Surveyors

What the job really is

Make exact measurements and determine property boundaries. Provide data relevant to the shape, contour, gravitation, location, elevation, or dimension of land or land features on or near the earth's surface for engineering, mapmaking, mining, land evaluation, construction, and other purposes.

At a glance

• Sector: Architecture & Engineering
• O*NET-SOC code: 17-1022
• O*NET job zone: 4 — considerable preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Direct or conduct surveys to establish legal boundaries for properties, based on legal deeds and titles.
• Prepare and maintain sketches, maps, reports, and legal descriptions of surveys to describe, certify, and assume liability for work performed.
• Write descriptions of property boundary surveys for use in deeds, leases, or other legal documents.
• Verify the accuracy of survey data, including measurements and calculations conducted at survey sites.
• Search legal records, survey records, and land titles to obtain information about property boundaries in areas to be surveyed.
• Record the results of surveys, including the shape, contour, location, elevation, and dimensions of land or land features.
• Prepare, or supervise preparation of, all data, charts, plots, maps, records, and documents related to surveys.
• Compute geodetic measurements and interpret survey data to determine positions, shapes, and elevations of geomorphic and topographic features.
• Calculate heights, depths, relative positions, property lines, and other characteristics of terrain.
• Plan and conduct ground surveys designed to establish baselines, elevations, and other geodetic measurements.
• Establish fixed points for use in making maps, using geodetic and engineering instruments.
• Determine longitudes and latitudes of important features and boundaries in survey areas, using theodolites, transits, levels, and satellite-based global positioning systems (GPS).

Tools and technology

Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Bentley MicroStation, ESRI ArcGIS software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Word, Abney levels, Altimeters, Autodesk AutoCAD Land Desktop, Automatic levels, Automatic slope lasers

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Geodetic Surveyors
• Surveying and Mapping Technicians
• Civil Engineers
• Cartographers and Photogrammetrists
• Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians
• Construction and Building Inspectors
• Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians
• Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 4 (considerable preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Surveyors — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.