{"id":14700,"date":"2022-10-06T14:18:03","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T04:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explorecareers.emotedigital.com.au\/?p=14700"},"modified":"2022-10-06T14:18:30","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T04:18:30","slug":"career-explorers-engineering-vs-surveying-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/career-explorers-engineering-vs-surveying-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Career Explorers: Engineering vs. Surveying &#8211; What\u2019s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Someone recently asked us <em>what\u2019s the difference between an engineer and a surveyor<\/em> &#8211; and you know what? We didn\u2019t know!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In true Explore Careers fashion, we decided to find the answer &#8211; and we learned a lot along the way that we know many of you will definitely be interested to learn too.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, let\u2019s explore &#8211; what <strong>is<\/strong> the difference between engineering and surveying?<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Engineers &amp; Surveyors: It\u2019s a Match!<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While they are two different roles with different focuses, they do go hand in hand in many respects.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s a brief overview of what each role does:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Surveyors:<\/strong> Surveyors conduct surveys of plots of land to establish measurements, lines and points that <a href=\"https:\/\/explorecareers.emotedigital.com.au\/article\/2021\/08\/02\/career-explorers-3-busted-myths-about-working-in-construction\/\">building, construction, and engineering projects<\/a> will refer back to in their designs and developments. Surveyors are usually the first professionals on a site, gathering all the data that other professionals will require to do their work effectively and accurately.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Engineers:<\/strong> There are <a href=\"https:\/\/explorecareers.emotedigital.com.au\/interview\/2022\/08\/12\/engineering-a-career-of-possibilities-with-coates\/\">many different types of engineers<\/a>, so for this article and to focus within construction, we\u2019ll focus on Civil Engineers. <a href=\"https:\/\/explorecareers.emotedigital.com.au\/article\/2022\/06\/17\/life-as-an-engineering-intern-with-coates\/\">Civil Engineers<\/a> also get involved with projects at the very early stages, envisaging, designing, supervising and maintaining a wide range of projects. They tend to focus on urban developments, from office buildings to housing, bridges to dams, airports to shopping centres.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another way to think about this is to see surveyors as the data people and civil engineers as the design people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s a lot of overlap between the two roles. Some Surveyors go on to become fully qualified as Civil Engineers to deliver in both roles, but they are separate professions, too &#8211; with different entry pathways and qualification requirements.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The Pathway to Becoming a Surveyor<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are two pathways to becoming a surveyor in Australia:<\/p>\n<h5><strong>1. Study a surveying degree<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you choose the degree pathway, you\u2019ll need to check the entry requirements by the university and work to achieve the ATAR required to get into your chosen course.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Throughout your degree, it\u2019s essential to take on work experience and internships and show commitment to group projects to boost your technical and work-based skills as much as possible.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each state in Australia has a different requirement for the practical training hours you should complete alongside industry-specific exams set by your state\u2019s surveyor board.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve ticked all the boxes, you can register to become a licensed surveyor and get stuck into your chosen career!<\/p>\n<h5><strong>2. Become a survey assistant through a traineeship or apprenticeship.<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In some states, it\u2019s possible to become a surveyor\u2019s assistant and enter the field without formal qualifications, but you can improve your chances of landing a role by completing a relevant qualification, for example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Certificate III in Surveying and Spatial Information Services<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Certificate IV in Surveying<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both are offered through TAFE.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also complete a Level 4 Traineeship in surveying, which takes 36months to complete. This can progress into a relevant apprenticeship, but this will depend on what your local providers and employers have available, so it\u2019s worth checking in with your school careers advisor and local apprenticeship providers.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The Pathway to Becoming a Civil Engineer<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To qualify as a <a href=\"https:\/\/explorecareers.emotedigital.com.au\/article\/2022\/09\/08\/meet-isaac-civil-engineer-with-unitywater\/\">Civil Engineer<\/a>, you\u2019ll need to complete a four-year bachelor\u2019s degree in Civil Engineering as a minimum.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These degree programs include a substantial amount of work-based placements that you\u2019ll need to complete to meet the qualification requirements (for many universities, this is a minimum of 100 hours completed on an approved placement, but some may require more hours).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To work as a Civil Engineer post-study, you\u2019ll need to register for a Professional Engineer\u2019s Licence based on the requirements of the state you live in. These requirements usually include your degree qualification and practical experience &#8211; some may require an entrance exam.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>A Quick Look at the Skills Needed<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now you know a bit more about the two different roles, what types of skills are best suited to each pathway &#8211; and where do they overlap in their skills?<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s take a look:<\/p>\n<table style=\"font-weight: 400;\" width=\"624\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"208\"><strong>Engineering Skills<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"208\"><strong>The Overlap<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"208\"><strong>Surveying Skills<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"208\">\n<ol>\n<li>Interpersonal<\/li>\n<li>Critical reasoning<\/li>\n<li>Creativity<\/li>\n<li>Innovation<\/li>\n<li>Enthusiasm<\/li>\n<li>Personal Motivation<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"208\">\n<ol>\n<li>Problem Solving<\/li>\n<li>Analytical Skills<\/li>\n<li>Decision-Making<\/li>\n<li>Up-to-date technical knowledge<\/li>\n<li>Communication<\/li>\n<li>Leadership<\/li>\n<li>Teamwork<\/li>\n<li>Presentation Skills<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<td width=\"208\">\n<ol>\n<li>Interpretative Skills<\/li>\n<li>Data Collection<\/li>\n<li>Precision<\/li>\n<li>Numerical<\/li>\n<li>Fact Finding<\/li>\n<li>Commitment<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4><strong>Find Out More<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, there you have it! Surveying and engineering: two vital roles that work together, offering a different set of skills and services to support the industry!<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re keen to learn more about these career pathways and the other types of roles you could explore, make sure you check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/explorecareers.emotedigital.com.au\/industry\/building-construction-engineering\/\">Building, Construction and Engineering Industry Profile<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Someone recently asked us what\u2019s the difference between an engineer and a surveyor &#8211; and you know what? We didn\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[34],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14700"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14700"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14703,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14700\/revisions\/14703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}