Any Surveyors out there

[Warren1726]

I'm currently an Exercise Physiologist with a Bachelors degree. I've been working full time in a clinical position for 5 years as well as training and coaching Crossfit on the side. I've always been intrigued with Surveyors and find my job to be boring with all the medical paperwork, plus I don't make that much $.
There is an engineering company that is hiring Surveyors here in Louisville that doesn't require experience "as we are willing to train individuals who are eager to learn and are looking for a long-term position to grow in". What would be a realistic salary and expectation of responsibilities/duties?
I'm 30 and it would be a drastic change but I feel like I may enjoy the job and would probably be able to advance. Thanks for the input.

 

[boom]

No clue on salary. I work for a State and our survey teams always complain about pay.

But the job seems fun. I'm a civil, so I know how to survey. You okay with geometry? Although I imagine the rookie will be the guy on the target rod. Fun unless they send you into poison oak.

Do it. Change is scary but this sounds like a good opp.

 

[Warren1726]

Thanks Boom! Yeah I'm good at geometry, actually I never really liked math other that Geometry in school, but I like math when it's applied to real world situations.

 

[flyinsquirel]

I realize everything is relative, but I would not consider an entry level surveying position a well paying job unless you work prevailing wage jobs. And definitely count on them sending you into the poison oak and you being the crew mule.

You would start as a chainman, which is code for guinee pounder or as my old party chief used to say, a 'hub monkey'. Here in the central valley you would make around $12-$14 hr unless you worked for a union company.

 

[Yellowknife]

With no education, you won't really be a "Surveyor". That's a professional degree + licensing. You might end up working on a survey crew, but it would be as a rod man, grade-hop, or maybe basic drafting. aka... grunt work. Not a lot of room to move up the ladder without the surveying or geomatics degree to back it up.

I'm be extremely dubious of any job advertising both "willing to train" and "long term position to grow in" in the same sentence when talking about professional work. If you check it out... do it with eyes wide open.

Yk

I'm currently an Exercise Physiologist with a Bachelors degree. I've been working full time in a clinical position for 5 years as well as training and coaching Crossfit on the side. I've always been intrigued with Surveyors and find my job to be boring with all the medical paperwork, plus I don't make that much $.
There is an engineering company that is hiring Surveyors here in Louisville that doesn't require experience "as we are willing to train individuals who are eager to learn and are looking for a long-term position to grow in". What would be a realistic salary and expectation of responsibilities/duties?
I'm 30 and it would be a drastic change but I feel like I may enjoy the job and would probably be able to advance. Thanks for the input.

 

[flyinsquirel]

Good advice YK. And FYI, when you tell people you have a Geomatics degree, no one will know what the hell that means.

 

[Rizzy]

Sounds more like a chain-men position to start, could be $10-15 an hour. Pay is still way down and raises are still scarce in the private sector. It's still not uncommon for a licensed Surveyor to be taking a technician level (LSIT) position. When land development takes off it will be a more lucrative job for a guy with out the degree. If you get in now and get your LSIT, you will be in a good position for the next boom in land development.


I was in the business for about 7 years and I ran crews for about 5 of them when I was doing field work. I also did all the office work and spent about half my time in the field and half in the office. It's a fun job mostly, especially for an outdoorsman. Much more responsibility and stress than other construction type jobs. You will find a lot of stuff in the street. I have found money, drugs, bullets, license plates, scorpions, condoms, spoons, jewelry, bones, and lot's of other random treasures while out in the field. It seemed like for awhile the only jobs we would get were in the ghetto and it would take a 3rd man on the crew to keep the equipment in our possession. You might spend some days watching the base station, we would bring new guys on all the time for that duty.

 

[Yellowknife]

Good advice YK. And FYI, when you tell people you have a Geometric degree, no one will know what the hell that means.

I have two siblings with Geomatics degrees, or I wouldn't know either!

All the rest of us are engineers, so the geomatics kids are the outliers.

 

[Warren1726]

Well, it looks like in KY one of the options to take the Professional Land Surveyor exam is have a 4 year degree from an approved University (I do) plus completion of the 24 semester credit hour surveying core curriculum. Only 8 classes, not too bad, and the return could be worth it.

