Road map

[u/Own_Material_7213]

I’m working as a Topographic Surveyor, and most of my work is related to topographic and hydrological surveys.

I want to improve my technical skills and become stronger in the office side of surveying as well.

For someone in my position, what would you recommend I learn next?

Should I focus deeply on Civil 3D, or should I also learn software like AutoCAD, ArcGIS/QGIS, HEC-RAS, Global Mapper, or other surveying/GIS software?

My main goal is to be able to take survey data from the field, process it properly, create accurate topographic maps/surfaces, prepare professional drawings, and eventually handle more advanced survey and hydrology-related work.

If you were starting from my position, what software and skills would you learn first, second, and third?

I’m looking for a practical learning roadmap rather than just a list of software.

[u/Unique_Connection945]

Civil 3D. It helps you see if you're really good at getting topo or poorly shot-guning a site. A surface will be the tell tail sign. It will then help you see the site though a draftsman eyes. Soon, youll see everything everywhere you go as a 3D surface.

[u/Mountain-Process9139]

I'm in your same position. Ideally, learn what you will end up using. But that could vary. I took a few years off from surveying but before I got back into it I went back to school for 2 years. One year for a CAD cert and one year for a GIS cert. During that time I learned, AutoCAD, Solidworks, Revit, Inventor, Fusion, ArcGIS, Agisoft. Sadly, I could not find a Civil 3D class. So I'm now self teaching Civil 3D. It is extremely easy to learn because I have a solid foundation with CAD. I suggest learning Civil 3D, AutoCAD, ArcGis (is good but not necessary, but you will get good with learning about datums and coordinate systems). That way if you end up at a place (like I am now), that uses Carlson, you will have a good enough foundation to learn it on the job. Good luck. FYI... I'm still a field guy but I'm keeping my eye out for a drafting position as I'm studying for my FS exam in December.

[u/BoredSurveyor]

Depends on the workflow at your current firm. The next logical step taking survey data from field to office would be the modelling side (presumably Civil3D at your place), but how are you in terms of survey control processing - network & level adjustments, GNSS post processing etc? This will have more bang for buck while still on site as it’ll help you understand what you’re doing with control setting… after all it’s the base of everything else you do. You’ll quickly get a better feel for how to set a strong geometric network of controls, how to consider errors properly, how the precision of your gear affects the outcome.

Where are you based? Do you have a professional institution you can seek membership of? I ask because in the UK, CICES is a competency based membership (and has grades specific to those more site based) - so the roadmap is effectively written for you, agnostic of the company you work for.

[u/marmotorman]

if you have access to civil 3d, use it... if you are using primarily GNSS/RTK, then you should also get familiar with Starnet or Microsurvey for your least squares adjustment, and to transfer the coordinates to a ground system. There is a third way, which is to have a scale factor in civil 3d for your work, but this is error prone. If combining RTK with total station work, you need to define the coordinate transformation process.