Hey! Sorry if this is double posted, I can't find if it was posted the 1st time. I'm relatively new to surveying. I recently got a job as an instrument man and I really enjoy the work. My ambitions were to come learn as much as I could from professionals in the field while continuing to educate myself about databases, Python scripting, Esri, CAD etc.. When I took the job I knew that I would be working long hours and some Saturdays. The thing is that the hours are becoming unreasonable and it's killing any of my other ambitions. I know that for most surveyors there are some long hours but consistently where I work, I have worked 6am-7pm everyday Monday through Saturday. I'm young and single myself, but I have no free time let alone time to pursue my long term goals.Like I said, I enjoy the work, and understand that they need me, I'm considering pursuing surveyor certifications but I don't know how the bosses would feel about needing to get back earlier so I could go to a class. Are these hours normal? I mean consistently normal? How often do most surveyors work 14 hour days and Saturday. Because it's every week for me for months. I would understand if it happened every once in a while and would dig the overtime but I work 65-75 hours a week, every week. It's making me miserable. I came into this expecting a great opportunity to learn real world geospatial thinking through the eyes of a field crew, but it seems like all the crew chiefs are young and only know how to push the buttons with no great insight into why they are pushing the buttons. Not that they couldn't learn it, they are smart, but it feels like they were pushed into the position after a couple months because experienced surveyors have left because of the hours. I'm not getting trained well either. I am pushed onto teams of 2 me and a crew chief and am expected to just pick it up right away. I get freaked out because I learned how to do this stuff on transits, compasses, and plane tables not this high tech equipment. I haven't fudged up to bad yet but I'm always stressed and worried I will mess up because no one has really taught me. Great people on the team but I'm a little hesitant to speak up being new and all.
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Hello Kyle welcome to the world of surveying. I havent had a summer holidays since 1983 and average in the 65-75 hours a week during summer Ā construction season up north . Most of my time off is in the winter. I just celebrated 25 years with the same engineering firm in Saskatchewan Canada
If your single stay that way if you are on the road working, marriages fail very quickly if you dont have a independanet wife who can live on her own when you are working long hours, Mine is great and our marriage has survived while many of my coworkers are not so lucky.
Surveying is a very challenging carreer both physically and mentally. a lot of pressure to ensure your fieldĀ surveys are correct, verified and field notes are very accurate for future review by others...
Good luck with your carreer, If you want to have fun at night , go work at day Ā flipping burgers for minimum wage.. No easy way to get around it...
Ā cheers
Wow bruv, way to discourage the next wave of prospective surveyors from entering the ranks as many retire already. The reason these horrible conditions exist is cause of out of touch boomers like yourself that don't see that the human needs work life balance to operate to their fullest potential.
Kyle,Ā
Are they part time courses for surveying over there?Ā
I suggest having a good old sit down chat with your boss about this. Surveying to me and am sure most on the site is more than a job. Its's a passion and a career. You should try to talk it out with your bosses.Ā
If it doesn't work out, there are more jobs out there. There's always a lack of surveyors down here. haha
good luck!
Hey Kyle, it matters where you are working. Generally different countries and even companies do have their different working hours. I work 5 and a half days 8-5 each week.
Having crew chiefs who only know how to push buttons may be abit worrying in my opinion. Maybe you could find out more about your company culture first?
Just curious how old are you mate? If you are a young chap and only know how to use transits, compass and plane tables, you are in a different era mate! You have a lot of catching up to do. Best if you could attend a school which teach surveying to give you better knowledge about surveying. Ā