Once you’ve qualified as a land surveyor, you will need to take the time to search for a job, as it is unlikely that something will simply fall into your lap. Joining the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is probably the best place to start. This will give you access to many more potential positions. By registering your CV with the company, employers will have access to your essential details, and may choose to contact you with relevant jobs.

RICS also has a comprehensive job search engine which you can use for your own career hunts. Standard job websites such as Trovit and Indeed are additional tools for finding what you’re looking for. Experiencing problems? If you’re finding it difficult to acquire the career you want, then you may need to re-think your search. Have a serious look at your CV and make it as reader-friendly as possible.

Take out any information which seems irrelevant; employers in the land survey industry only really want to know your basic details, academic qualifications, and related work experience. Avoid cluttering your CV up with extra information which is linked to a past career aspiration, or an insignificant award that you won ten years ago. When it comes to writing your covering letter, try to personalise each one to the specific job you are applying for.

Make the job title clear at the start of the letter, and expand on elements of your CV that you think will be most important for the role. Don’t talk about placements or achievements which you haven’t included in your CV. If you are applying for work in the Rural surveying sector, then make sure you emphasise your knowledge of this above everything else.

Ideally, a good covering letter should be about two thirds of A4, and no longer than one side. Don’t waste time on excessive pleasantries and flattering your employer; you will more than likely deter them from reading on. They want to know exactly why you are suitable for the job and what you think you can bring to the profession. Be flexible; if you’ve chosen to work in the land surveying industry, then you’ll need to be fairly flexible about what you do.

Setting yourself the challenge of becoming an associate partner in a company is a great overall goal, but you’ll have to work your way up. There are so many different and diverse areas of land surveying; see this as a positive rather than a negative. You’ll never have a limit on what you can try out. For example, if you start in the Geomatics sector, then maybe in five years time you will decide to turn your attention to Waste Management. The world really is your oyster.