Surveyors: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

Job description

Surveyors 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.

• Verify the accuracy of survey data, including measurements and calculations conducted at survey sites.
• Direct or conduct surveys to establish legal boundaries for properties, based on legal deeds and titles.
• Prepare or supervise preparation of all data, charts, plots, maps, records, and documents related to surveys.
• Prepare and maintain sketches, maps, reports, and legal descriptions of surveys to describe, certify, and assume liability for work performed.

Salary

Surveyors with little to no experience tend to make between $35160 and $46590 while the more experienced ones can earn over $82140 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Surveyor is to move to a higher paying state like CA. Right now, the highest paying states for Surveyors are CA, WA, NV, AK and NY.

However, a higher pay at CA doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at CA might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Surveyor is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Surveyors what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Bachelor’s Degree followed by an Associate’s Degree.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Surveyor.

What is the job like

70% of Surveyors said they were satisfied with their job and 55% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

Is this right for me

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

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