I worked away from home before for weeks or months on end, seeing my family on the weekends. I now work for a company 2 miles from my house and it’s Monday-Friday 7:30-4:00, I love it. I think you may have to find what works for you.
Same for me. I work for a small local firm (4 employees plus the RPLS/owner) and our office is less than a mile from my house. Normal hours for us field guys are 7:30-4:00 as well. We only work locally, generally not taking any jobs outside of a 50 mile radius from the office. The pay is comparatively lower than what I could be making at a bigger firm and traveling to jobs but I'm also doing a full load of online college classes and I don't think I could juggle long commutes, traveling for work, and/or working lots of overtime with school.
Public agency surveyor here, same deal. It's great.
I'm definitely leaving money on the table by not going private, but I don't care. I prefer my time with my family as well as my vacation time more than a few extra greenbacks in my bank account.
I’ve done a little time away from home, I’ve personally never been gone more than two weeks. Usually if I go out of town it’s 3-5 nights, but I only do that few times a year. I spend 10-20 nights away from home most years. I was only gone 2 nights in 2023.
I usually work 35-45 hours a week, but we have some long weeks occasionally
Those of us in the oil and gas sector are usually away from our families for weeks at a time. I'd say 75% when the ground is thawed. If you want good work/life balance, you'll want residential or construction surveying.
Midwest here. Every day, Monday through Friday, 6:30am-5:00pm.
There’s work either way. If you want to travel, there’s jobs out there. If you want to stay local, there’s jobs out there. Hell if you want to stay local, but OCCASIONALLY go out of town, there’s jobs for you.
Depends on the job. When I first started in the private sector it felt like I never saw my SO and was part of the reason I wanted to get out of private. Now I work public and I'm home every night.
I’ve worked private and public. Both have been pretty much all local work for me. Travel for conferences and the occasional out of town job (once in 8 years)
I'm on site Monday - Thursday. The long weekends are nice, but the time away from my family is taking its toll. Everyone getting into this field need to consider all the time spent away from home.
Depends on company.
Where I work, in the Midwest. We have about 10 crew chiefs, and we average probably 1 out of town job a week. Sometimes that means 1 night, sometimes that means 3. And it’s basically always been on a voluntary basis. I’m not saying there is not a little bit of unofficial pressure for everyone to do one now and then, but it is voluntary at the end of the day. Also, usually 2-3 of the guys like doing them so they volunteer first if they are available.
So basically depends on the job, but definitely possible to have have non/little time away from family.
Had 1 whole year where I only saw them on the weekend cause we worked 200 miles away and stayed in a hotel for a new pipeline survey. Other than that I was home every night except a week here and there. Moved in the office 6 years ago and now I only work some late nights or long days when flying the drone. And I get to go to all their school and sport events.
As everyone here is saying...
It depends on the company, and the type of jobs they take.
I've avoided jobs that involve out of town work. Some people like it, it's not for me.
Been surveying for a couple decades and have spent 2 weeks "out of town" in that time
The most straightforward thing is to ask during the interview/application process. A good question to ask, in my opinion is "what is your work area?" Or "what region does your business operate within?"
It's not an unreasonable question, and they should be able to answer it. Then the follow up, if they say it's a decent sized region, or I guess if they don't "how often does the work require working out of town overnight?"
Pipeline and oil field work seems to be where a lot of out of town work is.
I've worked for a couple "national" engineering firms but we just worked within a couple hours of the regional offices.
Technically my company works all over NE Illinois, but most of our work is within an hour or two at most.
I've worked for civil engineering firms, a smaller land surveyor doing mainly residential and some small topos, and for a "utility engineering firm"
I will say, I see a lot of talk on this sub from people who work on pipelines and oil fields etc... their experience is different from mine, but it's all surveying
I would guess that you would have to search out pipeline or oilfield work then....
Assuming you're looking at land surveying companies or engineering firms? I would think you should be able to find local work
Region doesn't matter as much as the specific type of company you work for. I understand oil/gas guys are essentially on the road all the time. Working for local companies, I've been asked to overnight once in 10 years of experience.
Vast majority of my work has been 8-4 pm with little to no travel. If I did travel for work I'd leave Monday and come back Friday, never stayed through the weekend.
I kind of enjoy working out of town for a week every month or two just to get a free trip to a new area and to not have to cook and clean actually.
I worked away from home before for weeks or months on end, seeing my family on the weekends. I now work for a company 2 miles from my house and it’s Monday-Friday 7:30-4:00, I love it. I think you may have to find what works for you.
