Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Surveyors out there - career advice for teen

So if you're a Surveyor, or something close enough that you could answer....

What advice would you give to a teen considering this as a career?

16yo boy - oldest son with all that goes along with that - all the interests you'd expect around fishing/hunting/shooting - serious about school - already very cost-conscious and responsible with money

- general opinions
- thoughts about educational options
- thoughts about related fields
- educational advice
- how much of this can be "working for yourself" (he's interested in that in general)
- sub-sets of the field to consider
- etc.

I've always been in Engineering/Manufacturing, so I have a halfway decent idea what might be involved, but would really be interested in what the folks here would say.

Thanks in advance for your consideration and advice.

I'd give him the same advice I give everyone who asks about a career path no matter their current interest, become a firefighter. Three days on, four days off, great pay, great benefits, paid to eat/sleep/workout, and lots of room for advancement with any drive at all. Working for yourself is overrated.

PM clark98ut. He is a career surveyor and a good dude.

I used to be a surveyor. It's not a job you're going to make a lot of money at. You're going to put in long hours, you're going to work in extreme weather at times, you're going to get eaten alive by mosquitoes and biting
flies. You are however, also going to be outside most of the time, which is why I did it.

When I started in WI you needed a 2 year degree and 4 years of experience to begin taking the tests to become registered. You could also do it with no school and 10 years of experience. It's now my understanding a lot of states, including WI and MN, now require 4 years of college to become a registered land surveyor. I wouldn't go to school for 4 years to be a surveyor unless it was my life calling.

If he enjoys that "type" of work, go to school to be a civil engineer. Same 4 years, much better pay.

I slightly changed career paths, and went back to school and I'm now a construction manager. There is absolutely no question being a surveyor helped me a ton in doing what I do now.

I would tell him to get a job this summer and next as a rodman on a survey crew and then decide. It's good honest work. But it's work.

If he wants to be his own boss and start his own business the world is wide open to him.

What tzone said.

Working for yourself, depends on what you mean by that. He will have to work with/for someone as he learns the trade. Then he will have to put in the years required to qualify to sit for the test to become licensed. After that he can go into business for himself if he chooses.

As tzone said, get a summer job with a private firm and see how he likes it.

As far as school goes, depends on his inclinations. There are more and more 4 year degrees available across the country in surveying or "geomatics" to use newspeak. Most states have several colleges which offer 2 year degrees, usually calling it "engineering technology" or some such.

For his summer jobs and future employment tell him to seek out real surveying firms, avoiding engineering firms which happen to have a surveying crew. Most civil engineers consider survey types to be red headed step-children...

You asked about sub-sets. The two major ones are Land Surveying and Construction Surveying. Same basic skills involved at the entry level, vastly different experience needed as you advance. Sounds like he would be happiest Land Surveying rather than being tied to a construction site. Small firms do a little of each, mixing in some construction staking with land surveys.

If he decides to go for it, all the best to him. I surveyed for 40+ years and it was a great career.

Oh, one other education option would be the Army. That is how I fell into it.

A lot of what's posted above is good info. Where are you guys located?

One thing I will disagree on is the pay. There are fewer and fewer Professional Land Surveyors. Here in Texas the median age of a PLS (called RPLS in Texas) is 56 or 57 years old. That means the demand is high. A newly registered RPLS in Texas will command $75,000 a year or more depending on location. Oil and gas jobs usually pay better, but you might be unemployed next week. Too up and down for my tastes!

And thanks Ben! I appreciate the good words.

I have been a licensed surveyor since 2002 and owned my own company (work alone) since 2003. As has been mentioned above many states are looking at going to a 4 year degree requirement. I would suggest he pursue the 4 year degree and work summers at a surveying firm if possible. Brazos is right engineers tend to slight the surveying department even though we are the "Marines" of the industry - first in and last out.
I have done a lot of different types of surveying like construction, as-built, topo, bathymetrics, and boundary just to name a few. This has allowed me to see a lot of great country (and city). I love the diversity of my job. It's the type of industry that rewards hard work and common sense. Sounds like he would be a good candidate.

