Career Information for a Degree or Certification in Surveying
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Surveying degree or certificate programs prepare students to perform geographical measurements with precision and write descriptive profiles of landscapes, land use patterns and landscape structures. Graduates of certificate or degree programs in Surveying are qualified to seek employment as cartographers, land surveyors or surveying technicians. Learn more here. |
What is a Degree or Certification in Surveying?
In addition to serving as president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln also worked as a self-taught land surveyor. His equipment is on display in Petersburg, Illinois, at the Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site. But if you dream of following in this great leader’s footsteps, don’t worry — you won’t have to teach yourself the skills of the trade like he did. A degree in Surveying can prepare you to determine official boundaries, write descriptions of the land for airports, piers, construction and mineral companies and direct the work of survey parties. You’ll also learn how technology is used in contemporary surveying practice as well as terminology and standards for surveying work, and you’ll receive hands-on training in global positioning systems (GPS) and computer-assisted design (CAD). Graduates of degree or certificate programs in Surveying might be qualified to work as cartographers, surveyors or survey technicians.
Cartography
Cartographers use mathematics, survey data and demographic and other information to create maps of the earth’s surface for a wide variety of uses.
Working for social scientists, they might create maps that reflect demographic and population statistics. Other types of maps include land use maps, which indicate the locations of urban areas, forest ranges, parks, mining and drilling operations and different types of agriculture, and topographic maps, which describe natural features and elevations. Cartographers must be skilled with CAD and other design programs and have a strong knowledge of surveying and statistics. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), www.bls.gov, jobs for cartographers will be created at a steady pace through 2014. Median annual incomes in 2004 were around $46,000 per year.
Land Surveying
Land surveyors are responsible for establishing land, air space and water boundaries. They might write descriptions of land for legal documents such as leases and deeds, define airspace for airports or measure sites for construction or mineral extraction. Accuracy is important, because significant decisions are often made on the basis of surveying records. In addition to using traditional tools of the trade, surveyors must be able to apply new technologies, such as GPS instruments, that allow them to locate points on the earth with a much higher degree of precision. Job opportunities for land surveyors are likely to remain good in the foreseeable future (BLS). In 2004, the median annual salary for surveyors was $42,980.
Surveying Technology
Surveying technicians are an important part of the land survey team. They assist land surveyors by gathering data and performing computations and creating CAD images in surveyors’ offices. As the surveying team takes measurements to determine the precise location of important features and boundaries, surveying technicians assist the efforts by adjusting and operating surveying instruments, compiling notes, making sketches and entering data. Job growth for these workers will be similar to growth in the surveying and cartography industries as a whole, according to the BLS. Median salaries in 2004 were generally between $23,000 and $41,000 per year.
From: www.education-portal.com
