Meet Hannah Pearce a Land Surveyor working in Canberra. Having graduated from Õ¬Äи£Àû Sydney only a few years ago, the Õ¬Äи£Àû Girls in Engineering Club hit her up for a Q&A andÌýasked her why she chose toÌýstudyÌýsurveying, what opportunities it has given her,Ìýand why she recommends you give surveying a shot!Ìý
Tell us a bit about yourselfÌýÌý
Hi! I’m a Registered Land Surveyor who graduated a couple of years ago with aÌýBachelorÌýof Engineering (Surveying)Ìýfrom Õ¬Äи£Àû. I live in Canberra, better known for politicians than world-famous surveyors, but I’m working on it.Ìý
I went to aÌýfairly smallÌýschool in Canberra which has a strong focus on arts, music and giving everyone a broad education. As a result, my interests wereÌýprettyÌývariedÌý- in Year 11 & 12 I studied Visual Art, Maths, German and English with minors in History and Science.ÌýÌý
After finishingÌýschool,ÌýI took a gap year, saved up some cash working at a supermarket and flew to Germany to work on a farm for a few months and travel around Europe.ÌýThen I shifted up to Sydney for a few years to study the best (and only) availableÌýsurveying degree within a four-hour radius of home.Ìý
When I’m notÌýsurveying,ÌýI like gardening, reading, knitting, cooking, and almost any other old-lady hobby you can think of. But I also like hiking and camping and just generally spending time outdoors.ÌýÌý
What isÌýsurveying?Ìý
Surveying is essentially the art (and science) of measuring and mapping the world aroundÌýus, andÌýpresenting that information in a useful way.
My branch ofÌýsurveying,ÌýLand Surveying, deals with property boundaries.ÌýWe redefine the boundaries and markÌýthem on the ground so people can put a new fence in the right spot or resolve a dispute between neighbours. Sometimes we subdivide a large parcel of land into new blocks to be sold off and built up. Sometimes we mark out the position of a new house on anÌýempty block so that the builders can build it in the right place. Any of these things to do with property boundaries need a Registered Land Surveyor (that’s me!).Ìý
Surveying involves a lot of other types of work, too: we can make detailed contour plans of areas so that architects and engineers can design new roads or buildings; we can work on big construction projects like roads, train lines, stadiums, or high-rise buildings as well as small projects like residential houses and extensions. We can work in the inner city, iÌýÌýthe suburbs or (my favourite) out in the bush on a big rural property.ÌýÌý
If you can think of a project that needs to be built or designed or changed, then there is pretty sure to be a surveyor involved to make sure that it all happens in the right place.ÌýÌý
What inspired you to study surveying?Ìý
Like most people my age I had never heard of the professionÌýuntil my maths teacher played us the recruitment videos fromÌýÌýin Year 10 and tiedÌýsurveying into ourÌýTrigonometry lessons for a term.ÌýÌý
During Year 11 and 12 I had no idea whatÌýI wanted to do with my life. My mum and my maths teacher respectively thoughtÌýsurveying would be a worthwhile option because it had great job prospects and I was good at maths. I figured it would combine at least two of my many interests: maths and the outdoors; and I knew for sure that I didn’t want a job where I was sitting at a computer 100% of the time.ÌýSoÌýI went along to all theÌýuniÌýopen days and didÌýtwo weeks work experience with aÌýsurveying company at the start of my gap year, and that was that!Ìý
What qualities make a good surveyor?Ìý
People will say that liking maths is essential for anyone who wants to studyÌýengineering. That’sÌýfairly trueÌýforÌýsurveying as well, but more important is the ability to learn and the motivation to get work done. That sounds like one of the soppy advertising platitudes that I hate, but itÌýdefinitely appliesÌýto my job.Ìý
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Working on construction sites, you end up learning about a lot of different trades and it is very handy to remember enough about them to be able to holdÌýa useful conversation with the people you work near. The variety of different jobs we do, in different councils makes it important to be able to learn new things. Anyway, you can alwaysÌýlearnÌýmaths.ÌýÌý
AndÌýattention to detail is also very important. There’sÌýnothing like mixing up 40 millimetres and 40 centimetres in height to make you find out how expensive concrete is!ÌýÌý
What opportunities has surveying given you?Ìý
In just the last year I’ve done jobs in the city, surveyed new suburbs, set-out and measured houses, flown our drone to map the ground from the air, and foundÌý150-year-oldÌýsurvey marks way up in the Snowy Mountains!ÌýI alwaysÌýhave the opportunity toÌýlearn and use new software and cool equipment, like the drone and GPS, and despite being one of the younger surveyors,ÌýI also get to train up new staff.ÌýÌý
IÌýalsoÌýhelp outÌýthe localÌýSurveyingÌýCommittee which aims to aid the profession by advocating for it with the government, organising professional workshops and such. And in theÌýfuture,Ìýthere isÌýdefinitely the opportunity to run a surveying company myself. But mostly I prefer the bit about getting to drive all over the region to do different jobs, especially in the bush.ÌýÌý
Why would you recommend surveying to others?Ìý
You’reÌýalmost definitelyÌýguaranteed a job, and it will probably pay decently. If it doesn’t, go find a better company to work for because:
Surveyors are massively in demand and there are just not enough of usÌýto keep up with all the work.ÌýSeriously.Ìý
But I would also recommend it becauseÌýyou can work by yourself or with people, outdoors and at a desk,Ìýin the city or in the bush or on a boat or in the sky, using your brainÌýandÌýyour hands, working with fancy electronic equipment that shoots lasers, and you can know that you areÌýdoingÌýsomething that is directly useful to other people.ÌýÌý
However,ÌýyouÌýcan alsoÌýdecide to studyÌýsurveying at Õ¬Äи£Àû, just because the lecturers thereÌýareÌýthe best.ÌýÌý
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For more information about studying surveying andÌýrelated courses, contact theÌýSchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering.