California Surveyors Forums

Funny you mention many items in your post that relates to a number of suveyors, from networking to the value of your license.

Most of those surveyors not upholding a higher standard of the surveying professionalism are those not participating in their CLSA local chapter or on this forum.

CLSA is so powerful, yet so many don't use it to their benefit.

Sir, I don't believe it to be lack of respect. I believe it to be a sign of the economy. Recently, I was in the market for new employees, I posted here and a few other places. One particular day I came into work and my email said downloading 258 e-mails (all resumes for one 24 hour period). Over the next couple of weeks I received what seamed to be 1000s of resumes, most of them from other countries, states and I even got emails from college professors that would include 30 attachments of the entire class of students. Even though I specified "no recruiters" I was getting home phone calls till 11:00 pm at night and getting texts 24 hrs non-stop.

My wife got a "friend request" on Facebook from someone asking for her to have me call them about the position. Its getting borderline stalking.

To be honest with that kinda email response its hard to keep up with the ones that I replied to and the ones that I planned on replying to and never got around to it.

It would be different if I were getting 3 or 4 a day, but when getting hundreds each day it would be a full time job for someone just to reply. Again its no disrespect in anyway.

I don't think their under any obligation to respond. It takes too much billable time, and is simply not worth it. If you want a rejection, you'll have to show up in person. When I looked for work, I followed up with an email or a phone call. The onus is on you to show them how much you want to work for them and not simply to find a job. If you're talented and good at what you do, they'll show you how much they want you by your salary.

I know it's frustrating, but the economy is just barely starting to stabilize and I don't think we'll even think about hiring until next summer. We still have over a dozen employees on time-share, some laid off and we're taking a furlough. I hear Texas is doing well.

IMO, it depends upon whether the resumes/applications are submitted in response to an advertised position, or if the job seeker is just fishing, send out unsolicited resumes hoping the company has something available.

An employer who advertises a position should at least be ready with a form letter response that in effect says "Got your resume. Qualified applicants will be contacted within X weeks."

That at least shows the minimal courtesy that an advertising employer should extend to acknowledge receipt of a person's application and/or resume.

I don't think that an employer receiving unsolicited resumes is under any obligation to respond. Response takes time. Time is money. That employer might be making better use of his or her time trying to bring in enough work to sustain the existing staff.

There's been a couple of times that I've moved into a new area. my job hunt strategy at the time was to blanket the area with resumes and see who responded. I appreciated, but did not expect a response from those who had no current openings, and I didn't hold it against any for not responding.

On the other hand, for those jobs where I had responded to an advertised position, I would have been put off had I not gotten a response.



Sir Veyr,

In your parallel thread in the employment section, you said something about too many surveyors in the market. I agree.

I never fully bought into the idea that was being bandied about when we were all making money a few years back that there were too few surveyors coming into the profession.

There were too few to provide the instant results that may of our clients and other professions demanded of us, but that doesn't translate into a chronic shortage.

I've been through at least 3 significant economic slowdowns and a few less significant ones wherein there was a surplus of surveyors. So how is that supposed to work? We get more surveyors in the boom times and then do what with them in the slow times?

We've never had a real shortage of surveyors, just an abundance of work for a while.

Sir,

I wish my business wasnt so "in the dumps" I'd look over your resume' and perhaps be able to add you to our Family.

I'm sorry that I probably cant at this time.

I wish you well

I try to make a quick phone call to nearly everyone who sends us a resume. I learn something new each time, and make a few valuable contacts as well. Occasionally I can give somebody a helpful tip or comment about their resume.

However, If I was as inundated with many resumes and emails like Coy, I would just not have the time to do this.

Sir Veyr,

Thanks for the kind words. Am I hiring? Sorry, but I had to lay off my one remaining employee last year and reduce myself to part time. I've been back at a govt job as my primary income for a little over a year and keep Homestead going only minimally as occasional side income. I've been steering most of the prospective work (what little there's been) to other surveyors in full time private practice in my area, and really only doing a smattering of work for previous clients.

I list my position on this forum as owner of HLS because I want to keep it clear that when I express any opinions, they are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of the agency I work for.

I have some opinions about the exam cut scores and pass rates that I can't get into at this time, but I think that you and I would likely agree on many points there.


GIS might be a good area to go into. It seems that its applications are continuing to expand. I don't know about solar power or other green power businesses. Regardless of what the govt does to subsidize it, its true potential and sustainable business model is still going to be largely determined by market forces. Until there is a broader market for it, I see only a few contractors who know how to tap into the subsidies (the true market for that industry at this time) being able to create and maintain sucess. I don't see a larger market until the time for the consumer to recoup initial costs is brought down to 2 or 3 years as opposed to 7 to 10. But if I were a really sharp businessman, I wouldn't be surveying for the govt now, so...

Good luck with your search for reliable and sufficient income.