Son, you can make more money as a plumber and people will always have a need for your services. You can get paid several times over the years for the same plumbing. Once when it is installed, again when it plugs up, finally when it needs replaced towards the end of your career.
Problem is, you will not look forward to coming to work and your wife will not let you touch her when you come home from a hard days work.
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Seriously my son is getting ready to graduate high school and he has suddenly become interested in land surveying. He mentioned moving to Alaska and surveying.
I am not even sure if there is still oil/mining related surveying going on in Alaska like there was in the 80's. I seem to remember a while back there was an excellent narrative given describing the life of a young surveyor working on the North Slope. Does anybody remember who contributed that?
Since my son is very good at math and science, I have suggested pursuing a degree in both surveying (whatever it's called these days) and civil engineering. I believe his attraction to surveying is the ability to combine mathematics with outdoor work.
I wish he had thought about this before last summer, because he could have gotten a job working for a surveyor to get his feet wet to see what it is all about.
Does anybody know of any published materials for youths that promote the various aspects of land surveying?
Here's what I promote:
Also, perfect timing. Be sure and have your spawn apply for the many scholarships available here:
http://www.californiasurveyors.org/scholarsh.html
The deadline is coming up QUICK!!
In terms of surveying in AK, he can contact me. I was up there for 10 years and did my fair share of time on the slope.
The University of Alaska - Anchorage offers both Associates and Bachelors degrees in Geomatics.
AAS: http://catalog.uaa.alaska.edu/undergraduateprograms/coeng/geomatics/aas-geomatics/
BSc: http://catalog.uaa.alaska.edu/undergraduateprograms/coeng/geomatics/bs-geomatics/
In terms of literature, there isn't much out there that is actually good. I would suggest he watch these videos put out by the New Zealand Institute of Surveying:
He may want to look at taking some sort of general Applied Science courses at a JuCo; he can use these to acquire credits in the future for whatever engineering program he may want to go into; including Geomatics.
Cheers,
Neil
I have to agree.
I took several Physics classes that would not transfer over into a true engineering program. Frustrating to say the least.
I would suggest making sure any general classes and physics, chemistry, etc. will transfer into either program, so that whatever he decides to do he is not limited, and has much more flexibility.
It seems like the "go to" higher education choice for surveyors is civil engineering. And maybe that's not a bad thing, but there are a lot of other related fields that use complex mathematics. If I had it to do over again, I would look at geodesy or photogrammetry, or both. I still really like surveying, so it's not like I have regrets, but I thought I wanted to be a civil engineer and spent some time in college pursuing that. Grateful now that I didn't.
Yup, gotta be Physics for Scientists and Engineers. At the University of Utah they used it in my day to sort out who goes the Med School. So the competition was extreme. Was I ever glad when that year was over!
I appreciate the comments.
He really has not indicated if he wants to set roots and try to work out of one area, or if he would like to travel - just that he does not want to be stuck behind a desk or have to commute in metro traffic.
He is also considering joining a National Guard ROTC/SMP program in order to obtain assistance in schooling. He just recently took a military placement exam.
What about geodesy? Nothing like starting with 6-figures.
I have not seen many job openings for a Geodetic Engineer lately. Something tells me that would involve a lot of hours behind a desk. Seems like the job market is probably pretty exclusive.
As I said before, he's very good at math and science (tested in the top 2% of the country as a freshman), but he's an outdoorsman and does not want to be in an office full time. Pretty tough to find a career that uses math and involves a good percentage of time outdoors.
I like the military route. He could get a guaranteed technical school or MOS specific training and earn money for his college career at the same time. It must make papa proud that he is looking into his future the way he is. Goes to show you that good parenting IS still being practiced in these United States. Job well done!
I don't think I deserve too much credit, just always trying to do the right thing like anybody else would. The kids deserve the credit for who they are - I believe they are born with a certain spirit. Identical twins are a good example. Even when they are raised separately, they share personalities and gestures.
Considering his funds for school are pretty limited, the military route is growing on me as well. However I also have reservations about the current state of affairs in the middle east and rules of engagement that are being established by politicians in Washington.
I looked back at his Halloween pictures over the years and he was a soldier most of the time. Makes you wonder.
There are a lot of good things about being a surveyor, but if he's Alaska bound, good at math and science, and loves the outdoors, he should consider petroleum engineering. He can commercial fish, or fight wildfire, or be a survey tech in the summers. When he graduates, the majors (BP, Conoco Phillips) are waiting with $120,000 starting salary offers based either in Anchorage or the slope.
Surveying can be fun, but if you can earn like a Petroleum Engineer and live on a Surveyor's salary, your working years are cut in half and you retire at 40.
This is a great place to start: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
There is some decent money to be made surveying in Alaska, and I'm doing it, but once you're 10 years in and in a management/desk job, you might as well be making twice as much money!
That is good advice, I'll have him look into it. The energy sector is booming right now.
Wiki says it's one of the highest paid field for graduates. You would think the market would be saturated with kids going after big money.
The problem I've seen first hand is the kids going after the big money and skipping the stepping stones that make them a competent land surveyor. The guy graduating with a four year degree always wants to start out as a party chief. Let the kid bounce around a bit and figure it out for himself. That's what surveyors do best. He'll find his niche in good time. Had I gone straight into surveying right out of high school I would have missed out on a lot of other valuable experience that I feel helped round me out. Alaska is an awesome place for young guy to spread his wings. Lot of growth opportunities all the way around.
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
"Son, you can make more money as a plumber and people will always have a need for your services. You can get paid several times over the years for the same plumbing. Once when it is installed, again when it plugs up, finally when it needs replaced towards the end of your career.
Problem is, you will not look forward to coming to work and your wife will not let you touch her when you come home from a hard days work."
Get him some transparent tape and tape a smile on him so he can work as a greeter at Walmart - he'll make twice as much.
Seriously, if he is good at math, he can be a glorified plumber (called a civil engineer) and size sewer pipe. It's not too interesting, but at least he'll be able to pay his bills.
Haven't worked on a job with a sewer pipe in 17 years.
Roads, bridges, airports, landfills, storm drain - yes. But no sewer pipes.
I recently worked with a general contractor that is also a civil engineer. That appeared to be a good combo. Being able to build something you design is probably pretty satisfying.
I know my job wouldn't be as interesting if I wasn't involved with every aspect of a project(r/w, easements, topo, hydraulics, utilities, design, mapping, staking, testing, inspection, as-built.) but no sewer pipes dang it.