I wish there was more transparency for wages
It is amazing how employers have brainwashed us into thinking that talking about wages is bad.
In California, 20 years experience, PLS for 4 years making $100,000 per year, full medical for me and my dependents. I could get a better salary at other firms but that would require a commute. Good luck, never settle and network, network, network.
@shea-gleadle?ÿ
Surveying is not an industry!
Historic boundaries and conservation efforts.
Surveying is not an industry
Yeah, it is.
And, it's a trade.
It's also a professional occupation.
Sign me up for the chainman job...
Sure. Sign yourself up... after a couple of months you'd be unhappy not being in charge.
you'd be unhappy not being in charge
Unless I had someone like @tim-v-pls in charge; that would be awesome!!
Good people are hard to find, so they're going up. I hired a drafter, recently, from a big Engineering firm. I'm paying him what they were paying; they offered him another $8.00 per hour to stay.
A little off subject, but the most difficult aspect of hiring a new employee while I was in business was trying to assess their capabilities with respect to their salary requirements. ie: can I invoice 2.5 - 3 times the requested dollars?
Interviewees have a tendency to elaborate on their qualifications whether true or ??almost true? (we all have done it at one time in our life) It??s a difficult situation which employers have most likely been through a time or two. But sometimes you will find a rose in the thorns. ?????ÿ
Sign me up for the chainman job...
Sure. Sign yourself up... after a couple of months you'd be unhappy not being in charge.
Who wants to be in charge? If you get paid more to have someone else take the risk and worry, what's the pull?
No matter how you look at it, you can't compare compensation across the board.?ÿ There are too many factors involved to make a general statement as to what an employee should be compensated.?ÿ Rates of pay vary drastically and are largely based on the local economy which varies from one place to another.?ÿ Cost of living is a huge driving factor.
I have practiced in NJ only for my entire career.?ÿ I started as a Rod Man in 1983 for $3.08/hr.?ÿ 39 years later I am more than happy with my compensation with has accelerated rapidly over the last 6 years when I started a Survey department for a very small Engineering firm.?ÿ Six years ago, I was the 11th employee.?ÿ Today we have over 70 employees.
The rate of pay also depends on your level of responsibility and your performance.?ÿ If you are not adding value to your employer, your employer is not going to increase your pay rate very much.
I live in one of the highest taxed states on the country.?ÿ I own a modest Cape Cod 3 BR, 1 1/2 bath house on a half acre in a rural town.?ÿ Because of school taxes I pay roughly $9K/year in property taxes with only about $200 going to the municipality.?ÿ I cringe this time of year, every year, when I get my income taxes done, no longer being married or having dependent children.
Me new, inexperienced hires start out at around $17/hr.?ÿ When they progress to being proficient running the equipment them move into the mid 20's/hr.?ÿ My Chief's average about $35/hr.?ÿ?ÿ
I'd suggest using glassdoor or other similar websites where you can check the average salaries for various companies.
Here in UK they can vary a lot depending on the company, experience, location, industry, etc. etc.
I will say it's good to be self employed in the Northeast and a strong economy, but not so much when times get lean.
Me new, inexperienced hires start out at around $17/hr.?ÿ When they progress to being proficient running the equipment them move into the mid 20's/hr.?ÿ My Chief's average about $35/hr.?ÿ?ÿ
Close to the same here in the DC Metro area for crew chiefs, around $20 for inexperienced hires.?ÿ I will, however, start guys/gals right out of college closer to $25 and up.?ÿ I figure if you went to the trouble of getting a degree, your stating salary should be equivalent to at least some of your college peers (say, for example, what new graduate teachers make in your area).
That being said, salary doesn't exist in a vacuum and is a function of what rate you can bill a crew or employee at.?ÿ And that is downhill from what your overhead is and the amount of labor it takes to compete a project.?ÿ So if you aim to increase efficiency and/or lower overhead you can, theoretically, increase wages without feeling pricing constraint from local market forces.
?ÿ
So if you aim to increase efficiency and/or lower overhead you can, theoretically, increase wages without feeling pricing constraint from local market forces.
In my experience that's not even theoretical, it's absolutely possible. But the average management type thinks efficiency means running rather than walking between topo shots while still employing 1990s-era procedures with modern gear.
(Edit to add that any additional profit from efficiency rarely goes into the pockets of the survey team anyways, so typical survey wages aren't likely to rise even when efficiency is increased.)
(Edit to add that any additional profit from efficiency rarely goes into the pockets of the survey team anyways, so typical survey wages aren't likely to rise even when efficiency is increased.)
Unfortunately, with most firms that's the "theoretical" part.?ÿ?ÿ
Over the fifteen years I've been with my current employer I was able to roughly double productivity through technology and data management which made the ivory tower people quite pleased but didn't reflect anything like a mirror increase in my wages. I was being paid union scale that over the years the negotiated increases only amounted to a few dollars an hour. I went to management and explained to them that if I was making roughly the same as when I started fifteen years ago, this was by definition a dead end job in my mind. Careful to make clear to them I wasn't twisting any arms because it was good money, but if that was the best they could do, I was open to alternative opportunities. I simply asked them to put themselves in my shoes. It took a while but they came to their senses and my compensation was dramatically increased. Had I not approached them in a patient and diplomatic manner, nothing would have changed.
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
So if you aim to increase efficiency and/or lower overhead you can, theoretically, increase wages without feeling pricing constraint from local market forces.
In my experience that's not even theoretical, it's absolutely possible. But the average management type thinks efficiency means running rather than walking between topo shots while still employing 1990s-era procedures with modern gear.
(Edit to add that any additional profit from efficiency rarely goes into the pockets of the survey team anyways, so typical survey wages aren't likely to rise even when efficiency is increased.)
Yeah.?ÿ Running between shots.
Or picking up the uphill inlet that you missed with your Google Earth site visits, because it's free,?ÿ and not getting any traffic control on one of the busiest streets in Denver because that costs too much..... If I survive a truck mirror strike or something else, that's going to cost more than all the traffic control and safety you've never done.....
Budget for survey is always (imho) over budget at anyplace that's not just a survey shop.?ÿ After 5 places, I feel confident in my scandalous screed I put forth here....
