> Im an up and coming I man hopeing to be a party chief one day. I was woundering what kinda of experience and journeys you went on before party cheif as an I man. And how long it took you to get to partt cheif..
I started working as a chainman while I was completing a diploma of civil engineering, and was lucky enough to learn from some very talented surveyors. Luckily enough for me, they both preferred to be doing the running around when doing a detail survey, so they brought me quickly up to speed with how to operate the instrument. Along with that I was also picking their brains as to how they perform their cadastral calculations.
Later I found myself working in local government where I was put in charge of leading field parties. My approach to this was to teach the chainman how to operate the instrument so I could do the running around, much the same arrangement as when I first started in the profession. Now I'm not leading a field party, running robotics can make for a lonely day talking to yourself!
All up it was about 2years before I was actually leading a field party. I feel that it is important for the surveyor to know how to work on the reflector end aswell as the instrument, especially when doing detail surveys for engineering projects. I've been doing road, drainage, water and sewer design for a few years now and find that the quality of the survey improves when the designer does the detailing, they know what they need and want, so picking up any civil design experience available would also be advantageous.
Until the economy turned around, then they needed a leader for a crew...and look: there's the guy committed to learning, communication, and good service to the client.
Just be ready. And don't stress the title.
> Im an up and coming I man hopeing to be a party chief one day. I was woundering what kinda of experience and journeys you went on before party cheif as an I man. And how long it took you to get to partt cheif..
Man, some days I sure hope to be a partly cheief, too. I has been stuck at the gun an am thinking that a partly cheif is where I want to be. After than I feel that the skype is the limite. Maybe eventually I can get license as a professal. I hope.
Nise speling Cent...tipical from sumbody frum Texxas.
This is how the progression goes...
This is how the progression goes...
This is how the progression goes...
:good:
Don't worry about the jump, worry about your performance. If you show the initiative to learn how to read plans, how to stake plans, making sure everything is right with the truck, the equipment is taken care of (cleaning included), and all of the little things that get pushed aside, then your superiors will notice and advance you when they think you are ready.
My $0.02
Some people should never become party chief
I'm certain that a hundred people could be named by the regulars on this board as having been horrible party chiefs. Many times that problem goes back to having been promoted to that position before they were adequately prepared. When someone knows they aren't as prepared as they should be in a certain way they tend to either avoid whatever forces them to do that thing or have it done by others and then fear that the others will soon replace them.
Knowing how to properly take care of the equipment and how to manage people in a proper manner are extremely important. Knowing the potential causes for a specific problem and then identifying which cause must be corrected is critical. Simply saying "we always do it that way" is not proper reasoning for a course of action. Some people never learn how to do certain things well even though they have been doing them for many years.
A couple summers after high school was part time chain man and brush ape.
Came out of TJC with an Assoc Degree in Surveying in 1973 and spent a year as a brush ape in Jacksonville, Tx.
1974 I moved onward to Linden, Tx on a new job and became a Party Chief, draftsman and Survey Tech overnight.
I man
My sister and my daughter preferred to be called gunners and I think you should have to run gun for at least a year to be a surveyor. I never stopped running gun, pounding pins or getting shots on center line of creek. If you want it, you have to go get it!
You should be asking your boss this question. Don't send him an email. That wouldn't help your cause.
I didn't know that I-men still existed. LOL! I thought one-man crews were the norm, at least for the last 7 years or so.
You want to jump from I-man to party chief? Time behind the gun doesn't come close to mattering as much as time hitting the books and understanding what's going on. I've seen guys that have been behind the gun twenty years and couldn't survey their way out of a paper bag. Other guys who paid their dues going to school and boned up on their math and English skills generally progress at a much faster rate because they have the foundation to build on. Those folks that expect to learn everything on the job generally get stuck.
So the answer to your question depends on how bad you really want it.
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
All gentle patronization aside, in surveying or any professional, show your value. Be the "go to" guy, the receiver that the quarterback always throws the ball to because he knows it will be a completion every time. Show some personal interest in the final product and continuously improve on your abilities.
Do that and you will not have to wait long to be a party chief.
Rule No. 1 !!!!
:good:
I pushed a crew from 19 forward until I got licensed. From 12 to 19 during the summers, I ran a rod or a gun. I HATED my job if I was behind the gun. I liked pushing the crew.
So, you can't really use me as a good example since I only worked summers.
Our current paradigm has me (registered) and my partner (registered) surveying for a few days a week in the field and drafting in the office a few days. When the gun comes out, I may run it or he may run it off of the GPS pairs.
If I have to run it very long, I hate my job. The last big boundary we did that required 100% traversing, I pulled rank on my partner and told him he had to run it. He has RA and we could keep the truck close. It worked out better for both of us.
> ... partt cheif..
use phonetics. for "partt" pronounce the second letter itself. so partt would be pronounced part-tee then pronounce the hard-e in cheif. I hope that helps.
This is how the progression goes...
BowTie
Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou
I lost my copy of this a while back moving from one company to another and have never got hold of another copy. Got it saved now, and going on the office door tomorrow.:-D
:good:
First summer out of college I found myself on the end of a chainsaw. Second and third summers I ran the gun and a crew. After college (2005 and beyond) it was a mix of gun and rod. Switched jobs 3 years out of college and started doing everthing from research to comps. I became licensed in 2011 but still have a passion for field work. Finding that "Surveyors Gold" in the field never gets old, for me it's the best part of the profession!