Question: What do George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Henry David Thoreau have in common?

Answer:   They all spent part of their careers, (before they became famous as POTUS’ 1, 3, and 16 and a pond-adoring transcendental idealist) as surveyors.   This week is National Surveyors Week, highlighting the contributions made to society by members of the surveying profession.

In the State Capitol, Senator Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) and Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) graciously introduced resolutions acknowledging the 3,488 licensed surveyors working in California and celebrating National Surveyors Week.   See our press release HERE.

So, what do surveyors do?    This “Day in the Life” video by a Canadian surveying firm, looking to hire surveyors out of college, gives a great insight into the profession.   Here’s a more formal description from the International Federation of Surveyors.  Surveyors are accurate and detail oriented, want to solve problems, and, as you can see from the video, are not only happy to work in an office environment but also love to be outdoors.

Like many professions, the job of the surveyor has changed due to the introduction of technology.  The advent of GPS systems, for example, has made the surveyor’s life a little easier, but surveyors still need to spend a lot of time “in the field” in order to make sure their surveys are as accurate as possible.

According to some in the industry, attrition within the surveying sector could lead to there being less than 3,000 licensed professionals in California by 2025.  Yet even as the number of surveyors dwindles, their services are more in demand than ever.  For a list of schools in California offering courses in surveying, visit:  https://www.californiasurveyors.org/colleges.html.