Survey Technician

Imagine flying low to the ground in an airplane on a beautiful, sunny day. You’re flying over the area where a new road will be built. The road is being built to give your community year-round access to this area. You see the rocks and creeks that the road will be built around. You reach for your camera and take pictures of geological formations and animal habitats. You’ll use these aerial photographs to plan the location of the new road. Next month you’ll spend your time in the great outdoors, working on the ground, measuring the terrain, and placing stakes along the route of the new road.

As a survey technician, you measure the earth. You perform surveys to determine the exact locations of natural features and other structures on the earth’s surface—underground and underwater. You prepare drawings, charts, maps, plans, records, and documents that support the information collected. To aid in your plans, you also research information about specific pieces of land. You work in offices but mostly outdoors (either by yourself or as part of a team) in wetlands and forests and on mining, construction, and subdivision sites. You love that your job allows you so much time to be outside. Being a survey technician is a challenge, and that’s what keeps you motivated and excited to go to work each day.