What Will I Do As A Surveyor?
As a surveyor, your role will be to locate and document both natural and man-made objects in the landscape. By doing this, others will be able to use your work to plan and construct vital infrastructure and services for the community.
Surveying is as an attractive career as it plays an important role in helping to develop society, makes use of cutting edge technology (think GPS, lasers and satellites) and is a job that will see you working outdoors.
Where Will I Work?
You’ll be involved in a wide range of projects and there can be opportunities to travel. So, you might undertake your work in the middle of a bustling city, a commercial construction site, a quiet rural area or even in the middle of the ocean!
Best of all, your skills and experience can be easily applied anywhere in the world, which is important as the career options in the industry continue to grow. Surveying is a generic term but you may wish to specialise in an area such as Cadastral, Engineering, Geodetic, Geographic Information Systems, Hydrographic, Mining, Photogrammetry or Remote Sensing.
How Much Will I Earn?
There are 56,000 people employed as architectural, building and surveying technicians in Australia. There are, however, still skills shortages and that means plenty of opportunities for employment for you.
Surveying is an industry where the level of your skills and experience allow you to earn higher wages. You may even own your own business and employee others. However, the average weekly wage for cartographers and surveyors, at time of writing, is $1,476 which equates to $76,752 per year (excluding GST).*
But first, you need to do some study.
How Do I Become A Surveyor?
Depending on what area you want to work in, you will most likely study at TAFE or university. If you wish to become registered then you will need to complete a university degree. Your study may only be a few semesters, to get started, or be a complete, four-year, university degree. Maybe even a PhD!
There are a lot of great courses you can choose from and you can find out more about them by following the links below.
- Canberra Institute of Technology // Surveying Diploma
- Sydney TAFE // Surveying and Spatial Information Services
- University of NSW // Undergraduate Degree – Surveying Engineering (Honours)
- University of Newcastle // Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Surveying)
- University of Southern Queensland // Bachelor of Spatial Science Technology (Surveying)
- RMIT University // Various, Diploma through to PhD
I Want To Know More!
If you would like to ask an actual Surveyor some questions then we’d love to hear from you. Drop us an email or give us a call.
Otherwise, A Life Without Limits is an excellent website that provides an in-depth insight into the industry. There are videos, profiles, work experience opportunities, jobs and a comprehensive FAQ section.
Additionally, the Institution of Surveyors NSW Inc. has developed some great booklets, which you can download, that tell you even more about careers.
City Surveyors (5.86 MB) // Rural Surveyors (2.18 MB)