand and think that it's derogatory. ?ÿ
I've got nearly 17 years of field experience and I am licensed in 4 States. There is nothing worse than setting in the office. In my opinion Surveying doesn't happen by spending full days in the office while wearing loafers.
N10,000, E7,000, Z100.00
PLS - IL, MO, AR, KS, MN, KY
I could not imagine the amount of professional apathy an individual would need to possess to still be designated a ??field hand? after 20 years...
Conversely, I can't imagine the amount of professional arrogance required to read the term field hand and think that it's derogatory. ?ÿ
Talk about making a first post a doozie!?ÿ ?ÿ
Ah, the good old days...
When men still had strong backs and weak minds.
Now before I get beat up in here, let me say that I do respect the work and accomplishments of our past generations, however, at some point we have to realize that this profession is not the same as it was even as little as ten years ago. Challenge yourself, and your people, to be ambitious and do great things, not settle in as a helper. Thats all I??m saying.
Conversely, I can't imagine the amount of professional arrogance required to read the term field hand and think that it's derogatory. ?ÿ
Not derogatory at all. In fact, think it is a great title, just not one that someone should carry for nearly half of their career.?ÿ
I could not imagine the amount of professional apathy an individual would need to possess to still be designated a ??field hand? after 20 years...
This industry was built by "(un)Professional Field-hands"?ÿthat were a hardy bunch.?ÿ Proper supervision of?ÿa good seasoned crew of dedicated boneheads could result in a lot of good work done in a short amount of time.?ÿWe don't chain?ÿmiles and?ÿmiles anymore.?ÿ We rarely clear line and opt for field procedures?ÿallowed by our modern equipment.?ÿ?ÿA good "crew member"?ÿis a term that has definitely changed over the years.?ÿ?ÿ?ÿ
But there use to be a breed of workers that loved the work, were good at it...and had absolutely no idea what to do except what their PC told them to do.?ÿ And they did it well.?ÿ I know that sounds crazy, but it was the norm and it worked.?ÿ And there was really no "professional apathy".?ÿ On the contrary there was an esprit de corps that welded together men into a team that was capable of some amazing production.
?ÿ
I grew up there.
I am a field hand with on about 20 years. Hard to say which years I did twice, although they are there.?ÿ
The same criticism could be levied at many Survey shops and in a broad case whole sectors of our profession.?ÿ
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I have been registered for 28 years. I have been a field hand for 39 years.
James
We have several Party Chiefs with over 20 years of experience who are happy to stay in the field and are excellent at what they do. It's foolish to denigrate them, I have a ton of respect for those guys.
?ÿReality is there's typically a hard divide between office and field people, both groups tend to be protective of their turf and look down their noses at the other. I started out a field guy and remain so to this day?ÿand remember like yesterday twenty years ago being pounced on by the office techs when I downloaded my topo data for the day and created my own TIN in the office looking for gaps in my coverage while my recollection of the day was still?ÿfresh. I had trespassed into their world and was told in no uncertain terms to stay where I belonged, outside and to stick to what I knew. I guess that just?ÿdidn't work for me.?ÿ
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
I have known quite a few "career field hands" over the last 50 years of surveying. With VERY FEW exceptions, they were (and are) worth their weight in gold. They each had their own reasons for staying in the field (nearly half of them were licensed), and the fact that some of them had no interest in getting licensed, DIDN'T mean that they stopped studying, learning, and increasing their?ÿvalue to the profession. Sure, there were a few guys that just didn't really care (about anything), and saw surveying as just way to get by, but most of those folks don't last all that long.
I spent the vast majority of my career in the field (especially after going solo in 1985), and it has just been the last couple of years that I have spent most of my time in the office. I am lucky in that?ÿI have an associate (PLS/CFeds) who loves field work, and between the two of us, we can handle all of the projects that INTEREST us.
Personally, I would like to do MORE field work this year than I have lately, and maybe I will if the workflow goes that direction this summer.
Field Work is where the rubber meets the road, and REAL Surveying happens.
Loyal?ÿ?ÿ
This attitude is not present in all areas or firms. These days many of us have to do everything from marketing to filing after the job is done. You need to find a better group of humans to run with...
What's wrong with being a Young Buck in a gray hair world?
-Party Chief you hit with a dead cat