You Want a Career in Land Surveying – What Now?

“If you’re looking for an adventure, an intellectual challenge, and a close-knit community of professionals, consider land surveying!”

Mark Mason, Land Surveyor

Why Choose a Career in Land Surveying?

A career in land surveying offers tremendous day-to-day variety, the ability to work outdoors, the opportunity to apply math and geography skills in the real world, and the satisfaction of contributing something of lasting value and importance. Land surveying is crucial to responsible land development and there will always be a need for it. 

Land surveyors work with engineers, architects, and builders to produce precise surveys and maps of the land’s surface features. They are trained to use an intricate combination of law, math, engineering, and science to perform a variety of vital tasks such as boundary surveys, topographic mapping, and construction staking. 

How to Become a Professional Land Surveyor 

Many land surveyors choose to earn a degree in land surveying, mapping sciences, surveying technology, or a similar degree. When pursuing this degree, students spend most of their time outside the classroom learning principles of drawing, mapping, measuring, and collecting and analyzing data. 

While some states require an associate’s degree to become a registered professional land surveyor, in Ohio a four-year degree is required from an ABET accredited or Board approved engineering or surveying curriculum. 

After the coursework is completed, you must take and pass the NCEES Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) examinations. Once you pass the FS exam, you can get your preliminary or temporary license from the state licensing board and begin work as a surveyor. 

You must, however, have a minimum of four years of experience as a surveyor before you can take the NCEES Principles and Practices of Surveying (PS) exam. The PS exam will test your ability to practice surveying competently and passing it makes you eligible for a professional license. 

Get Started in Your Career as a Land Surveyor 

Land surveying is one of the world’s oldest professions and has proven to be in high demand historically and is likely to be for the foreseeable future. Surveyors continue to play a key role in developing new high-tech, sustainable cities, tackling climate change and solving global issues like urbanisation, migration and resource scarcity. 

At McSteen, we have licensed surveyors in both our Boundary and Mortgage Location Survey departments. They are the final voice and authority on our projects, utilizing their knowledge and experience to provide assurance to our clients that the product they receive has been performed with the utmost regard for quality. 

They review the data collected by the field crews, analyze the picture put together by our drafters, perform boundary calculations (for boundary surveys) and lastly review, sign and stamp our final survey. 

Our team is designed to bring peace of mind to every real estate transaction, construction project and survey need from start to finish and our licensed surveyors play a critical role in this effort. At McSteen, our team of survey professionals is our greatest asset and we are always looking to build on it.


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