California Surveyors Forums

Hey everyone im new to the forums and thought id introduce myself with a question lol. Im looking for a career change, and im in my mid 20's..... Ive looked into acouple different things and was pursuing water utilities recently, but i dont want to use a shovel amymore or want to do intense labor work for the rest of my life.... Id rather use my brain.

Anyway i have a construction backround, and thats what got me interested in surveying. So thats a little about me. Now my question is how good is the education and training provided by the union ? Im located in san diego, and theres a college out here that has a pretty good survey program from what i gather. I called the union and they said they dont do anything with the LS or LS in training licenses ?.... Ur an apprectice for X amount of hours and goto union class until u reach journeyman. Any thoughts or opinions about the union education would be helpful to me, thanks.

I'm not increibly familiar with the union, but my dad was in the Operating Engineers, so I know a little bit.

I think the union apprenticeship path leads to a different place than the college education path. I'm not saying one is superior to the other, I believe there are merits to both approaches.

I suspect the union apprenticeship approach leads to more "technical" employment, while educaton often leads to employment with more variety of activities and ultimately licensure.

I'm sure you can make a good living as a union party cheif in some urban areas of California. I don't know that it is the best path to becoming a licensed surveyor.

Hopefully some of those more familiar with surveying in California unions can add some of their comments. I wanted to make sure you got a response from someone.

If you want to talk to a surveyor more about your career choices, feel free to give me a call at the office: (209) 946-2068.

Landon (AKA The Sunburned Surveyor) (PLS 8489)

The union training can bring you up as a decent construction staker. It won't give you the training you'll need to progress to being a licensed surveyor, although you may pick that up as an incident of the other work the company you work for does.

If you are wanting a broader training, get on with a firm that does a broader variety of work and only a little construction staking. Often, that may mean getting a job with a non-union firm. Often, but not always, non-union firms do not have as high a pay scale for field people as union firms. The flip side is that you may have less lay off time with a non-union firm.

In the current economy, you may not be able to find any work anywhere surveying, especially just breaking in to the field. Sorry for the discouragement, it's just a current fact.

If your goal is to be a licensed surveyor, I would highly recommend college. At least an Associates degree, and a Bachelor's if you can swing it.

Finally, if you don't want to use a shovel anymore, forget surveying, become an accountant or an engineer. Other than your brain, a shovel may be your most useful tool as a surveyor.

Adam,

Evan is right on the money.

(except the part about brains and engineers) 'tee heeeeeeee" joking of course.

best wishes

"good"

Oh? Did I give the mistaken impression that engineers use their brains?

(all in good fun my geeky colleagues, all in good fun)

thanks for the comments everyone. I see some people are from 209 area code.... Im from modesto myself, but relocated to SD in 05... Well ya a non union firm.... ive talked to acouple and there super slow which i expected thats why i was think school would be a good option right now. Oh and the shoveling.....i dont think surveying u shovel for 5-6 hours a day..... i could be wrong though :).

is there anyone in the san diego area ? Cuyamaca college offers the program for surveying and just wondering if anyone here has taken it. Like i said, i heard good things from private non union firms.

If you were to get experience through union work as Mr. Hall described, it would be very good technical experience, which is important.

I have heard about the Local 12 training and it sounds very good, so that is one avenue. When I was in Local 3, their training for surveyors was just about nonexistent, and it showed in many of the field hands. There were some good ones, but a lot of overpriced bodies without brains or any form of real training.

Even with the more common residential and other site work construction staking, there is quite a bit one can learn, but as an educational experience, you run into a point of diminishing returns (time invested vs knowledge gained) after a couple of years. If you happen to be working with a "chief" with poor training (bear in mind that much of the progression in the union is based upon time on the job rather than real demonstrated ability), much of what you pick up will be poor habits, poor procedure, and misinformation as to how equipment works and information is used.

Again, this is based upon what I observed of Local 3. I did have the opportunity to work alongside some Local 12 people, and they seemed to have a better understanding of surveying. And to be fair, Local 3 could have made changes for the better in the last few years.

If you have the opportunity now, while the economy is slow, go to college. Preferably, you should take classes at an ABET accredited program, or from a program that has a transfer agreement with an ABET accredited program.

Why ABET? Because a few years from now, when you apply to take the licensing exam, you will want to count your education. The Board will accept an ABET surveying program fully without having to look at each course and weighing how much time to count. Anything else, and the evaluator needs to look at it course by course, and you are likely to get far less credit than you hoped for.

WOW, its been acouple days since i checked my post, and thank you all for posting and commenting !!! Some really good info and some much needed answers. U guys are have been a big help ! I talked to the union, and they just accepted a handfull of people in may...... They might accept apps in july from what they told me (again all based on work load, economy).... But i def need to brush up on my math skills. I know i would have to pass a math test (trig) to get into the program. Anyone reccommend any books or good readings for me to get in the near future ?