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What does a marine surveyor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
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Marine surveyor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real marine surveyor resumes:

  • Utilize and maintain GPS, dive beacons, and sonar equipment in order to achieve safe and cost-effective positioning.
  • Insure that all repairs meet IICL and ISO regulations.
  • Research utility services via GIS computer system and reference library and mark relevant utilities in specify construction areas.
  • Check compliance of cargo boat in accordance with the law; check loading/downloading condition of the goods
  • Develop new data from photogrammetric records.

Marine surveyor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 23% of Marine Surveyors are proficient in GPS, Bulk Cargo, and Boats. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Detail oriented, and Physical stamina.

We break down the percentage of Marine Surveyors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • GPS, 23%

    Use of a GPS, and inclinometer to calculate and record exact location of animal.

  • Bulk Cargo, 14%

    Conducted draft displacement surveys to analyze and determine how much bulk cargo was loaded and/or discharged onto barges and/or ships.

  • Boats, 12%

    Maintained 60ft crew boat and several 30ft shallow water craft.

  • ABS, 9%

    Consult with clients regarding CFR, USCG, ABS, DOT and OSHA compliance.

  • Data Acquisition, 9%

    Established most efficient plan of action for data acquisition for field surveys.

  • Insurance Claims, 9%

    Conduct personal surveillance/spy on a specific person who is fraudulently filing an insurance claims.

"gps," "bulk cargo," and "boats" are among the most common skills that marine surveyors use at work. You can find even more marine surveyor responsibilities below, including:

Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a marine surveyor to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "surveyors must provide clear instructions to team members, clients, and government officials." Additionally, a marine surveyor resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "solved problems prepared land and construction surveys used gps and excellent communication skills performed project geometry & trigonometry processes"

Detail oriented. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling marine surveyor duties is detail oriented. The role rewards competence in this skill because "surveyors must work with precision and accuracy because they produce legally binding documents." According to a marine surveyor resume, here's how marine surveyors can utilize detail oriented in their job responsibilities: "interpret deed documents to detail land ownership, acreage and gis coordinates in cad. "

Physical stamina. This is an important skill for marine surveyors to perform their duties. For an example of how marine surveyor responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "surveyors traditionally work outdoors, often in rugged terrain." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a marine surveyor: "assist licensed land surveyor with tasks including: detailed analysis of property boundaries and physical features. ".

Problem-solving skills. A big part of what marine surveyors do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to marine surveyor responsibilities because "surveyors must figure out discrepancies between documents showing property lines and current conditions on the land." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical marine surveyor tasks: "recommend alternative plans, or solutions to planning, progress and cost control problems as may be required. "

Time-management skills. Another common skill required for marine surveyor responsibilities is "time-management skills." This skill comes up in the duties of marine surveyors all the time, as "surveyors must be able to effectively plan their time and their team members’ time on the job." An excerpt from a real marine surveyor resume shows how this skill is central to what a marine surveyor does: "supervised gis and land surveying works which enabled the department to meet all tight deadlines. "

Most common marine surveyor skills

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Compare different marine surveyors

Marine surveyor vs. Party chief

A party chief is a management position responsible for leading and guiding a program and providing leadership for its success. To fill this role, you will manage the program and provide overall technical expertise. Party chiefs should able to assess and identify risks and offer remedies and must be highly proficient in the program area. You will collaborate with partners to ensure program success, recruit experts for the program, and supervise its implementation.

The annual salary of party chiefs is $25,617 lower than the average salary of marine surveyors.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a marine surveyor are more likely to require skills like "gps," "sonar," "bulk cargo," and "boats." On the other hand, a job as a party chief requires skills like "topographic surveys," "boundary surveys," "data collection," and "construction layout." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

On average, party chiefs reach similar levels of education than marine surveyors. Party chiefs are 4.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Marine surveyor vs. Surveyor instrument assistant

Survey party chiefs are individuals distinguished from an engineering technician class. The chiefs supervise land surveys, plan, and assess the proposed field survey projects. They gather field data using the necessary equipment. Their job involves managing equipment logistics, travel-related budgets, and recruiting local staff. They perform work on several highway projects like fills and cuts, bridgework, and centerline layouts. Also, they execute data analysis and offer recommendations for the expansion of military bases and to achieve runway capabilities.

A career as a surveyor instrument assistant brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a marine surveyor. In fact, surveyor instrument assistants salary is $26,620 lower than the salary of marine surveyors per year.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real marine surveyor resumes. While marine surveyor responsibilities can utilize skills like "sonar," "bulk cargo," "boats," and "abs," surveyor instrument assistants use skills like "survey data," "construction sites," "boundary surveys," and "data collection."

Average education levels between the two professions vary. Surveyor instrument assistants tend to reach lower levels of education than marine surveyors. In fact, they're 6.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Marine surveyor vs. Survey superintendent

An average survey superintendent eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of marine surveyors. The difference in salaries amounts to survey superintendents earning a $5,034 higher average salary than marine surveyors.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, marine surveyors are more likely to have skills like "gps," "sonar," "bulk cargo," and "boats." But a survey superintendent is more likely to have skills like "survey crews," "project layout," "gps machine," and "txdot."

Most survey superintendents achieve a similar degree level compared to marine surveyors. For example, they're 3.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Marine surveyor vs. Survey party chief

Survey party chiefs typically earn lower pay than marine surveyors. On average, survey party chiefs earn a $24,649 lower salary per year.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between marine surveyors and survey party chiefs, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a marine surveyor might have more use for skills like "sonar," "bulk cargo," "boats," and "abs." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of survey party chiefs require skills like "survey party," "survey equipment," "survey data," and "data collection. "

Survey party chiefs reach lower levels of education compared to marine surveyors, in general. The difference is that they're 8.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of marine surveyor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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