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Outlook: Overall employment of surveyors and cartographers is expected to increase by 21 percent from 2006 to 2016, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.
Pay: The 950 surveyors and cartographers in the Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma area earned a median wage of $42,820 in 2007.
The job: Surveyors and cartographers are responsible for measuring and mapping the Earth’s surface. Surveyors establish official land, airspace and water boundaries. They write descriptions of land for deeds, leases and other legal documents; define airspace for airports; and take measurements of construction and mineral sites. Cartographers collect, analyze, interpret and map geographic information from surveys and from data and photographs collected using airplanes and satellites.
Training/licensing: In the past, many people with little formal training started as members of survey crews and worked their way up to become licensed surveyors. Now, most surveyors need a bachelor’s degree.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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By Jim on July 26, 2009 6:18 AM
Real cartography jobs are rare, unless "cartography" can be used as an umbrella term covering graphic arts and GIS. One doesn't need a bachelor's degree in Washington to be a licensed land surveyor, unlike many other states.
By tom on July 27, 2009 5:31 AM
Surveying yes, cartography, not so much. Learn Geographic Information Systems software and processing. It still is not a category used by BLS, but is the cutting edge of new cartography. I recently retired after 20 years in GIS and I get an enticing job offer at least once a week to return to work and the salary offered just keeps going up.
And no, Microsoft doesn't make the software.
By tom on July 27, 2009 5:35 AM
BTW, 42k is the median so expect to earn less when starting out, but last month, I was offered 110k to come out of retirement to be a project supervisor.
By shanon on July 28, 2009 10:12 AM
To get into this career, do you have to start out in surveying? How do graphic arts fit into GIS? What companies hire for this skill set?
By anthony on July 29, 2009 7:35 PM
GIS is pretty much performed with arcmap or some proprietary "graphical" interface for editing map database segments, nodes, layers, etc.. Many companies out there will train entry level candidates.
By bob on July 30, 2009 11:15 AM
Take note: Surveyors are very important to construction projects. You need to have all of the boundary lines surveyed for legal descriptions when a subdivision is built. Also, surveyors do construction staking (telling the contractor exactly where to build the sewer, or the curb, or the building corner) on most large construction projects. As a result, the unemployment rate for surveyors has risen in the past two years. It will rebound when the construction industry recovers, but things will get bad again during the next recession. Also, since construction activity reduces during the winter months, so does workload for surveyors. Expect overtime in the summer and having your hours cut to part time in the winter, especially when you start out "in the field." If you want to be a career surveyor, plan to work towards becoming a "Professional Land Surveyor" (PLS). The Washington State Department of Licensing has more information about how to do this.
As an engineer, I have the highest respect for surveyors. Without their knowledge, hard work, precision, and constant attention to detail, I could not do my job.
By GIS wondering on August 7, 2009 11:42 PM
Would I get a GIS job if I took the certificate class in the evenings at UW? Or would a second bachelor's be a better choice? Any comments?
By Jim on August 8, 2009 8:14 AM
"Cartographers" these days can be thought of as graphic artists in the sense that they draw or annotate existing maps. GIS is an interactive tool in which cartographers create maps in shared data environments. Yes, a good path to becoming a cartographer is through GIS certification, but the cartographers I know have at least a bachelor's degree, preferably in computer science - although I am a hold out for geography.
Though a bachelor's degree is not necessary to be a licensed land surveyor in Washington, most land surveyor's I know have at least a bachelor's degree and a two year degree in civil engineering. If you're looking to get started brush up on your math skills!
By GIS wondering on August 11, 2009 12:42 AM
I was thinking of doing a second bachelor's in geography with a GIS concentration (60 credits) or the GIS year-long certificate in the evenings.
By mc on August 17, 2009 4:40 PM
Do you know where one might find the most valuable training, and useful certification--e.g., which schools? Thanks.