Surveying Careers

If you like variety, challenges and a mixture of outside and inside work, you might enjoy being a surveyor. Land surveyors gather information for land development and work out boundaries. Cadastral surveyors are specially licensed land surveyors who would conduct land title surveys. Hydrographic surveyors measure and map the location of land features under water. futureintech.org.nz


Surveying offers a unique balance of field work and office work and surveyors can be found working in every environment on earth, from the centre of major cities to the remote corners of the world.    

There is great variety available in a surveying career through changing work locations and solving unique problems associated with each project. Variety is also available through the wide range of aspects that some surveyors deal with for example in land development. 

Surveyors are generally people who have an aptitude for maths and enjoy the outdoors and adventure.  Many surveying jobs can be physically demanding and require a good level of fitness. Being practical and having a problem-solving approach are valuable assets for any surveyor.

Surveyors work with high-tech instruments such as GPS (global positioning systems) and robotic laser scanners to collect measurements. They use advanced calculation and drawing software to process measurements into spatial information.

To become a tertiary qualified surveyor you need to have a Bachelor of Surveying (BSurv). This is a professional degree which takes four years.

To become a survey technician or assistant, you need a National Certificate in Surveying (Level 3), National Certificate in Hydrographic Surveying (Level 3), or National Diploma in Surveying (Level 6).

To become a Licensed Cadastral Surveyor you must obtain a Bachelor of Surveying Degree or its equivalent, and pass the Cadastral Survey Licensing Board's examinations. This entitles you to carry out land title surveys and to lodge them into the national land titles system in New Zealand.

Technical surveying qualifications such as the National Diploma of Surveying and the National Certificate in Surveying or Hydrographic Surveying can be gained from providers such as Te Pukenga Toi Ohomai Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Te Pukenga Unitec.

Surveying education providers:


Visit the Careers NZ website to get more information about careers in the Surveying sector and what study will get you there.