I have observed a number of persons, who have either told me directly "I used to be a surveyor", or they told someone else that "I used to be a surveyor".
I usually inquire, and discover that they held the rod, for a grade shot, or elevation. Or, they looked through a telescope a few times. Now a days, we have a number of automobiles, associated with surveyors. Chevy Traverse, and Forest River, makes an RV, called "Surveyor". And, we have a Ford Transit. (OF course, this last one could be associated with Transit, as in other meanings, in the traveling arena.)
Most of the wanna be surveyors, want to impress us with their bit of mud on their boots, and via that mud, get a free ticket to the table. It is my experience that many things in surveyors life are earned blood, sweat, and tears. This includes the skill to use a 200' tape and plumb bobs, along with the use of a 66' Gunter's chain. Most steps in development, were earned step by step. Even the research. Not all "Surveyors", know about the practical use of ____________. We are all still in development. So, I posit that one of the patterns of a good surveyor is to continue to DEVELOP This same is related to various software, and how they work, and how they don't work.
So, I generally must say that to be a "SURVEYOR", is to remain in a state of "DEVELOPMENT". Not just before you get your license, but ESPECIALLY afterwords.
Learning a new software. Or, a new GPS system. Or to understand projections, or such.
We should all stay in development. That's the follow through of being a surveyor. When you get licensed, it is just a MINIMUM Proficiency ticket. It is up to you and me to CONTINUE to develop it. Or, we can be guilty of pointing at the bit of mud on our boot, and saying we are a surveyor, but it is not as true as it could be.
Nate
And, for private entrepreneurs, don??t forget about the business aspects of running a company. For some that can be more difficult than obtaining a PLS. There are a multitude of things one has to learn and keep learning in business, the same as with your PLS license. ?????ÿ
I had a guy come up to me once. He announced "I'm an engineer too". I quizzed him a little about what kind of engineering he did. Turns out he puts in drain fields and had done the field surveying (set the pins) for the subdivision I was trying to figure out. All the distances were coming up short and the bearings were 20?ø off from the Plat. He barely had a High School diploma. I wonder how the drain fields worked he "designed"?
Lawsuit. Judge sided withe the self-made "Engineer".
And now you know the rest of the story.
I don't think Chevrolet had surveying in mind when they named the Traverse?ÿ
I have a Jeep Compass.
When I started in this business hardly a day in the field would pass without some old guy stopping to tell us how he used to be a surveyor in the WPA or the CCC, during the depression. Those guys are all gone now.?ÿ
I posted this here a long time ago but the short version is had a client show up on a job (I had never meet him before) and tell me he use to be a surveyor. I said if you can set up over this dime in under a minute I would take $100 off. He did and was a retired crew chief from Florida. Good friends to this day.
Early in my career before I was licensed I wandered through a mess of different jobs trying to find something that "fit".?ÿ I left the relative comfort of the position of instrument man to work for a highway contractor that had his own "survey" crew.?ÿ Even though I was accomplished at running the gun I was only 18.
The fella running the survey "crew" (he and a helper) was actually a licensed surveyor but in those days that really didn't mean much.?ÿ My interview started with him with his tongue in his cheek doubting my ability.?ÿ He grabbed an old wye level, stuck it down in the ground and leaned a level rod up against his pickup.?ÿ With a smirk he told me to level it up and read the rod.?ÿ In about 10 seconds I had it leveled and read a 4.97' on the road.?ÿ With a lot of doubt he peeked through the level for a second after he had examined the bubble and told me it was closer to 4.98'....when can you start?
A few days after I was hired we were going to do some "line work".?ÿ ?ÿHe told me to set up the K&E transit over a hub and sight a distant pole we had just stacked.?ÿ I had the old still-legged instrument level over a point, zeroed and sighted before he got his field book open.?ÿ I sat back down in the passenger seat.?ÿ He looked at me and told me there was no way I was finished.?ÿ I told him to check it out himself.?ÿ He did.
