Tucson Cartographically Literate, Looking to Escape Cubicle

Exceptional initiative

I've not met Mr. Towne in person, but I can tell you he showed exceptional initiative in my recent contacts with him. For years I've been obtaining maps from the utility company via FAX, and he was the first to point out he could send a better map by e-mail, and faster. It was much appreciated.

Today was the hottest day of the summer so far. I'm the boss, and I was begging for a 5x7 cubicle anywhere with a working air conditioner. Careful what you ask for.;-)
Most of the year being outdoors beats being indoors. Not today.

Yes, that is a valid point. Tucson summers are brutal, but this is not something I seek in naivety. I've worked in kitchens and as a landscaper and the heat is rough, but not beyond my tolerance. Captivity, on the other hand, is disheartening.;-)

> ...I've worked in kitchens and as a landscaper and the heat is rough, but not beyond my tolerance. Captivity, on the other hand, is disheartening.;-)

Been there. Working over a hot grill in a kitchen on a 100º day (outside) is not for wimps. (Maybe that's why I'm not there anymore...;-) )

Good luck Mr. Towne.

> ....I would like to get a foot in the door surveying and I was advised this is a good site to get myself on the radar...
Your situation is not far different from what mine was 25 years ago. I had an education and some years of experience in a semi-related field. I had what at the time passed for computer aptitude. And I had a serious desire to change specialties

I took a job as a rodman at rodman rates. I wore everybody out with questions. I grabbed at every opportunity to assume more responsibility. I read all the books on the LS's shelf. I learned the CAD software - at first doing mortgage survey certificates - with the earliest being reproductions of previously delivered jobs. I moved up the ladder at what seemed at the time to be a snails pace but in retrospect was pretty quick. Over the next 8 years I changed jobs a few times partly as a way to dodge the glass ceiling and jump from Rodman to Instrument man to CAD Tech to Party Chief to Survey Tech, rather than waiting for those above me on the ladder to move up. Shortly after I had 8 years in I wrote and passed the PLS exam.

So I think that you are going to need to take a step back before you can take these steps forward. Keep talking to LS's in your area until you find one that will take you under his/her wing.

Thanks, I appreciate your insight based on personal experience in a not too different environment!

gtowne,
Any day in the field is better than a day in the office!! I don't care where you live.

Pablo

I'm a PLS in my mid-30's, with a BS in Surveying and a good mix of field and office experience. I'm a cubicle dweller as well, so I'll just share some ideas and tell you why.
1. Travel. Months in the bush is great when you're 20, less great when you're 30, and I don't know how people keep doing it when they're 40, 50, and 60. Some do. The wives and children are generally unimpressed with this, though.
2. Money. In my experience, even a rockstar party chief will see his earnings plateau at something far less than a decent survey manager (when compared hourly). The six-figure earning party chiefs sure as hell earn that money because of the travel and...
3. Hours. Make hay while the sun shines. Again, pretty invigorating to work 80 hour weeks when you're 20, less great when you're 30, and so on.

So depending on your age, I would recommend thinking about what part of the cycle you will be in at what age. I was an instrument man at 19 and finished my degree at 21, so had lots of time to travel and work ridiculous hours and eventually actually want an office job with regular hours by my mid-30s.

Now, if I could have a field job with regular hours, little travel, and great pay, I'd take it. But in my experience, you can only pick two out of three.

Yes, I'm not some 22 year old that's willing to bust his ass for a song with the hope of climbing the ladder in a decade or so, but this doesn't mean I am not willing to work my ass off to move quickly. I am also in my mid-late 30's; I've had my B.S. Geography since 2009 and M.A. Geography since last year. On paper this makes me look like I have limited experience, which may be true for this field, but I also have five years of professional cartography experience now, as well as over a decade of managing restaurants. One may think managing restaurants has nothing to do with surveying, but in my diverse experience, people are the same wherever you go. It's how you interact with, and in some cases, handle people that create a smooth professional environment.

By the way, I appreciate everyone's insight on this thread. It's nice to get an insider perspective.

It's easy for a guy to paint himself into a corner (cubicle) professionally. There are really two side to surveying as best I can tell. The office or cube where field data is analyzed, computations made, drafting completed, research prepared. All necessary functions to delivering the finished product. Then there is the other side, the field work, the recon, the laying out, the setting of corners. There's heat, cold, rain (well maybe not in Tuscon), bugs, snakes, crazy cat ladies, irate landowners, a plethora of challenges. A lot of office types don't really do all that well in that environment. But the lucky few get adept at both ends of it and there find some balance. Maybe that's what you should shoot for? I did my time in a cube for five years where I had the opportunity to learn the office end of things and it just about did me in but it was necessary. My back went to hell from spending so much time sitting behind a computer and commuting. Now I do it all, both ends of it and I like it, a lot.

> ... One may think managing restaurants has nothing to do with surveying, but in my diverse experience, people are the same wherever you go. ....
To a degree I agree with you. But I encourage you to be careful with that. A lot of restaurant employees are low paid transient workers who are motivated by very different factors than person in a lifetime profession is. Engineering and Surveying professionals are going to be on a different level of Maslow's hierarchy than line cooks and wait staff.

I've taken Psych 101 also and I understand that on lower tiers of the Hierarchy of Needs, one is concerned with basic survival like finding food, shelter and reproducing. Line cooks are typically beyond that because there is always food and a chance to get drunk. Yes, in restaurants there are often less educated, less motivated and more substance dependent people than there are in a long term career such as surveying. But in my experience, and I'm not a spring chicken, I've seen everyone from the crack head dishwasher to the co-dependent head of Human Resources at a major corporation. Essentially they are the same, having never fulfilled some early developmental needs. Once a person recognizes that in someone, it's pretty easy to find some way to either empathize, sympathize or handle the individual or individuals. Clearly this level of conversation on this thread means we are at a higher level on Maslow's hierarchy. 🙂

I would check within your company to see if there's a way you can combine your office skills with some field work to complement the office time. I would think that with your training and desire, that perhaps extending your responsibilities to include field work might be something your company would benefit from.
btw - past few days have had a serious swamp-a** factor here in Phoenix 😛

Thanks Joe, that is an excellent idea. I actually have asked and was told I can ride along with a crew on a paid time off day. I'm strongly considering that.