Spreading the Word About Surveying

In early December 2024, John Clark, Larry Leso, Timothy Rojahn, and I represented the Pennsylvania Society of Land Surveyors at the Pennsylvania School Counselors Association Conference in Hershey, PA. The conference covered two days. They had a whole room for vendors/exhibitors, and we talked to quite a few people about land surveying. On the first day the attendees were given a bingo card for which they had to visit the vendors to get their cards filled out. This got us quite a few visitors. It was interesting talking to the counselors. Many asked questions that I hadn’t thought of before such as, is there a place for kids with special needs in the surveying profession? What types of disabilities could we reasonably accommodate? 

There were a few counselors that expressed interest in having a surveyor visit their career fairs. We referred those people to the main PSLS email. Hopefully some surveyors have been able to connect with those folks. The second day was much slower than the first. John Clark went around to the other booths to talk to the other vendors about surveying. He was successful in getting some of them to come back to our booth to get a flyer. 

Recently, I attended another career event to promote surveying. On Memorial Day weekend, the Lancaster Science Factory had a career panel for students interested in STEM careers. I represented surveying, the other panelists were a computer science professor and a surgeon. Most of the students had a career path in mind. Most were thinking of biology or something with computers. There was one person interested in Civil Engineering, and he asked me a few questions. If nothing else, that was twelve more people that now know what surveying is. I think that one of the biggest issues with recruiting the next generation is that people don’t know what surveyors do. We need to keep getting the word out about the profession. If kids don’t know what it is, how can they consider it for a career? 

---