First day advice

Ask questions. Don't act like you know more than you do just to impress. Ask questions when in doubt. Again always better safe than sorry, ask questions and don't be afraid to look like your "stupid". Im my book "stupid" is the guy that is too smart for his own good and messes up more than he helps. Best of luck!

TXSurveyor, post: 425603, member: 6719 wrote: Ask questions. Don't act like you know more than you do just to impress. Ask questions when in doubt. Again always better safe than sorry, ask questions and don't be afraid to look like your "stupid". Im my book "stupid" is the guy that is too smart for his own good and messes up more than he helps. Best of luck!

Good advice ^

Keep your eyes and ears open and your head down and your mouth shut while you're working for at least the first year. The time to ask questions and discuss is in the truck in the morning and the afternoon, not in the middle of the project.

LISTEN.

Smile often, you're extremely fortunate to have found a wonderful career path and you have an abundance of profitable work to look forward to.

Spend as much time with the old timers as you can, be appreciative of the time you have with them, document everything methodically and be discrete and selective with who you trust.

Most importantly, have fun!!

Find out what instruments you will operate and Google up some manuals to familiarize yourself.
Also dress for a construction site. Boots, sleeves and grown- up pants.

Basically be humble. Learn who you are working with & how they do things BEFORE you offer your .02$. Once you have a feel for the way they do things, slowly start pointing out things that might be more productive. In short be receptive before proactive, you have to learn before teaching. Best of luck!

Nothing gets old quicker than hearing "Well, back when I was doing suchandsuch we always did it thataway instead of how we are doing it here."

Be an instrument man until you are ask something else.
Be prepared for any situation
Follow the chief, if he don't go there, don't go there until he sends you there.
Take care of your instrument like it is your baby.
good luck

Listen and ask questions. Stay busy. There is always something to on a survey crew. Organize the truck. Write notes. Prepare your staking bags with flagging, paint, stakes ect. Study the plans or maps for the survey. Nothing is worse than looking up from the data collector after figuring grades and seeing the rodman on his damn phone and unprepared to set the next point.

Pull up your pants and stay off your phone. Don't make the party chief wait for you. Pay attention to what the party chief is figuring. Most good I-men don't stay I-men very long. You will be a party chief soon, so learn how to be one..... learn to draft your topos. It will make you better in the field. Sounds like you have a good start with your education, good luck with the new job!!

Listen.
Ask the right question.
Listen.

Do not ask too many questions.

Always take something home. A book. A manual. The company handbook. Their field code list.

If they do not have a complete manual of their practices, start one. If they have one, make sure it is complete. Revise it as you need it.

Track the missing codes, provide a list at the start or end of the day. Never during the middle of the day unless requested.

Know all the codes in the first week (I dare you).

Pay attention. Avoid the phone.

Don't argue no matter how right you think you are.

I think that the best first day advice is to appear to want to fit into the existing organization of which you will be a part. That most immediately means fitting into the group of individuals you will be riding around with in a truck.

Your longer-term goal should be to identify what set of skills you can acquire in order not to have to put up with the same folks you'll be riding around with in that truck. That's the long game.

Long game, short game, just have a good attitude and pay attention. I've run into guys who think they're the cat's meow of surveying, but can't run the gun for their life because they didn't have time to master the basics. Build your castle on rock. Good luck!

Awesome, some good points here that will help me get prepared. Thank you!

Show up on time!

If you'r not 10 minutes early, you're late. Don't be the guy the PC is waiting on.

In fact, a good I-man is anticipating the next point and is ready to shoot as soon as the rod is level. Be that guy in all aspects of your job.

But first and foremost, find out how your PC and company do things, learn their methods and routines. That means asking questions but also listening to the answers and thinking about what they mean in a bigger context than just the current moment.

Tell the PC you know you are green and that you will have questions. But your questions are all part of an effort to get better and faster with minimal mistakes.

Learn the codes!

Welcome to the good life my friend. It is truly a wonderful way to make a living.

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All of the above is good advice, here's mine: show up. 5 minutes early - every day. Work hard. Don't bitch & complain. If there's a lot to legitimately bitch about, look for a new job.

Do your level best to follow instructions. If your crew chief looks good, YOU look good. don't argue. show up early, do not make appointments that require you to leave the site earlier than the chief wanted. Be dressed appropriately and prepared for the conditions. just this takes a lot of practice. I speak from the experience of not doing very well myself.

Don't break anything or leave anything behind at office or job site.
Make sure all equipment is charged daily.
Don't slow the crew down.
Buy lunch for everyone.

Don't complain or take part in any bitch-sessions, for at least the first few months. Sometimes when you're new, it seems like everyone loves each other in the company, but you find out after a while who's on who's sh!t list.

If you get paired up with a chief who has no formal education, don't think you know more just because he might not understand least-squares adjustment. Also don't be discouraged if he's got a chip on his shoulder, and is constantly trying to show how much more he knows, without an education, than you do.

Dealing with people is the toughest part of anything. All the technical stuff seems easy compared to that.

And have fun.