In our ‘day in the life’ series, we aim to showcase the work of our talented team and help you get to know them a little bit better. In this edition, we sat down with Amanda, one of our Surveyors, to chat a bit more about what attracted her to becoming a Surveyor and some of the unexpected surprises she has experienced throughout her career.
Tell us a bit about yourself and what attracted you to becoming a Surveyor?
My first introduction to surveying happened while I was working and living in a pub in London. Some surveyors came in to do a job. I had no idea what they were doing with their odd tripod thingy, but I was intrigued, so I immediately Googled surveying and discovered that it involves a lot of mathematics, which I enjoyed in school; offers a mix of office work and field work; and offered career progression opportunities. I decided it was for me and booked a flight home to begin my studies.
I graduated with first class honors in 2019 and am now on my way to becoming a Registered Surveyor.
What does a typical day in your working life look like?
A day in the office might involve drafting detail, identification or set out plans; drafting strata or deposited plans and preparing the forms they are lodged with; checking plans prior to issuing; setting up jobs for fieldwork; reducing and adjusting data collected in the field; boundary definition; and desktop investigations to plan fieldwork.
When I’m let out of the office, I do detail surveys, strata identification surveys, building set outs, cadastral surveys, road detail surveys, boundary set outs, and try to pat inquisitive cows (the mooing kind, not the nosey neighbour kind).
What are some of the projects you have enjoyed working on the most at Barker Ryan Stewart?
My favourite projects are the rural ones that have me working out in the countryside, surrounded by birds, wallabies, and cows. I enjoy the historical value of finding marks that were placed by another surveyor many years ago. It is a goal of mine to cut a shield off a tree blaze to hang on my wall at home (nerd alert).
What do you like most about your role and working at Barker Ryan Stewart?
I love the variety of my role most of all. Every job is different with its own unique problems to be solved, and there is always an opportunity to learn something new.
BRS provides me with the flexibility I need to find balance in my busy life, and I always feel supported when schedules and plans change.
What is something that surprised you about the surveying profession?
I had no idea when I began my surveying journey that I would be trudging through cow paddocks, getting zapped by electrical fences, digging for marks buried one hundred years ago, ripping clothes on barbed wire fences, swinging sledgehammers, and wielding brush hooks. It’s a lot more physical than university had me believe.
What would be your advice to anyone looking to become a Surveyor?
It’s worth doing a bit of research first to decide on whether to take the route of Survey Technician or Registered Surveyor, as they have different study paths.
Want to get to know our team a bit better?
Check out our other ‘day in the life of’ blogs to learn more about our team.