 

[Yellowknife]

Some comments on surveying in general...

To be a GOOD PLS (Prof. Land Surveyor) requires a significant level of perfectionism. Your work has to be flawless, because people will depend on it 100 years from now. A very very small screw up can have long term consequences. An old and very simple survey mistake on a recent job cost many us hundreds of hours to deal with, so I'm not kidding! Pay is decent in this state anyway once you get to the PLS stage, and it's one of the few highly technical professions that gets you outside on a regular basis. Depending on who you work for, it also may also require quite a bit of desk time doing detailed drafting. The perfectionism part is again required for that.

The ideal surveyor I like to have working for/with me on a jobs is responsible, detailed oriented, an incredible perfectionist, and takes great pride in their work. A lot depends on those guys.

Yk

 

[Warren1726]

Thanks Yellowknife, I appreciate the feedback. What would a typical day/job be for a PLS?

 

[Nateinia]

It may not be a great paying job to start out with but with experiance and a degree you can do very well. I'm in louisville too and one of my buddies is a surveyor for a good size company in town. I'm sure if you had questions for him he would help you out. I am on the construction side and deal with surveyors a fair amount. As already stated you need to be super accurate and meticulous

 

[Warren1726]

It may not be a great paying job to start out with but with experiance and a degree you can do very well. I'm in louisville too and one of my buddies is a surveyor for a good size company in town. I'm sure if you had questions for him he would help you out. I am on the construction side and deal with surveyors a fair amount. As already stated you need to be super accurate and meticulous

Awesome Nate! I'll send you a PM.

 

[Rizzy]

Well, it looks like in KY one of the options to take the Professional Land Surveyor exam is have a 4 year degree from an approved University (I do) plus completion of the 24 semester credit hour surveying core curriculum. Only 8 classes, not too bad, and the return could be worth it.

Typically you need to pass the LSIT before you can take the LS exam. Take that test as soon as you can qualify for it. It's been a while since I took the I.T. tests but IIRC, you need a couple years of experience to take it and some of your college time counts.

 

[Warren1726]

Typically you need to pass the LSIT before you can take the LS exam. Take that test as soon as you can qualify for it. It's been a while since I took the I.T. tests but IIRC, you need a couple years of experience to take it and some of your college time counts.

Thanks Ron. You are correct, with my degree and 12 of the 24 core classes I'd be eligible to take the LSIT exam. Then, with 3 years of experience can take the PLS exam. Does having the LSIT certification generally mean higher pay and more responsibility than just a entry level guy?

 

[Johnson27]

Warren1726

As a PLS, I can state that a LSIT generally means more pay and greater responsibility, depending on the person.

Don't be afraid to start at the bottom, learn, and work your way to the top. I started as a rod man in 1991, completed my degree my while working full time, traveling 60% of the time for work, and now I manage 2 divisions for our company.

A great work ethic and determination will take you as far as you want to go. Good luck.

Johnson27

 

[boom]

Right. See if they help pay for schooling. You can study while holding the rod. .

Good luck. Either way it won't suck to go thru the interview to practice those skills.

 

[Bonedalien]

hey Warren, Ive been a surveyor for 23 years now. I started as a gunner (instrument man) right out of high school. I have been running crews as a party chief for 17 years .feel free to pm me about whatever questions you might have. Its a great field,and real special to me. My grandfather,father, uncle ,and brother are, and where all surveyors too!

 

[tttoadman]

Survey work in general is a booming trade. My kid got hooked up with a sheet metal crew on a construction site that runs Total Station to layout their work. That manifested into a job where I work running Faro lasers in addition to the Total Station. He is making over $20/hr, and he has zero college courses other than advanced high school transfers. He is a math wiz, so that helps.

I just wanted to add that tidbit so you can see the trend in using advanced survey for general construction and fabrication. We are a steel fabrication plant, and we have a permenant staff of 4 laser techs running Faro's all day everyday. We use the laser guys to help us fit together complex assemblies in much less time than the old days of stringlines and plumb bobs.

Good luck with it!!