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The Concerns...continued from page 34
The case for hands-on experience

While it is true that book smarts set a solid foundation and add an aura of professionalism, it’s also true that surveying is a “boots on the
ground” profession, where it is possible to learn exclusively by doing - if you have the proper support.

Farrah’s opinion is that the hands-on track is valuable in its own right.
“Everybody’s college, college, college, you got to go to college,” she said. But the truth is that there aren’t a lot of dedicated surveying
programs and colleges out there.
“I think that imposing a four-year degree is what’s part of what’s killing the young people from coming in. Unlike engineering, surveying
is so much outside, so much exploration, just like all of you guys have said. And so we like to capitalize on that part,” she said.

Rather than compare a surveyor to a civil engineer, she sees no shame in comparing a surveyor to a tradesperson like an electrician or a
plumber.

“Kids are graduating with massive amounts of debt, and they can’t find a job. So part of the appeal of the trades is to say, listen. You do
not have to go that route. We have something better for you, and you can finish it under somebody who knows what they’re doing in a
shorter amount of time and get right into the workplace, making good money, supporting your family, living out the dream,” she said.
Most surveyors that Farrah knows in her home state of Arizona got into surveying because they already had families and did not want
to go back to college. But they still wanted to find a fulfilling career where they could make a great living and enjoy being at work.
Farrah’s own experience is a testament to that path.

She had been joining her father on a couple of surveying jobs for his firm, basically operating as a pack mule, carrying around supplies.

“I was kind of getting tired of just carrying this stuff. And finally, I said to him, can I just do that? I wanted to find where the point needed
to go. I wanted to stake it out. I wanted to pound the hub. I wanted to store the data.”

It sounds simple, but Farrah’s father was taken by surprise. It turns out that not every potential surveyor takes that level of initiative.
“He told me, nobody has ever just said, let me do it. You know, they sit back, and they watch, and they observe, but so many people get
nervous or too shy actually to have a hand at it,” she said.
For those with both a high level of initiative and zero desire to pay or return to the
classroom, the answer is that they can simply move to another state with no formal
degree requirement and pursue a surveying career that way. It may not be ideal, but it
is an option.

At the end of the day, it comes down to passing an exam. Farrah doesn’t think it
matters how you learn the material that helps you pass it.

“I think that there is definitely a place for higher education, but of course, probably
out of everybody on the panel, I am the most pro mentor route. if it were up to me,
there would be no four-year requirement.”

Create a mentor system

Regardless of whether the bulk of learning takes place in a classroom or in the field, a mentorship relationship is something that many
young surveyors crave.
Zach particularly felt the desire to find an excellent mentor to get his surveying career off the ground.

“I don’t even know some of the questions to ask because I’m really new at this. So it’s like, you know, in a way, it’s my responsibility to
learn, but it’s also the person that I’m working with or under; it’s up to them. If they want me to progress, you got to help show me the
way. I don’t need you to hold my hand necessarily, but like here’s a little nudge,” said Zach.

If a more experienced surveyor doesn’t make the first overture, it’s up to the younger surveyor to take the initiative.

“You can’t be afraid to ask questions. That’s the biggest thing. You cannot swallow your pride. Even if you think it’s the dumbest
question, ask it. You cannot meet the door. I can’t make any assumptions. Because as soon as you start making assumptions, it’s going
to come around to bite you in the butt,” Zach said.

One of the first surveyors that Zach worked under was really good about protecting monuments, going the CONTINUED ON PAGE 40 u

36 The Nevada Traverse Vol.48, No.2, 2021