Surveyor

I. JOB SUMMARY

 Main Topic: Places and Regions
Secondary Topic: Physical Geography 

Overview: Surveyors make measurements and determine the boundaries of a property. They 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. Surveyors advise staff, county and city departments, and the public regarding land surveys, property disputes, property transfers, foreclosure statutes, state water rights, aerial photogrammetry, lidar data, flood hazard mapping, and geographic information systems. The position encounters a wide diversity of work situations, involving a high degree of complexity due to supervision of employees engaged in surveying, drafting, and clerical duties.

Geographers naturally make great surveyors because of their training in physical geography and landscapes. Many geographers are also familiar with ArcGIS which is used by surveyors to keep records of the properties surveyed. Surveyors must prepare data, charts, maps and documents related to all surveys, which geographers have done with geographical data before.  

Geographers at Work: Physical Geographers, GIS specialists, Cartographers, Remote Sensing Specialist

Recommended College Courses: Physical Geography, Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing, Environmental Management, Quantitative Methods, Human Geography, Regional Geography, World Geography, Qualitative Methods 

Skills: GIS, Land use management, Surveying, Physical geography, LIDAR, Remote Sensing, Cartography

Occupation Group: Architecture and Engineering

Learn more about Surveyors from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Department of Labor:
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/surveyors.htm