Surveying was my first choice.
Its just a shame that it is so dependant on the economy that, several times, I have had to take up other options
Surveying was my first choice.
Its just a shame that it is so dependant on the economy that, several times, I have had to take up other options
This lingers in the back of my mind with all the shortages, recruiting, promotion of the profession, get kids into surveying, and similar efforts. With my niece and nephews (some of whom have been interested in surveying), I advise that surveying is a great career and will make more money when starting off than other options but that you need to save that money since surveying also has ups and downs. The promise of the tie to the economy tends to scare everyone off but I do want to be honest and let them choose well. If saving is done well, people can even take a long vacation to travel (and spend plentiful savings) but that's a rare person who saves that well. You're unique for coming back, a lot of people who leave surveying and build something new from the bottom don't come back. I can see that a lot of young people will avoid surveying until we as the industry and profession can address this cyclic fortunes tied to the economy.
I can see that a lot of young people will avoid surveying until we as the industry and profession can address this cyclic fortunes tied to the economy.
I don't recommend surveying as a career - much, much better money, prospects and support being an engineer.
But its a great life-style choice
If you can afford it, working for a Mom and Pop shop that focuses on boundary surveying for a year or two will give you experience that is typically hard to get at larger firms. The money and benefits provided by a large firm will be difficult to reject, and it's impossible for you to accurately assign value to good mentorship in boundary surveying. The problem with entering a large firm as your first surveying job is that if you're good at what you do, you'll get yanked out of the field before you have time to learn the skills that will help you be a productive manager.
@summerprophet I would say most of my class were traditional students but we also had a few that weren't. One guy was a State Trooper that was getting some surveying background for their investigations and forensics. One guy was in his 30's getting his classes in so he could sit for the LSIT. We had a guy from Africa. Another guy was like me and had another degree but from another school. I do remember the first day and our professor said to take a look around at the class of 30. He said that about 1/2 of you won't be here at the end. He was right.
Congratulations on your choice. When I was 15, 50 years ago, my surveyor dad told me "surveying is something you get better at for as long as you do it". That appealed to me, and still does. Nothing we do is routine. My best advice is try hard to follow the instructions from your boss or crew chief, dress appropriately for the outdoors, and learn to see your mistakes. We need more young people.
I don't know what these guys are talking about when they say go engineering to make more money. I make the same as engineers in my area.