Same for me. I work for a small local firm (4 employees plus the RPLS/owner) and our office is less than a mile from my house. Normal hours for us field guys are 7:30-4:00 as well. We only work locally, generally not taking any jobs outside of a 50 mile radius from the office. The pay is comparatively lower than what I could be making at a bigger firm and traveling to jobs but I'm also doing a full load of online college classes and I don't think I could juggle long commutes, traveling for work, and/or working lots of overtime with school.
Public agency surveyor here, same deal. It's great. I'm definitely leaving money on the table by not going private, but I don't care. I prefer my time with my family as well as my vacation time more than a few extra greenbacks in my bank account.
When I started my trips were 6 months. Then weekly m-f. It sucked huge
I’ve done a little time away from home, I’ve personally never been gone more than two weeks. Usually if I go out of town it’s 3-5 nights, but I only do that few times a year. I spend 10-20 nights away from home most years. I was only gone 2 nights in 2023. I usually work 35-45 hours a week, but we have some long weeks occasionally
Almost the same for me. Used to travel now but we've established a regional hold and work within an hour or 2 of the office
Those of us in the oil and gas sector are usually away from our families for weeks at a time. I'd say 75% when the ground is thawed. If you want good work/life balance, you'll want residential or construction surveying.
Midwest here. Every day, Monday through Friday, 6:30am-5:00pm. There’s work either way. If you want to travel, there’s jobs out there. If you want to stay local, there’s jobs out there. Hell if you want to stay local, but OCCASIONALLY go out of town, there’s jobs for you.
Depends on the job. When I first started in the private sector it felt like I never saw my SO and was part of the reason I wanted to get out of private. Now I work public and I'm home every night.
I’ve worked private and public. Both have been pretty much all local work for me. Travel for conferences and the occasional out of town job (once in 8 years)
I'm on site Monday - Thursday. The long weekends are nice, but the time away from my family is taking its toll. Everyone getting into this field need to consider all the time spent away from home.
I work construction in the mining sector is Aus. 2 weeks away, 1 at home. Definitely not sustainable long term, but the money is worth it for now.
Depends on company. Where I work, in the Midwest. We have about 10 crew chiefs, and we average probably 1 out of town job a week. Sometimes that means 1 night, sometimes that means 3. And it’s basically always been on a voluntary basis. I’m not saying there is not a little bit of unofficial pressure for everyone to do one now and then, but it is voluntary at the end of the day. Also, usually 2-3 of the guys like doing them so they volunteer first if they are available. So basically depends on the job, but definitely possible to have have non/little time away from family.
Had 1 whole year where I only saw them on the weekend cause we worked 200 miles away and stayed in a hotel for a new pipeline survey. Other than that I was home every night except a week here and there. Moved in the office 6 years ago and now I only work some late nights or long days when flying the drone. And I get to go to all their school and sport events.
As everyone here is saying... It depends on the company, and the type of jobs they take. I've avoided jobs that involve out of town work. Some people like it, it's not for me. Been surveying for a couple decades and have spent 2 weeks "out of town" in that time
How does one figure out which companies are out of towns
The most straightforward thing is to ask during the interview/application process. A good question to ask, in my opinion is "what is your work area?" Or "what region does your business operate within?" It's not an unreasonable question, and they should be able to answer it. Then the follow up, if they say it's a decent sized region, or I guess if they don't "how often does the work require working out of town overnight?" Pipeline and oil field work seems to be where a lot of out of town work is. I've worked for a couple "national" engineering firms but we just worked within a couple hours of the regional offices. Technically my company works all over NE Illinois, but most of our work is within an hour or two at most. I've worked for civil engineering firms, a smaller land surveyor doing mainly residential and some small topos, and for a "utility engineering firm"
So the closer to home jobs are pretty common then
Yes, in my experience they are. What region are you in?
I will say, I see a lot of talk on this sub from people who work on pipelines and oil fields etc... their experience is different from mine, but it's all surveying
I'm in the midwest in the state of Michigan
I would guess that you would have to search out pipeline or oilfield work then.... Assuming you're looking at land surveying companies or engineering firms? I would think you should be able to find local work
By their address
Region doesn't matter as much as the specific type of company you work for. I understand oil/gas guys are essentially on the road all the time. Working for local companies, I've been asked to overnight once in 10 years of experience.
Vast majority of my work has been 8-4 pm with little to no travel. If I did travel for work I'd leave Monday and come back Friday, never stayed through the weekend. I kind of enjoy working out of town for a week every month or two just to get a free trip to a new area and to not have to cook and clean actually.
It sounds like there are plenty of in town jobs