I only worked there for about six months.?ÿ He was one of my verification letters when I applied to take the exam.?ÿ We remained good friends until he passed just a few years ago.
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I have heard "I used to be a surveyor" from many people.?ÿ I think this comes from a lack of understanding of what surveying is.?ÿ Many people think that surveying is just about digging holes, measuring, and drawing up a map.?ÿ They don't realize what really goes into a survey.?ÿ It is unfortunate.?ÿ I try my best to educate people about what we do.?ÿ I think many issues the profession is facing today come from the public's lack of understanding of surveying.
When I was in school I heard various surveyors joke about how many people told them they were a surveyor too.?ÿ I figured there must be some heavy exaggeration involved.?ÿ After I got out working I started running into the same thing.?ÿ It really is amusing...
I had a guy come up to me once. He announced "I'm an engineer too". I quizzed him a little about what kind of engineering he did. Turns out he puts in drain fields and had done the field surveying (set the pins) for the subdivision I was trying to figure out. All the distances were coming up short and the bearings were 20?ø off from the Plat. He barely had a High School diploma. I wonder how the drain fields worked he "designed"?
When I was getting ready to install my septic system and drain field a decade ago I called up a local engineering firm to have one of their engineers come out and log the soils and water table in the test hole. This was a really big deal for me because of all the hard pan on my land. He shows up with his clipboard while we dug down 15' with an excavator before hitting water. Felt like I'd won the lottery because an engineered system and lift station was big bucks over a conventional system. About a year later the news broke after numerous complaints of failing drain fields that the 'engineer' that logged mine was a complete fraud. All of his credentials had been faked. Degree, faked, work history, faked, my hole log... faked. But I had an angel looking out for me because the spot I'd selected for it to go was nothing but gravel all the way down. Thirty feet away, hard pan at 3' depth. His deception nearly put that company out of business.?ÿ
Once upon a time I worked alongside a fellow from India who was a degreed Mechanical Engineer.?ÿ It did not take long to realize he had never been in an engineering class let alone complete the entire list of courses required to graduate.?ÿ Our big boss was also a native of India but had studied in the US.?ÿ It was awkward, but, we finally proved to the big boss that the fellow was a fraud.?ÿ He was terminated.
I used to be a surveyor.
I??m back surveying again now, but with a bunch more hobbies.
Straight out of school I spent a fair amount of time surveying the Oregon State Penn.?ÿ The PC I was working with (actually the project surveyor since we were an 'extra' crew out of the office) and I were shocked at how many of the residence had been on a survey crew at one time or another.?ÿ We told the boss we had found the mythical surveyor's retirement home.
As for engineers, I had a friend that was a PE and LIST, to this day the best land development engineer I've worked with.?ÿ He got burnt out on being the PM, year in and out, simultaneously for multiple extreme large subdivisions so he quit and started flipping burgers at a local bar.?ÿ A couple of years later he applied for a tech or PC job with a company at the coast.?ÿ An acquaintance that was a partner at that firm, who did not know the PE, told me that the he had scrubbed every hint of him being an engineer.?ÿ When confronted with the huge gap in time he admitted to doing a little design work and reluctantly stated that he was in fact a PE.?ÿ Of all things he ended up taking a job for the State Forest running the engineering and surveying department.?ÿ Turns out what he hated was clients.
Random person on the street: "I used to be a surveyor".
Me: "Oh, what was your license number?"
Random person: Uhhhhhh. Well, um, uh.
Me: "So you were a party chief? Or an I-man?"
Random person: "No, I carried the bag/held the stick."
Me: "Well, I changed a kitchen faucet out once. Does that make me a plumber?"
That type of conversation is really fun to have. ?????ÿ
I have heard ??I used to be a surveyor? a few times. I usually let the person keep talking while I keep working. Eventually they ask who I work for. When I tell them I own the company they typically stop talking and walk away.?ÿ
