Throughout the world many countries experience a shortage in surveyors. There is an evident skills shortage at a time of growing demand in Australia causing friction with existing surveying teams trying to keep up with the workload.

To achieve growth a key objective for the industry is to drive and encourage diversity in the field, bringing people from a range of backgrounds to engage in the profession. So how do we encourage the next generation of surveyors? 

University of Southern Queensland (USQ) highlighted their efforts to ‘levelling out the surveying field’ as the only Queensland provider of surveying degrees with surveying student Rebecca Johnston’s journey to joining the profession. USQ noted that the field is male dominated but they are seeing more and more female students embarking on studies in surveying. Females make up just 5% of the profession and 34% in the spatial science industry, but this is not a result of a gender biased industry, rather a lack of awareness of the field. 

On the back of a realisation that the surveying industry lacked new recruits, UK based Get Kids into Survey was created to build awareness of the geospatial industry that operates worldwide, sparking children’s interest in surveying with fun and interactive content. Get Kids into Survey produces readily available resources that feature fun activities based on surveying and mapping concepts. 

Recently released was the Proudly Australian poster, exploring the concept of land protection and respect for Australia’s traditional owners. The activity highlights the key role surveyors play in protection, which is of the utmost importance, demonstrating how to perform a Culture Protection Survey using GPS. The cultural aspect of these resources also contributes to encouraging diversity in the field by demonstrating a range of backgrounds and cultures being involved in the surveying process. 

At Hanlons we encourage the next generation through our cadetships, bringing current and aspiring students on board to support their studies in surveying with valuable experience in the field. The experience of our cadetships/traineeships are outlined in a video with our very own Tim Mclean. Our growing firm seeks to contribute to overcoming the skills shortage and encourage the diversity the industry is seeking by making careers in surveying more accessible for regional and inexperienced people keen to get involved.

Are you looking for a challenge? A career where no day is ever the same? Join an increasingly diverse industry with a career at Hanlons.