Ok all you guys and gals
I had the same experience! Young men would walk up to the booth with Carhart jackets, expensive boots, all the fixings, etc. and walk right away once the outdoors were mentioned. I guess they are no different than the the guy with the "salt life" bumper sticker that lives 500 miles from the nearest body of water.
When I opened my solo shop in 2001 it was all me, doing everything. That was ok for a while, but it got old quick. I was almost literally working 24/7.
Then the work load increased and I was forced to hire employees to keep up. I was very fortunate to land a 100K project only 10 months into the business adventure. I have had employees ever since, two of which where my original hires back in 2002.
Back then things were good and experienced people where hard to find that wanted to come work for a small shop.
Back then, what I found was, if I hired inexperienced people and trained them to do things like I wanted them done, it worked. They were willing to work for the pay I offered.
I have had all sorts come and go, but that has been the best practice for getting employees. I have also found that the employees with years of experience were harder to deal with, because they didn't want to change their was and adapt to how I wanted things done. They also always wanted way more money then they were worth.
That's the way its worked for me.
Good luck.
I have often said that recruiting good surveyors is tough. Not a lot of people actually understand what the role of the Land Surveyor is. I didn't even know that there was a profession of Land Surveyor until I got well into my college time.
Quick background, I started at my local Junior College in 1987 as an Engineering major, tending towards Civil Engineering. I transferred to CSU, Fresno in 1990 to complete college and my first semester there I took a Plane Surveying class (as part of the Civil Engineering program) and fell in love with Land Surveying. I switched my major that day and never looked back.
But even today, when people ask me what I do for a living and I tell them I'm a Land Surveyor, they say, "Oh, are you those guys with the camera-thing on the side of the road?"
People just don't understand what we do.
They don't understand that for pretty much every construction job done, we are first on the site getting the information for boundary, topography, and encumbrances. They don't realize that the reason the sidewalk and curb in front of their house is a nice straight line (or smooth curve) is because a surveyor laid it out. They don't know that the property monuments that mark the limits of the land they own were set by a surveyor.
One of my favourite things to tell people is that in the State of California, there are two entities with the authority to subdivide land. One is the Supreme Court, the other is ME! Obviously that is an oversimplification and it misses all kinds of other things. But I make the point of saying that Surveyors have a critical role in the economy and the work force because we do.
I've had conversations with people and mention that "I did this subdivision" or "I surveyed that shopping center" and they ask me "Oh, do you work for a home builder?" I have to say, "Yesss, but I'm in there WAY before the first foundation is poured or the first wall goes up." A lot of people just think it is "magic" or whatever that takes these pretty drawings that are the architects conceptual plans for a home and puts them on the ground. They just don't know about the structural design of the home itself or the civil design to get utilities to and from the home or the property surveys and topography surveys that are necessary to get the design done. Often they only see the architect's drawings and then the guys building the home. They miss all of the stuff in between those points.
Obviously, every one of those tasks is important. Some are just more visible and understood than others.
I'm rambling as I often do and should get to the point.
The surveying industry is definitely changing. Technology advances makes it easier for someone to "push a button" and get results. GPS technology and CADD software is making it possible for many of the things a surveyor used to do (like staking and grading) to be automated. This erodes at the core services that a Surveyor has traditionally provided.
I think what we, as surveyors, need to do, is to make our role more visible (not sure how, but I'm thinking) to the public. I think we also need to make ourselves more savvy to the changing nature of the industry overall. And we also need to ensure that we are fulfilling our role with the local agencies. I know many small communities around here that don't have a licensed Land Surveyor either on staff or at least under contract. They defer to their City Engineer for many things that should be handled by an LS. This is an unfair expectation on the Civil Engineer and also it serves to make the LS seem unnecessary.
I'm fortunate that the County in which I work has a robust community of Surveyors. The County Surveyor's office here is very responsive and has individuals that want to work with those of us in the private sector to build a strong position for the surveying profession. I think one key is to help to educate developers and local agencies alike that Land Surveyors have an important part in the development process. By being as knowledgeable as we can and as open and helpful as possible, we can build our public profile.
>Technology advances makes it easier for someone to "push a button" and get results.
Thought for the day:
The easier the results come to you, the less you know about what the results mean.
Exactly.
I have often given my field crews a hard time about "how easy they have it". I will regale them with tales of "back when I was in the field" how my boss would hand me a stack of record maps, a highlighted APN map, a printed sheet with benchmark information, and the instructions of "I need you to do the boundary and topo on this property. You have 4 days field time."
Now, I'm drawing up record maps and overlaying them in AutoCAD, then calculating "search points" for various monuments. And I still get the crews calling me saying, "Uh, how many of these do you actually need?" or "The southwest corner lands in the middle of some thick brush so I don't think we can get it."
Sometimes I get upset with them, other times I'll say, "Well, I'm sure it will be tough, but I need that point." and think back to what my old boss might have said if I had told him that it was too hard to find a point.
I have one person working with me that is very sharp. He's been in the field for almost as long as I've been working as a surveyor (20 years). And he also has solid drafting skills. I'm trying to push him along in understanding the WHY instead of just the HOW of surveying. I think he'd make a good LS. Besides, he's already got the beer drinking part down.
This topic comes around now and then like a homeless dog looking for love. We all put in our $0.02 and move on.
Surveying is dead. We're just licking the last of the flavor from the bones.
The real estate industry is trying to find a way around us.
The general public that IS aware of us thinks we are way too anal about distances and bearings that we can't two of us agree on. "Just put a pin in the ground over by that tree I mow to".
The Engineers and Architects think we over charge by "a lot" because they had a semester of "Surveying" in college and know it can't be as hard as we say it is.
We can't afford to hire help at rates they will stick around for.
One would think that with a dwindling surveyor supply that the rest of us would be getting rich while turning away work. I think we're shrinking because the work is dwindling.
We all know that you have to love this profession to stay in it. Whether it's my swamps here in Florida, the west Texas hills, the six flavors of surveying in Ohio or the Alaskan wilds none of us make enough money for this.
If I got a four year degree and found out this is all I get I'd be outraged.
I have it on good authority that I am eligible for the grandfather/endorsement path to RLS. I am 53, I am not convinced it's worth it to me now...:poop:
