Like most of you I wear a lot of hats. For this offering, I will attempt to wear two at the same time; that of an employer and observer.  We get resumes and calls all the time from people looking to build data. Not many of them are qualified to do the type of work that makes the customer want to send a check when the job is done. I get cautious when I hear words like excellent and perfect when it comes to data, we look for “correct” that balance of common sense and solid engineering logic.

I will review the basic types of data prep candidates available. If you are looking to hire one on staff, or outsource to them, it is good to get background information. Understanding the skill set that will be producing information for the field will go a long way in presenting the way you need a job to look.

The CAD Geek: Engineering firms have become compartmentalized, the folks who draw the lines on the screen that get printed on paper, are working their way into data. They have a great knowledge of the program, but little practical experience in the ways of dirt. I asked one of them to build the subgrade of a parking lot; he asked “What’s a subgrade?” Lines, views, plan sheets, and organization are the strengths of the CAD professional. If they are going to do dirt, the steep hill is going to be the production of a job in 3 dimensions. The ones who know what it should look like don’t know how to press the buttons.

The Estimator: The logical choice for data prep in a contractor’s office is the estimator. They know how to use the software to build a model for a take-off, just clean it up and use it for data. I have always said if you are using your takeoff for data, you are spending too much time on the bid. This is where I get “perfect” used in the next sentence by the estimator. The biggest hurdle for an estimator doing data is the disconnect to the field. We do many jobs where the field calls us and says the job can’t be built the way the office made it. I started in the field and moved to the office, rivalry does exist between the two. In order for the office to understand what is needed in the field, they need to learn how to communicate.

The Grade Checker: Give a smart field hand a pocket level and a folding ruler, and you get a nice looking parking lot. Trained to think in 3 dimensions, the grade checker already has the most difficult part of the data job mastered. Trouble is they don’t like computers or the office, both of which are required to become a data prep guru. Sometimes they feel like they are speaking a foreign language, they know what to say but they need different words to get it into the machine.

The New Independent: Often times an individual will get good at building data for a firm, and then break out on their own to pursue data as a new career. We have seen difficulties in how they were trained to build data for their company, and the way it is done in different parts of the country. Not only are there various words for the same thing, different parts of the country do things differently. Patience is required as well as an education in “how we do things around here” Be ready to draw cross sections and spell out the details.

My choice: When asked what type of person makes the best data builder, I want a former field hand, that knows how to build a variety of sites from parking lots to highways. After they got great at that, they moved into the office and learned computers. I find it much easier to teach a grade checker or blade hand mouse clicks, than sit a CAD geek in the cab of a dozer.

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