“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” – Henry Ford
Land surveyors have long benefited from a rich tradition of mentorship, learning from the experience of previous generations. However, in recent years, this mentorship has weakened. With record workloads, qualified professionals are often stretched to their limits, making it a challenge to pass on vast amount of required to staff.
Is your staff worth training? Absolutely!
We must consider the future of surveying and recognize that a lack of formal training is a key reason our profession is sometimes seen as declining. Modern surveying involves much more than just a chain and compass. Professionals today need to understand land law, state, local standards, and ordinances, “follow the footsteps,” chain/compass, total stations, GPS/GNSS, robotics, LiDAR, drones, scanners, photogrammetry, and more.
Fortunately, we live in an era where educational resources are abundant. Not everyone is a natural teacher—we all had teachers in school who just didn’t resonate with us, nor do we all have the time to serve in this capacity. That’s okay! We can utilize a variety of new online and in-person resources. As I write this at the Western Federation of Professional Surveyors Conference, I am surrounded by surveyors attending classes on various subjects. These sessions span weekends and weekdays, providing ample learning opportunities. While attending these conferences isn’t cheap, the knowledge gained can benefit our profession for decades.
Thousands of surveyors attend these conferences, primarily to fulfill their continuing education requirements. I admit this is my main reason too. But even after 26 years in the profession, I still learn something new at every conference. Despite the abundance of professional-level education, many paraprofessionals rarely get the chance to attend these classes, even though they would benefit greatly. Kudos to the companies that encourage and financially support their staff to attend more events like these.
I also strongly encourage my staff to pursue college or university education. Regardless of opinions on college education requirements for licensure, they are unlikely to disappear. There are many options for online education today! We have employees attending Dallas College, Oklahoma State University, New Mexico State University, Tyler Junior College, and soon, my alma mater, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi mostly through online programs. Many of these employees are full-time workers with families, managing to take 1-2 classes per semester alongside their workloads. It is truly a remarkable achievement!
Moreover, larger projects increasingly require staff credentials, such as the National Society of Professional Surveyors Certified Survey Technician (CST) certification or FS/SIT licensure, in addition to professional licensure. Being a company with certified staff can be a significant advantage in winning projects.
Take the step to educate the next generation. Encourage them to learn more by sending them to conferences, college, or university, or perhaps order some pizza on a rainy day and have them watch training videos or study for the CST exams. Our profession’s future depends on it.
Graduating from Texas A&M – Corpus Christi in 2002 with a BS in Geographic Information Science (Geomatics emphasis), Michael B. Brown has been a dedicated professional in the surveying field since 1998. As a Certified Federal Surveyor licensed in 15 states and currently a Senior Survey Project Manager at Topographic Land Surveyors, Michael specializes in energy sector boundary surveying and staff education.