Hiring Your First Crew: Gus’s Tale of Growth

Introduction

New to Gus? He’s the coffee‑fueled surveyor at the heart of our startup series—equal parts sharp, quirky, and brutally honest. If this is your first stop, buckle up: Gus teaches by story and every mis‑step is a lesson you can bank.

Prologue – Gus Hits the Wall

The dawn sky is still violet when Gus parks his dusty pickup outside the office‑that‑is‑really‑his‑garage. Yesterday’s coffee is reheating on the dash heater vent—and so is Gus. His phone pings nonstop:

• Ping! “Need topo for 32‑lot subdivision by Friday.”

• Ping! “Boundary survey—closing next week!”

• Ping! “Staking delay cost us a day, can you rescue?”

Gus rifles through his logbook: 70 billable hours last week, four weeks of backlog, and a crew of exactly one—himself. He exhales. “One man, one rod—ain’t scale.”

He flips to a new page, underlines it twice, and writes in block letters: HIRE HELP OR DIE TIRED. Welcome to the moment every survey startup meets: hiring the first employee.

Scene 1 – The Whiteboard Showdown

Inside, Gus drags a wobbling whiteboard between the tripod cases and welders. He sketches three stick‑figures: Field Tech, CAD Drafter, Hybrid Junior Surveyor. Beneath each he lists realities, not fantasies.

Field Tech – “Can swing a hammer in mud, bills out at $85/hr, but I’ve got to babysit layout.”
CAD Drafter – “Turns field notes into plats while I’m sleeping, yet no help in the woods.”
Hybrid – “Costs two pay grades higher, but flexible as duct tape.”

Gus stares at the board, sips burnt coffee, then circles Field Tech with a squeak of the marker.

Lesson #1 – Attack the bottleneck first. If fieldwork throttles delivery, add boots, not bandwidth.

He snaps a photo of the board and posts it above the Keurig. Decision made.

Scene 2 – The Gut‑Check Metrics

Before slapping NOW HIRING on social media, Gus runs numbers:

1. Utilization: He’s billing > 85 % of his available hours.

2. Pipeline: Four solid weeks of signed projects.

3. Cash‑Cushion: Two months of projected payroll parked in savings.

All green. He grins. “Money in reserve is like rebar in concrete—hidden, but it’s the only thing that stops cracks.”

Scene 3 – Writing the Ad

Night falls. Gus opens a blank doc and types:

Wanted: Survey Field Tech
Must love rain, mud, and bad dad jokes. You’ll carry a prism pole like a lightsaber and treat iron pins like buried treasure. Zero experience? No problem. Bring curiosity, punctuality, and the humility to tighten a tripod clamp twice. We’ll train the rest.

Sprinkled inside: “land survey field technician,” “entry‑level survey job,” “survey crew hire.”

Lesson #2 – Hire character, train skill. Traverse math can be taught in a week; trustworthiness can’t.

He posts the ad, closes the laptop, and falls asleep dreaming of prisms dancing over plat maps.

Scene 4 – Interview Day

Saturday, 6 a.m. A line of applicants shuffles near the equipment, clutching coffee cups. Gus greets each with a handshake and a reflective vest.

Part 1 – Field Ride‑Along

• Candidate #1 drops a prism in the mud.

• Candidate #2 levels the tripod in 40 seconds flat. Gus raises an eyebrow.

Part 2 – Culture Chat (tailgate, warm doughnuts in a toolbox).
Gus fires his favorite character questions:

1. “Tell me about a mistake you fixed before anyone noticed.”

2. “Monotonous stakeout in pouring rain—how do you stay sharp?”

3. “What’s a skill you taught yourself this year?”

4. “Describe a time you admitted you were wrong on a project—what did you do next?”

5. “If you finish tasks early and I’m not around, how do you decide what to do?”

Candidate #1 shuffles, crosses his arms, and launches into a rant: “My last place—Rock Ridge Survey—was a circus. The boss never left the truck, the gear was junk older than my grandma, and my crew‑mates? Lazy as broken tribrachs. I quit the second they shorted my mileage check.”

Gus hears the benchmark shift in real time; loyalty leaking all over the tailgate. He thanks the fellow, hands him a doughnut for the road, and silently scores a giant red X beside the name.

Gus tip: “If they bad‑mouth a former boss, interview over. Loyalty’s like a benchmark—once disturbed, everything shifts.”

Candidate #2 grins and answers Gus's second question first:  “I was a field assistant at Cedar Ridge Engineering—setting up instruments, dodging rattlesnakes, and scribbling field notes so neat even the rattlesnake sent me a thank‑you card. I loved the boundary retracements and construction staking, but when the big highway project wrapped, the office went into hibernation like a total station with dead batteries. I’m after a year‑round gig where I can stretch into drafting, earn my SIT, and maybe upgrade my coffee from ‘yesterday’s pot’ to something that actually tastes like beans—sounds like this shop” Gus nearly spits coffee in delight.

Candidate #2—Maya—gets the job.

Scene 5 – Pay, Perks & Promises

Maya looks nervous when salary comes up. Gus slides a sheet across the hood:

He adds: $150 boot allowance, flex Fridays in slow season, and paid PDH webinars. Maya signs.

Lesson #3 – Show the ladder. People stay when they can see the next rung.

Scene 6 – Day 30, 60, 90

Day 30: Maya successfully completes the comprehensive safety orientation, demonstrating a keen understanding of all protocols and procedures. She adeptly manages the data collector under Gus's watchful supervision, ensuring accurate data capture. Her attention to detail shines as she labels stakes with precision and clarity, surpassing even Gus's meticulous standards.

Day 60: With growing confidence, Maya independently executes a two-point resection, showcasing her ability to apply learned skills in the field while Gus attends a client meeting. Her competence in handling complex tasks solo marks a significant milestone in her development.

Day 90: Maya's meticulously prepared field notes undergo a rigorous quality assurance process and pass with flying colors, reflecting her thoroughness and accuracy. She begins shadowing in CAD, eager to expand her expertise and contribute to drafting projects, further solidifying her role within the team.

QA never slips: Gus reviews every raw file nightly—“My license, my liability.”

Scene 7 – Six Months Later

Maya’s utilization averages 78 %, backlog is under control, but Gus still works 55‑hour weeks and CAD piles up. The reserve account? Big enough for two payrolls. Gus scrawls on the board: Next hire: Drafting Guru. He smiles, wipes mud off his boots, and shuts the garage lights.

Epilogue – Gus’s Golden Hiring Rules

1. Character > Résumé.

2. Metrics decide, not emotions.

3. Document everything. Onboarding checklists prevent “tribal knowledge” leaks.

4. Culture is caught, not taught. Weekly truck‑bed stand‑ups, terrible puns mandatory.

He tosses you his clipboard: “Hire slow, train hard, and your crew will out‑survey the competition.”

Next Up

Gus is eyeballing a shiny UAV and a 3D scanner—next story: tech & equipment investments without busting the budget. Stay tuned!