Land Surveyor, Tri-Tech

Started with: Degree in Geoenvironmental Hazards

Working as: Land Surveyor, Tri-Tech

What does a typical day and week look like for you?

Usually, my time is split between three or four days on-site, and one in the office. We start on-site at 8am and we finish at about 4:30 or 5pm, but because we work across the country, like most surveying companies in the UK, we might be leaving the house as early as 6am to get to a site on time.

I spend most of my days working my way across the site, taking measurements. Then, when I’m back in the office, I gather all my data together and draw it up into the final product. I then send that to the client, who could be someone like a homeowner who wants planning permission for an extension, or a construction company working on a road upgrade.

What’s the best thing about your job?

I just love being able to go to different sites and work in different environments. Although sometimes you might be doing the same process and using the same equipment, it’s a new puzzle to solve every single time!

Flood defence projects are very cool, getting the harnesses out and life jackets on! But I think working on an airport runway is the project I’m most proud of. It was a tough two weeks; we were working night shifts, with only an hour in between planes landing to get the jobs done! We were doing a survey of the whole runway, as the resurfacers needed to know the exact position of the landing lights, lines, and levels, so they could replicate it all once they resurfaced it. Seeing the drawing at the end was an amazing feeling!

How did you get to where you are now?

At A level, I had no clue what I wanted to do! All I knew was that I’m an outdoorsy person – I’ve been in the scouts since I was six, and I’m still a scout leader now. So I knew I needed to be outdoors and adventurous in my future job. I applied for a degree in geo-environmental hazards, as I thought maybe I’d go down the environmental route.

Before I started uni, I decided to defer my place and take a year out to work a ski season in the Alps. I wanted to get some experience and earn some money, because I knew going to uni was going to cost a lot, and I needed to be sure.

After going to uni, I was researching jobs on LinkedIn and I came across surveying. I sent a message to the director of a company called Tri Tech, asking about jobs, and it turned out they were looking for a surveyor. So I sent him my CV and he invited me for an interview. I guess he took a chance on me, because I had no relevant work experience; I’ve learned everything on the job! I’ve been here for three years now.

What does a land surveyor do?

Land surveyors make very detailed maps of specific areas of land. It could be for a building development, flood defences, a house extension, or any other form of building or site.

We use equipment like total stations and GPS trackers to measure the features of an area, including fence lines, manholes, and overhead wires. Then, we make a drawing, or map, of those features at a scale of 1:200.

What advice do you have for young people who want to do what you do?

It can be helpful to study subjects where you solve problems, like geography and maths. But they’re not essential to get a surveying job.

So many people at my company have been offered jobs here after they’ve done work experience here. When I did work experience at school, I just worked in a primary school, even though I didn’t actually want to be a teacher! I really regret not reaching out to a business that was more interesting to me. I might have ended up doing an apprenticeship or a degree apprenticeship, instead of a traditional degree.