I have been in the surveying industry since March, 1986 and spent 21 years at one company before opening a business with a partner in my basement. 10 years later, he took over the business and merged with another firm and I became semi-retired and moved to Virginia where my wife and I built our dream home.  I still do some work for 2 companies in Maryland, basically "rough framing" for the surveyors local to the  project.  I am a staunch advocate for @traverse-pc for the small surveying company. I spent 10 years running a Trimble S5 and Loved running that instrument.