Career Guides
Plain-language guides for surveying careers: the work in the field and the office, licensing rules by state, pay, and the next step up.
What a professional land surveyor (PLS) does, the license and education path, where surveyors work, pay and the career ladder from rod person to PLS.
What a survey technician is and does — crew and office duties, tools and software, pay, and how to start with a high school diploma or equivalent.
What a surveyor in training (LSIT/SIT) is, what the job involves, how states title and rule the credential, and how the LSIT stage leads to the PLS.
What a survey project manager does, whether the job needs a PLS, and how party chiefs and LSITs move into running survey jobs, crews, budgets and clients.
What geodetic surveyors (also hired as geodesists) do, where they work, the education and licensure they need, and how the work differs from land surveying.
What cadastral surveyors do on federal lands and how to become one: the BLM program, PLSS retracement, Indian lands work and the CFedS credential.
What a county surveyor does, whether the office is elected or hired, and the public-sector surveying jobs around it — city, state and federal government.
What a hydrographic surveyor does, where the jobs are, the NSPS-THSOA Certified Hydrographer credential and how to move into hydrographic surveying work.
What a mining surveyor does in surface and underground mines, the license and MSHA training involved, and where to find mine surveyor jobs.
What does a geomatics engineer do? The field combines surveying, GNSS, remote sensing and GIS. See the work, employers, licensure and how to enter the field.
What a photogrammetrist does at mapping and survey firms, the education and skills the job needs, when a surveying license matters, and how to become one.
A survey party chief runs a land surveying crew in the field. What the role does, the experience it takes, whether a license is needed, and what it pays.
An instrument operator (instrument man or gunner) runs the total station or GPS unit on a survey crew. What the job involves, the skills it needs and the pay.
A rod person (rodman) is the entry-level crew member who holds the rod on a surveying crew. Duties, entry requirements, physical demands and pay.
What a survey CAD technician does, the drawings a survey drafter produces, how the job differs from civil drafting, what it pays, and how to become one.
What a construction surveyor does on site, who hires them, the skills construction layout requires, licensing and pay — plus open construction surveyor jobs.
Drone surveyors fly UAS to capture mapping data for survey firms. See the duties, Part 107 and licensing basics, skills, pay and open jobs.
A LiDAR technician runs laser scanners and turns point clouds into survey deliverables. See the duties, job types, training, software and pay.
What a GIS technician does at survey firms, the skills and software the job uses, entry requirements, pay and where the career leads.
SUE technicians investigate and document buried utilities under ASCE 38-22 quality levels. See the duties, the QL-D to QL-A ladder, and how to start.