by Eric Colburn
PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY-Are You A Certified Survey Technician (CST) Or Interested In The CST Program?
11:43 am in Business, Continuing Education, Land Surveying, Professional Land Surveyor Practice, Surveys by Eric Colburn
PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY
In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question:
Are You A Certified Survey Technician (CST) Or Interested In The CST Program?
Last week I was at a meeting for the New England Section of ACSM where the topic of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) Certified Survey Technician (CST) program was discussed. What we discussed was how useful a program this certification can be to the individual and to the employer, amongst other things.
I am familiar with the CST program but I didn’t know anyone who was either certified nor working on becoming a CST. It turns out that one person at this meeting was certified and in fact was his state’s coordinator for the CST program, and he was able to explain how the CST program works and what is involved with becoming certified. If you are not familiar with the CST program, there is a link at the end of this article to the NSPS website with all the information you need to learn about the CST program.
I’ll write more about the Certified Survey Technician (CST) program later this week and the New England Section of ACSM will be working on educating New England surveying and mapping professionals about this program too. But, what do you think about the Certified Survey Technician (CST) program?
Please cast your vote in this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY and leave comments letting us know what you think about the Certified Survey Technician (CST) program.
Loading ...Follow this link to learn about the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) Certified Survey Technician (CST) program.
PS: Ambition is never about what you may accomplish- it’s about embracing the journey of accomplishments! Set your goals, break them up into realistic steps, execute your plan, and don’t be surprised by having to adjust your course around obstacles. Obstacles are rarely insurmountable walls but reality checks to your plan and goals. It is expected that you will refine your plan as you go along and learn more.
This Professional Land Surveyor Survey has been brought to you by EricColburn.com, The Professional Land Surveyor Source.
I have been a level 1 technician since 2001. I took the test to prepare for the National LSIT exam. I found the test to be fair and a challenge similar to the National LSIT exam.
I have felt that the program was a benefit to employers. It quantified knowledge held by a technician on the job and those that were prospective employees. In the west coast I haven’t found to many that really care about the program. I can’t counter the negative comment concerning NSPS and their motive accept to say that it is a measure of the level of education that you have. We haven’t had employers care about education because they have their own standard they want them to meet.
I will continue to push for the need of this program. There are many that don’t have schools that they can attend. This program provides a way to test the self educated student and prepare them for the State test, if they so chose.
Thanks for your comments on the CST program, Gregory. Your knowledge of the CST program and experiences with getting certified and how it is perceived by employers is very enlightening. While there may, or may not, be any reason to suspect NSPS’s motives, I think turnabout is fair play and one certainly could suspect the motives of those employers’ negative comments about NSPS. I would also add, in having each and every employer with an independent “standard” is not good for our industry.
One question comes to mind. Do you think the CST program is beneficial to the land surveyor not seeking to become registered or licensed?
I took and passed the CST exam shortly after it came out (1988 or 1989). I too used it as a tool in preparing myself to take the LSI. Sometime after taking/passing the LSI and maybe after I passed my PLS I let it lapse.
With more places requiring a 4 year degree for licensing the CST program is a good way to rate employees that lack the education needed to pursue their license. For a lot of working people it is hard or impossible to chase a degree that would qualify them for licensing especially since there are a limited number of schools offering surveying programs and most of us are not located near one. So the CST program is good way to show that they have acquired the skills needed to perform their jobs.