Surveyors?

[Rainer]

So I'm a second year college student, currently planning to major in CS, which many of you have highly recommended for INTPs and which I find to be of some interest. I have not taken any formal courses in it yet (i'm currently at my local community college which does not offer it). My biggest reservation about the career, however, is its indoor, sedentary nature. Exercise and outdoor time makes me a much happier person. I live on a farm and have worked outside most of my life, but though farming can be full of surprisingly challenging problems, I know from experience that it's not intellectually stimulating enough to take on as a career.

On the list of INTP occupations, surveying caught my eye. I've always enjoyed geography and mapping, and I love looking at the detail of landscapes as well as historical geographic research. Surveying seems to be a profession that requires math problem solving, research, and outdoor work.

So I'm wondering if anyone here is a surveyor, or currently has surveying experience. If so, can you tell me whether this is really an interesting profession, or does it end up being routine and better suited for ISTJs?

 

[Architect]

Haven't done it but have hired them and know a little. Probably more suited to an ISTJ as you say but there are some fun investigative aspects to it, especially surveying old works. I had an old house I was considering getting surveyed because of a boundary dispute (not initiated by me). One bit of advice I got from a RE lawyer about surveying is that "you may not like the answer". So I took the old records and tried to figure it out by myself which was entertaining.

As best I could figure the neighbor was right (he wanted a foot of 'my' property), but with older records it can be spotty and sometimes they conflict. At any rate I sold the problem to the next owner and saved myself $5,000 in surveying costs.

 

[ApostateAbe]

I worked as a land surveying crewman and draftsman for about two years, got a four-year degree in land surveying, and I now work as a GIS office monkey at a land surveying firm in the oil boom region of Montana/North Dakota. Yes, I think you will be making the right decision. I lot of surveyors are INTP, and they get into it because they want to work outside. Just be aware that times are tough for land survey workers, and it may or may not get better by the time you graduate, but jobs are easy if you have a four-year degree (take the LSIT exam as soon as you graduate), if you have filled your summer breaks with internships (always paid) and if you are willing to move to an oil-boom region. Even better is to get a master's degree in hydrographic surveying (there are two such schools in the US that offer the degree) and work on the water. It is an understaffed field that is highly paid.

 

[Architect]

I worked as a land surveying crewman and draftsman for about two years, got a four-year degree in land surveying, and I now work as a GIS office monkey at a land surveying firm in the oil boom region of Montana/North Dakota. Yes, I think you will be making the right decision. I lot of surveyors are INTP, and they get into it because they want to work outside. Just be aware that times are tough for land survey workers, and it may or may not get better by the time you graduate, but jobs are easy if you have a four-year degree (take the LSIT exam as soon as you graduate), if you have filled your summer breaks with internships (always paid) and if you are willing to move to an oil-boom region. Even better is to get a master's degree in hydrographic surveying (there are two such schools in the US that offer the degree) and work on the water. It is an understaffed field that is highly paid.

Interesting, what is the pay? And why do you think there are INTPs in the field? I've found it hard to find INTPs anywhere in particular.

 

[Valentas]

My mother is surveyor...she is content with her job. She works inside but gets out every second day to survey the land. For me, I prefer working indoors and relaxing outdoors. One of the arguments my parents had against programming career is that you will be stuck in a room for the rest of your life It's part of the truth. You can work wherever you want. However, anyone who tried solving programming problems outside must admit that it is impossible: too much noise, wind, sun, birds you name it. Neutral indoors environment is the best.

Recently, I stumbled upon one interesting article. It's not in English but the idea was this: a guy, programmer, invested like 2k bucks to a big tent with all basic equipment, put it in the middle of the forest near the city(~2km distance) and lives there, doing programming also he saves about 3k/month on renting an office lol. He owns his little web company doing mostly freelance work and said that he is going to hire some other people. Yet the requirement is to live in the forest...kinda interesting lifestyle. I bet no programmer has ever done anything like that in the history of the world. :}

Outdoors programming. Now no one can say that all programmers are indoors inhabitants.

 

[ApostateAbe]

Interesting, what is the pay? And why do you think there are INTPs in the field? I've found it hard to find INTPs anywhere in particular.

If you mean hydrographic surveying, the pay (I have heard) is about $100K (with overtime). If you mean other surveying, it averages about $40K. In the oil boom region with overtime, I am making about $70K. "Surveyors" are often included in lists of jobs for INTPs. I am not sure how to explain INTPs in surveying; maybe it is a job best suited for introverted analytical thinkers.

 

[Analyzer]

What about GIS?...Its the fuse between geography and CS. I have always loved geography and have been learning programming for a bit.

I would love to get into GIS programming, creating maps and doing spatial analysis.

 

[Analyzer]

If you mean hydrographic surveying, the pay (I have heard) is about $100K (with overtime). If you mean other surveying, it averages about $40K. In the oil boom region with overtime, I am making about $70K. "Surveyors" are often included in lists of jobs for INTPs. I am not sure how to explain INTPs in surveying; maybe it is a job best suited for introverted analytical thinkers.

How is the GIS field to get in and its career opportunities? I enjoy reading maps and have had a good geographical knowledge since I was a kid.

 

[ApostateAbe]

How is the GIS field to get in and its career opportunities? I enjoy reading maps and have had a good geographical knowledge since I was a kid.

GIS is for you. There are GIS jobs everywhere, but especially in the oil boom regions and in land surveying businesses (I am in both). Learn Python. If you know both programming and GIS, you will never be out of a job.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

GIS is for you. There are GIS jobs everywhere, but especially in the oil boom regions and in land surveying businesses (I am in both). Learn Python. If you know both programming and GIS, you will never be out of a job.

^Seconded

 

[The Introvert]

If you want to be a surveyor, I can tell you that it can be a very interesting and investigative job. My dad works with gas and oil titles from Pennsylvania and Ohio, and many of the descriptions of boundaries include landmarks such as "old tree" or "pile of rocks".

The point of this all is that if you enjoy solving puzzles (especially ones involving the outdoors) then there is a demand for people who are good at it in this area.

 

[ninadeer]

So, say you were an INTP who had already been to college and gotten a Bachelor's degree, pursuing the thing that sparked your interest at the moment, only to find at the end of it that field wasn't going to get you a job you could live with.

And now you're interested in surveying.

Are there certification classes you could take or is this looking like a very long master's program where you take all the prereqs you missed in undergrad?

 

[Pfness]

Hate to revive a dead thread, but are there any INTP's in the GIS field out there?

 

[ApostateAbe]

Hate to revive a dead thread, but are there any INTP's in the GIS field out there?

Yes, hello.

 

[Analyzer]

What do you think of cloud based GIS platforms?

 

[ApostateAbe]

What do you think of cloud based GIS platforms?

Some of my data is sourced from the cloud. The disadvantage is that it tends to be slow, with the speed of the Internet connection being the bottleneck. Have a fast Internet connection, and boom. Why not?