FlightWay / Careers / Surveying and Mapping Technicians
Engineering & Science
Surveying and Mapping Technicians
Perform surveying and mapping duties, usually under the direction of an engineer, surveyor, cartographer, or photogrammetrist, to obtain data used for construction, mapmaking, boundary location, mining, or other purposes.
- Sector: Engineering & Science
- Preparation: Zone 3 — medium preparation needed
- O*NET code: 17-3031.00
What you'll actually do
The activities O*NET rates highest for this occupation, most important first. Numbers are out of 100.
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Working with Computers
central to the job — rated 88/100 for importance.
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Documenting/Recording Information
a major part of the work — rated 79/100 for importance.
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Getting Information
a major part of the work — rated 79/100 for importance.
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Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
a regular part of the work — rated 70/100 for importance.
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Analyzing Data or Information
a regular part of the work — rated 68/100 for importance.
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Processing Information
a regular part of the work — rated 68/100 for importance.
Perform surveying and mapping duties, usually under the direction of an engineer, surveyor, cartographer, or photogrammetrist, to obtain data used for construction, mapmaking, boundary location, mining, or other purposes. May calculate mapmaking information and create maps from source data, such as surveying notes, aerial photography, satellite data, or other maps to show topographical features, political boundaries, and other features. May verify accuracy and completeness of maps.
What it takes
Two numbers per line: the level the work expects, and how important it is to doing the job well. Both are O*NET ratings, already on a 0–100 scale.
Skills
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Reading Comprehension
Needed at a solid working level (54/100), and rated 72/100 for importance.
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Critical Thinking
Needed at a solid working level (46/100), and rated 60/100 for importance.
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Mathematics
Needed at a solid working level (50/100), and rated 56/100 for importance.
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Writing
Needed at a solid working level (50/100), and rated 56/100 for importance.
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Active Listening
Needed at a solid working level (50/100), and rated 53/100 for importance.
Knowledge
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Computers and Electronics
Needed at a high level (73/100), and rated 79/100 for importance.
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Geography
Needed at expert level (79/100), and rated 72/100 for importance.
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Mathematics
Needed at a high level (61/100), and rated 67/100 for importance.
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English Language
Needed at a solid working level (54/100), and rated 65/100 for importance.
Abilities
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Written Comprehension
Needed at a solid working level (50/100), and rated 69/100 for importance.
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Near Vision
Needed at a solid working level (54/100), and rated 63/100 for importance.
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Oral Comprehension
Needed at a solid working level (54/100), and rated 60/100 for importance.
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Oral Expression
Needed at a solid working level (52/100), and rated 60/100 for importance.
How people get in
O*NET places this occupation in Zone 3 — medium preparation needed. That is a statement about what employers typically require, not a rule about you.
Education
Vocational training, an associate degree, or equivalent on-the-job experience.
Experience
One to two years of related experience is typical.
Training
Employers expect you to arrive with the core skill already.
What it pays
These are typical engineering compensation bands by employer tier — sector-level figures, not a measured salary for Surveying and Mapping Technicians specifically. Treat them as the shape of the market, then check a real posting for the number.
SpaceX · NVIDIA · Boeing
$120k – $200k+
Manufacturing Corps
$85k – $140k
Local Engineering Firms
$65k – $110k
How the work tends to run
Each line below is read off a single O*NET activity rating for this occupation — named, so you can disagree with it.
- Most of the day happens at a screen.From “Working with Computers”
How FlightWay scores your fit against this
No black box. Here is the whole method, factor by factor.
- 1. You answer a short quiz
- Your answers build a profile across the same 161 O*NET dimensions this page is describing — skills, knowledge, abilities and work activities. Same axes, so the comparison is like-for-like.
- 2. We correlate the two profiles
- Fit is a mean-centered cosine — a correlation between the SHAPE of your profile and the shape of Surveying and Mapping Technicians. Centering matters: raw similarity between any two occupations sits at 0.70–0.85 because all work shares a common profile, so without it every career would look like a match.
- 3. The number you see is personality fit only
- "Would I want this work" and "am I ready for this work" are different questions, and averaging them answers neither. So readiness — what your résumé, coursework and projects prove — is scored separately and shown next to fit, never blended into it.
- 4. Every factor is visible
- You can open any match and see which dimensions pushed it up and which pulled it down. If you disagree with the number, you can see exactly where it came from.
More in Engineering & Science
See your fit for Surveying and Mapping Technicians
Ten questions, about 90 seconds. You get your match against Surveying and Mapping Technicians and 782+ other real careers — with the reasoning shown.
Take the quiz Open in FlightWayOccupational data on this page comes from the O*NET 30.3 Database, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. FlightWay is not endorsed by, and USDOL/ETA is not responsible for, anything built on that data — see our terms. What is ours is the comparison, the score and the plan.