I'm interested in a career in surveying

[+Okiebryan]

I live in Western OK and am very interested in getting into surveying. I used to help my grandpa every summer when I was a kid, but he did it old school...chains and transits and lots of math... There was no GPS back then. The point is I have a working knowledge about what surveying is about.

 

Anyway, can anyone give any advice or share some contacts?

 

Oh, and in case this is too off topic, I started reporting BMs to NGS yesterday. I wanted to get a feel for how it is done before I actually submitted the finds I had on GC.com.

[iwski]

I live in Western OK and am very interested in getting into surveying. I used to help my grandpa every summer when I was a kid, but he did it old school...chains and transits and lots of math... There was no GPS back then. The point is I have a working knowledge about what surveying is about.

 

Anyway, can anyone give any advice or share some contacts?

 

Oh, and in case this is too off topic, I started reporting BMs to NGS yesterday. I wanted to get a feel for how it is done before I actually submitted the finds I had on GC.com.

 

I am a Civil Engineer and work with surveyors all the time. I worked for the Wyoming Dept of Transportation suryeying for 3 summers during college. I would definitely recommend the career, sometimes I wish I would've become a licensed surveyor instead of licensed engineer for the fact that I wouldn't be stuck in the office behind a computer as much if I was surveying. Don't get the wrong idea, surveying doesn't get you outside where you want to be and in the weather that you choose, but it would still get you outside. A bad day outside is always better than a good day in the office.

 

It appears that you are not traditional college-age, so going to school full-time for surveying might not be an option. I should back up, I would highly recommend getting the a degree and the proper training so you can become a Licensed Surveyor if that's what it looks like you want to do after starting a job. You can get your license quicker in the long run by getting a degree plus on-the-job experience, than you can just by on-the-job experience. I don't know what is available in your state or area, but for instance where I went to college there was an outreach program for surveying. People were taking the classes through outreach from a 3 or 4-state area. Take the tests and mail them in, or probably by internet now. Here is a link to the outreach program at the University of Wyoming.

http://outreach.uwyo.edu/ocp/landsurveying.asp

[Z15]

mtu.edu

[DaveD]

Contact the Oklahoma Society of Land Surveyors -- http://www.osls.org/

Also, post your question on the Point Of Beginning (POB) surveyors chat room -- http://www.i-boards.com/bnp/pob/. I'm sure you'll get lots of comments.

[+Renegade Knight]

Contact the Oklahoma Society of Land Surveyors -- http://www.osls.org/

Also, post your question on the Point Of Beginning (POB) surveyors chat room -- http://www.i-boards.com/bnp/pob/. I'm sure you'll get lots of comments.

Good idea. Start there.

 

You need to know a couple of things.

 

First, states are starting to crack down on who can be a surveyor. When I graduated I could have sat for the LSIT (land surveyor in Training) exam and my job would have gave me the experience needed to become a licensed surveyor. BUT they changed the rules exactly as I started to consider it so that I needed 2 years experience (I had one...) if I didn't have the surveying degree...then it was 4 and then it was 8 and beyond my ability and I’d have to go back to school.

 

Anyway, if they allow you the non degree version of getting your license you can learn what it is and how long it will take. It could be a matter of working on a survey crew and gaining experience the old fashioned way. Then taking the LSIT (or whatever they call it now) and finally the LS exam.

 

Or you could have to go to school for the surveying degree, then pass the LSIT, get the experience and pass the LS exam. The board of surveyors for your state is a great start for knowing what direction you need to go.

[+cantuland]

If you're interested in "being a surveyor" you will need to pursue what it takes to be licensed. If you are interested in "doing surveying", you don't need a license; you need a job where you work with or for a licensed surveyor. Either way, you get to be indoors with the computers, outdoors with nature, see the sun rise in various places no one else sees, experience the weather on the worst days AND the best days (dress with the right attire and the worst days are not as bad), and play with the coolest toys.

 

I'm licensed in Kansas. A Kansas license requires 8 years of experience. Part of that is education and part is on-the-job field time. The education is very soon going to be a two-year requirement in surveying. The remainder is field time. The education requirement can be met with a two year surveying degree, a degree from a four-year program (with the third and fourth years qualifying toward your total of eight), or if you have a degree in engineering, science, or math, then 4 years in those will qualify you for 2 in surveying. The education is required for licensure.

 

If you introduce yourself to surveying now, the education won't be required to be completed until some years down the road. Jump in by getting on a surveying crew with a local surveying company. Check the phone book; call them up; tell them you're in this for the surveying, not just to get a job in general. Motivation to do surveying specifically can be a determining factor.

 

Contact OSLS by phone or email. Ask for names to contact so you can reach people who are willing to talk to you about surveying, with or without offering a job at the time. If you contact a company and say that you had also spoken with Joe Blo Surveyor about the career, you will have a leg up on the competition.

 

And tell them you're a geocacher. That will either help you out, or they won't know what geocaching is and it won't matter to them.

 

Good luck

[+cantuland]

Any luck?