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Where did all the Surveyors go

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(@paden-cash)
Posts: 11088
 

Bow Tie Surveyor, post: 328926, member: 6939 wrote: One thing I notice around here is quite a number of older surveyors working well past the normal retirement age ( like age 70+). And I think a lot of them do it not because they want to, but because they have to because they had no retirement savings to speak of after all of those years of surveying. Just another reason to me of why surveyors need to clean up their act concerning bad business practices.

I've known a couple of surveyors older than myself in similar situations where they're working because they have to. All of them are finally retired now, thankfully.

I am quickly approaching retirement age now. I have actually set in place a business deal where in less than 5 years I will no longer own the company. But I bet I continue to be active in the business until they shut the lid on me. And it is not because I need the income. I could actually quit work right now and not worry about a thing. But I enjoy the activity and it keeps me out of the Senior Center. I never did like dominoes.

I think the one thing I will really enjoy about being a "free agent" (working because I want, not because I have to) is cherry picking jobs. If something sounds fun, do it. If it sounds like a hassle turn it down. Lord knows I've spent a lot of years taking all the work that comes in because I had to keep the doors open.

"Fiddler wanna play somethin' Fiddler wanna hear." B-)

 
Posted : July 24, 2015 6:04 pm
(@harold)
Posts: 494
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At the end of the Spring 2012 semester, the "unknowing" academic administrators at the community college where I worked all voted to close the program in Drafting and Desigh Tecnology. I had a Land Surveying Option, too. Our department supplied technicians to engineering, architectural, construction, industrial, and surveying firms. Administration shifted emphasis and wanted pre-bachelor degree people. They never checked with our crafts/advisory committee members to see what impact that poor decision would have on area industry.

I went full-time with my business after that semester. Others in the industry that I have talked to cite a lack of qualified young people coming into the industry. I blame the short-sightedness on community college academic administration who simply do no not understand the dynamics of the construction industry nor how to fulfill the needs of design engineers and construction related technical jobs. Mike Rowe of the Television series "Dirty Jobs" understands the situation quite well.

Training a person from scratch takes a lot of time, effort and energy. And then, if the trainee is offered a dollar an hour higher checking groceries, he will vanish. And the ones that do answer an ad are not outdoors type people. One snake, or a day in the swamp, or a day above 90 or below 30 will usually convince them that somebody out in Jobland needs a manager.

I am running solo. I am busy, and my nephew helps during the summer months. I choose my jobs, I don't work cheap, and when I get too hot this time of year, I go to the house. I can work in the cold, but rain drives me in. I like this setup OK - it works for me. But, sometimes I wonder...

 
Posted : July 26, 2015 6:57 pm
(@stephen-johnson)
Posts: 2342
 

Seb, post: 328263, member: 7509 wrote: I was working on pipeline projects around Australia. 28 days working (12-14hrs every day) and then 7 or 9 days off. I had quite a number of times my break was trimmed a bit because the boss (of the project that is) wanted to get something organised so when the main construction guys came back from there break, they were right to go.

I would get home for my week off and collapse and eventually SWMBO told me to get out before I really ran myself into the ground. It wasn't the bachelor speech but if I had of gone for a few more years, I'm sure that would have been raised. My pay went down about 60% but I had stacked money away whilst I was working away so that helped the house mortgage.

I have been working away from home since 2006. The last 4 years in the Houston area and I live in Oklahoma City. I had a good chance at a job that would be located in OKC/Tulsa and she raised a fit. So I am still in Houston.:'(

 
Posted : July 27, 2015 3:37 pm
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