Ask milespatton, or rockinbbar - they've done that. My son does that, and goes for his license before long - but he's not on the 'fire.

It's a good career for a smart ambitious young kid. its hard work but you can make really good money at the top end if he is up to it.

As mentioned above, the average age of a licensed Surveyor is fairly high, and the market is needing good young surveyors. A surveyor with a license will bring $80k annually in salary plus decent benefits. The opportunity to branch off and start your own company once you are licensed is pretty nice and the money can really be good if you find a niche that the market needs. In my area, several work for the oil and gas industry, which tends to want everything right away, and as cheap as possible. We have several survey companys in our area and you can find yourself surveying in some great country. The demand is high and possiblity of building a strong business and later selling it is pretty nioe. If he truly wants to work for himself eventually, he should mix in plenty of business classes with his survey education.

surveying is changing fast, need more hardware and software to compete, and more education. drones and satellites are going to eat into some of it too. going to need a lot of computers and math to go far in the future.

construction management could be a good way to go, also an electrician.

Sycamore

I hear commercial airline pilots are in short supply, too.

Pine Tree- here is a neat story. when my oldest was at Career Day in high school he talked to a surveyor who related the following:

He was asigned to do a re-survey of one that hadn't been done since the original, a number of years back. Two of the benchmarks were a bit hinky- a large oak tree, and a big white rock.

He took a line to where the oak tree should have been, but wasn't. Digging into the soil several feet, the soil turned red, an indication of decayed oak. From there he took his readings to where the rock should have been. No rock- until he dug down several feet and found it. The readings were dead on with the original and last surveyor's.

George Washington.

Very cool story las.

Surveyors refer to Mt. Rushmore as "Three Surveyors and One Other Guy."

It's a lot of school work. I took a surveying class for my engineering requirements. You must be strong in math and geometry. He could get his "feet wet" by looking for a summer internship working on a survey field crew.

I hear tell (via a close relative, with 38K), that he doesn't miss flying in the least - been done for close to a year too!

But, yeah...

A nuts and bolts licensed surveyor could go 6 figures depending on area.

But newbies should keep this in mind:

2008 I was making decent five figures like clark says. That's with 7 years licensed, and 5 years apprentice.

By 2013, I was working night shift security to make ends meet.

Now, I'm above where I was in 2008, considerably.

Tell the teen to sharpen end user computer skills. A solo artist with a GPS, and a robotic able to shoot prismless that knows how to maximize the software packages of his equipment and the capabilities of his hardware will clean up in a decent economy.

I surveyed for 37 years with the Arkansas Highway Department. I was on a Statewide Survey Crew and being away from home and family all week made us lose a lot of good people. Not for everyone. Forget all the jokes about State workers, not working. Not accurate for this application at all. In Arkansas getting your license can be a problem in some area's. As bad as I hate to admit it, the board is very protective of a few large firms, and will give very few licenses in areas that would be competition. One of the questions the board asks is where will you be doing your work. I hope that it has changed. Some areas of the State, it is hard to find any person to survey property, and therefore expensive. Other areas are covered up with them and therefore hard to make a living for yourself. GPS has changed the face of it in a good way, but where there are woods, brush cutting still has to be done, and it is hard work and drives a lot away that had no clue. If he is serious, it is a good way to make a living, but He needs to know what all it involves. miles

Owned my own surveying company for years. Surveyed about 25 years total.

Had an apprentice that went to college to get the required degree. He graduated, but didn't stick it out in the long run.

Made decent money doing that, but after my heart attacks, and watching other surveyors have issues, I'm trying to stay out of it and stay retired. Doing a pretty good job so far.

One thing they won't teach a new surveyor is how to deal with deadlines and pressure. Everyone wants it yesterday.

Kinda hard to find good help for a surveying business. I have seen some humdingers through the years.