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The program is meant to fill the gap for smaller companies with five or fewer employees who have less opportunity for formal training
programs and mentorship opportunities.
When you from within the surveying industry, your opportunities for knowledge sharing become even richer and more diverse.

Round Table Tuesdays is another opportunity run by the Indiana YSN group. Geared towards those new or entry-level to the profession,
the monthly meetings are not limited to SITs or PSs, but rather aim to provide value to technicians and field crews as well. Speakers and
topics are primarily focused on Indiana, but all are welcome to join.
Other resources like, Kent Groh’s Geoholics podcast, and the Surveyor Says podcasts are all additional resources to consider. It’s
amazing what you can learn from even just recorded podcasts.
One surveying team downloads the newest podcasts and listens to them in the truck on the way to and from the job site each day. It’s
certainly a better and more productive use of “windshield time.”

This new program just started up in May 2022 called Wisdom Wednesdays and the background
behind it is to be a book club with a round table discussion about each chapter of our “land surveying
bibles.” The program will be starting off with one of our bibles called Evidence and Procedures for
Boundary Location. Be sure to follow all of the social media accounts for the programs listed above.
Conferences

A final obvious training resource is promoting attendance at your state association
conferences. Encouraging your younger field staff to come and engage in conferences can
work wonders to increase their knowledge and perspective of the profession.
Conferences are naturally well-organized, feature expert speakers, allow for stimulating
discussion, and get your employees out of their normal routine to see the bigger picture of
the surveying profession.

As a standard theme moving forward, all state conferences would be wise to have a
technician track in order to be more inclusive and get rid of the pressure to become a
professional land surveyor if that’s not their goal.

It’s true that conferences can be pricy to attend with all the travel and paid time off to attend. So when it’s not always feasible, why not
send one or two people who would benefit the most, and assign them to present back to the rest of the company on what they learned?

CST & Part 107
In addition to training, there are other ways you can help support employees to envision and
enrich their careers.

If your surveying employees are getting serious about the next step in their professional lives,
educating them on the CST track can be a valuable move.

The CST allows employees to embark on a series of smaller exams that will potentially culminate
in them taking the more difficult FS and PS exams. The CST is a valuable training ground that will
require them to come up with a structured study plan.
The FAA Part 107 is another option.
To support employees interested in the CST, Part 107, or other exams, you can create a support system such as a Saturday study group
for employees.
Set Goals

To help motivate employees from the inside out, you also need to demonstrate that you’re
there to help learn and support their professional goals. Doing so will help to illuminate
the paths available to employees and help you as an employer to connect with them on a
deeper level.
Some of your younger employees may not be sure what goals to set, while other
employees will be vocal and ambitious about their goals. It’s important to help employees
imagine where they want to be several years down the road, and then chart a path that
empowers them to get there.
For goals to be successful, you should have employees write them down formally and revisit them at least once or twice per year. Break
down big goals into more incremental parts to make progress seem less overwhelming.

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