How to hire surveying and mapping technicians
A job description you can copy, interview questions tied to the real work, and what to pay. Free.
Job description template
Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.
[Job title] at [Company name] [City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range] About the role [Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.] What you will do • Adjust and operate surveying instruments such as prisms, theodolites, electronic distance measuring equipment, or electronic data collectors. • Calculate latitudes, longitudes, angles, areas, or other information for mapmaking, using survey field notes or reference tables. • Check all layers of maps to ensure accuracy, identifying and marking errors and making corrections. • Collect information needed to carry out new surveys, using source maps, previous survey data, photographs, computer records, or other relevant information. • Enter Global Positioning System (GPS) data, legal deeds, field notes, or land survey reports into geographic information system (GIS) workstations so that information can be transformed into graphic land descriptions, such as maps and drawings. • Record survey measurements or descriptive data, using notes, drawings, sketches, or inked tracings. • Search for section corners, property irons, or survey points. • Set out and recover stakes, marks, or other monumentation. What you bring • [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any] • [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: High school diploma or equivalent] • Strong reading comprehension, critical thinking, mathematics, active listening, monitoring and speaking skills • Working knowledge of geography, mathematics and English Language • [Anything else you would really turn someone away for] Pay and benefits [Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $26.08 an hour ($54,240 a year). [Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.] How to apply [Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]
Interview questions for surveying and mapping technicians
Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.
- Tell me about a time you had to adjust and operate surveying instruments such as prisms, theodolites, electronic distance measuring equipment, or electronic data collectors. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to calculate latitudes, longitudes, angles, areas, or other information for mapmaking, using survey field notes or reference tables. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to check all layers of maps to ensure accuracy, identifying and marking errors and making corrections. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to collect information needed to carry out new surveys, using source maps, previous survey data, photographs, computer records, or other relevant information. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
- Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
- Walk me through a calculation you do regularly at work and how you check it.
- Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?
Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.
What surveying and mapping technicians do
- Adjust and operate surveying instruments such as prisms, theodolites, electronic distance measuring equipment, or electronic data collectors.
- Calculate latitudes, longitudes, angles, areas, or other information for mapmaking, using survey field notes or reference tables.
- Check all layers of maps to ensure accuracy, identifying and marking errors and making corrections.
- Collect information needed to carry out new surveys, using source maps, previous survey data, photographs, computer records, or other relevant information.
- Enter Global Positioning System (GPS) data, legal deeds, field notes, or land survey reports into geographic information system (GIS) workstations so that information can be transformed into graphic land descriptions, such as maps and drawings.
- Record survey measurements or descriptive data, using notes, drawings, sketches, or inked tracings.
- Search for section corners, property irons, or survey points.
- Set out and recover stakes, marks, or other monumentation.
Skills that matter most
Education, experience and outlook for surveying and mapping technicians
- Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
- Training on the job: Moderate-term on-the-job training (BLS)
- Job outlook: +5.8% over ten years, faster than average · about 6,900 openings a year (BLS)
What to pay surveying and mapping technicians
Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:
| State | Median yearly pay |
|---|---|
| California | $78,110 |
| Minnesota | $73,190 |
| Washington | $62,720 |
| New Jersey | $60,720 |
| Ohio | $60,330 |
| Arkansas | $46,370 |
| Kentucky | $46,050 |
| South Carolina | $43,740 |
See surveying and mapping technicians pay in every state
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Post a job freePay by areaJob duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.