Land Surveyor Job Openings

From LoveToKnow Jobs

There is good news on the labor front for people who are interested in land surveyor job openings. This is an employment field that is expected to grow more quickly than average until 2018, according to the United States Department of Labor.

Land Surveyor Job Duties

People who work as land surveyors perform an important function. They are responsible for taking measurements of the earth's surface and establishing property lines and other legal boundaries. Land surveyors are responsible for writing descriptions of land for legal documents, including deeds and leases. Some of them are required to take measurements of construction sites or work for mining companies that need accurate records of mineral sites established. In some cases, the surveyor is asked to provide measurements describing the land's features, including its elevation.

Land surveyors may need to perform their duties in the field. The surveyor, or a senior technician, leads the party and supervises their activities. The technicians assist by adjusting the surveying instruments. They may also be asked to operate instruments designed to record angles and distances. Survey technicians may be asked to make notes or draw sketches while in the field. Part of the job may also involve entering the data taken from instruments into computers.

Working Conditions for Land Surveyors

A person who is interested in becoming a land surveyor should be comfortable working out of doors. The typical work schedule is eight hours per day, five days per week. During the summer months, the work day may be extended due to longer periods of daylight.

This type of work is considered strenuous, and the land surveyor is expected to stand for long periods of time. The survey crew may also need to walk over long distances and carry equipment over heavy terrain to get the specific measurements they require.

Another part of the job of a land surveyor involves spending time in an office planning surveys, going to court offices to get deeds for properties, and analyzing data. They may be required to prepare reports based on their findings or draw maps.

Land Surveyor Training

Most people currently working as surveyors have a Bachelor's degree. Post-secondary programs in surveying are offered by several universities, as well as community colleges. A person who is interested in pursuing surveying as a career should be sure to take the following types of courses in high school:

Algebra
Computer Science
Drafting
Geometry
Mechanical Drawing

The type of person who will do well as a land surveyor is someone who is very precise and methodical. The ability to visualize distances and objects is another important trait for surveying work.

Labor Market for Land Surveyor Job Openings

According to the United States Department of Labor, 57,600 people were employed as surveyors in 2008. Another 77,000 people worked as surveying and mapping technicians.

Someone looking for land surveyor job openings should focus his or her job search on architectural and engineering firms. Most of the jobs in this industry are found in these types of companies. Government departments and agencies also hire surveyors. Specific employers include the following organizations:

Army Corps of Engineers
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Other places to look for land surveyor job openings include online job boards, such as the Surveying Jobs page at Jobamatic.com. Job seekers can filter their search results by job title, type and location, if desired.

JobVolume.com also lists land surveyor jobs pulled from various web sites. A specialty job board, OilFieldWorkers.com, lists surveyor jobs from companies in this industry. This site also provides a detailed job description of the type of work land surveyors and land survey assistants perform.

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