Party Chief Test
As a former educator teaching surveying classes, I feel that building a good foundation for surveying computations is very important. I taught that one will need to have a good feeling about an "answer" generated by an electronic device. "Garbage in =garbage out" . Do you trust that answer? Does it look right, feel right, and smell right? I emphasized building a person's own system of self checks and balances. A good foundation in math and a good working knowledge of electronic devices are essential foundations in surveying. Very important is being ever mindful of human errors that could occur along with the inherent systematic and random errors, where they come from, and how to handle them. Surveying is not an easy profession as it takes years to develop competency. One of the above recommendations in spending an hour (or more) a week in the office is a good idea. Land records research and plotting deeds prior to field work gives a "heads up" approach to a boundary survey.
There are very good responses above. That is why I like surveyorconnect so much!:-D