How To Become An Instrument Person: What It Is and Career Path

What is an instrument person and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Instrument persons generally adjust and operate surveying instruments, such as the theodolite and electronic distance-measuring equipment, compile records, make designs, and enter data into computers. They manage review on equipment inventory, station operator for data collection and implementation, and data collection in road profiles and creek profiles for commercial and private property studies.

Typically, you need to possess an associate or bachelor's degree in a relevant field. However, it is possible to become an instrument person if you have only a college degree. Nevertheless, you must have previous carrier experience and skills.

The bachelors who work in this field end up laying claim to annual earnings at $39,209. The current median pay for an instrument person ranges from $34,000 to $48,287 in the U.S. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your experience and skills.

ScoreInstrument PersonUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,699

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.08%

Asian 3.23%

Black or African American 4.62%

Hispanic or Latino 13.36%

Unknown 3.65%

White 74.05%

Gender

female 4.20%

male 95.80%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an instrument person

Explore instrument person education requirements

Most common instrument person degrees

High School Diploma

38.0 %

Associate

25.2 %

Bachelor's

24.5 %

Start to develop specific instrument person skills

Skills	Percentages
Topographic Surveys	10.06%
Data Collection	9.18%
Survey Equipment	8.80%
Trimble Gps	6.62%
Robotic	6.40%

Complete relevant instrument person training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New instrument people learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an instrument person based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real instrument person resumes.

Research instrument person duties and responsibilities

Operate TopCon total stations with TDS-48 software.
Operate RTK equipment and Pro-XR global positioning systems.
Operate data collectors, total stations, theodolites and auto-levels.
Downloaded/Upload data from the HP48 (TDS) using TFR.

Prepare your instrument person resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your instrument person resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an instrument person resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable instrument person resume templates

Build a professional instrument person resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your instrument person resume.