I currently live and work in Iowa (licensed in IA, KS, and WI) and considering a move to the Pacific Northwest region as a new step in my career. The workload here is plentiful for a private surveyor, but we have nearly zero federal lands or Indian lands, which has always intrigued me. WA and OR both have large amounts of federal lands so I am trying to gain insight on the potential job outlook/best areas to work in for a private surveyor and CFeds necessity for the federal land given the recent legislation that took away a big portion of CFeds work. I appreciate any comments
A little further North and I'm pretty sure AKDOT&PF Southcoast Region still needs a locations Surveyor (license required) and my old job (non-license) has probably not been filled yet. It's not private work, but the pay and benefits are fairly decent.
I can't speak for others in this area but i had a co-worker that was a CFED?ÿ and it led to zero actual work and was a serious pain to obtain and maintain.?ÿ Wondering why he did it, he just let it lapse.?ÿ When we spoke to the various tribes in the area about it, they basically said 'they'll do what they want, which is typically a low-bid process.?ÿ Needless to say, we never worked for them and simply stopped trying.
Work is plentiful, and jobs are-a-plenty. CfedS is only really required if you are specifically chasing that type of work. I don??t really know of anyone that CfedS work is their bread and butter.?ÿ
I'm in Idaho and I have yet to meet a single surveyor out here who has used their Cfeds, ever.?ÿ
I have not had to apply my CFedS seal yet, but we have gotten some awesome contracts by having it.?ÿ
I have not had to apply my CFedS seal yet, but we have gotten some awesome contracts by having it.?ÿ
I was glad to read this on a related thread the other day, but it sure seems to be an outlier.
In Alaska, the surveyors and firms who have decades of in-depth federal experience and long-standing relationships with BLM/Native orgs continue to do that work.?ÿ Which is as it should be.?ÿ Many of them have not bothered to go through CFedS because it would be remedial for them, to say the least.?ÿ Johnny-come-lately with a CFedS ticket is not going to upset the apple cart.?ÿ I wonder if a CFedS is worth more in the Western states, or if a combination of hustle and providence combined to make it rain in your case.
@frozennorth I'm fortunate to have savvy and supportive leadership. We do push hard to get work. The CFedS was part of the effort.
I thought it would be a bit remedial as well and ended up pleasantly surprised. I did all of the extra modules and material and I'm glad I did. It was the only time I'd had all of that education in one bite. It tied a lot of things together...
I did all of the extra modules and material and I'm glad I did.
As were anyone else collecting PDH's/CEU's
?ÿ
?ÿ
Thank you all for the feedback..it's always refreshing to hear or read up on how surveying is progressing in other parts of the country