Hydrographic surveyor : Salary and conditions

• Salaries can vary greatly depending on the sector, type of employer, location and experience. For example, salaries are likely to be higher with oil and gas/dredging companies than with environmental research companies.
• Typical starting salaries: £18,000 - £25,000 plus an allowance of £70 - £110 a day for each day spent offshore. In a full year, you will spend between 130 and 180 days at sea, earning an additional £10,000 - £17,000.
• The base salary for a party chief is around £40,000 with £100 to £170 per day for every day offshore, which is usually around 150 days per year, so earning potential can reach £70,000. An experienced freelance could earn up to £400 a day.
• As well as an offshore allowance, surveyors may also receive a hardship allowance (depending on the living conditions/dangers involved in sleeping onshore in certain circumstances). Allowances can boost annual salaries significantly.
• Most companies pay all travel costs to and from project areas.
• Working hours typically include regular unsocial hours and may be determined by weather, tides and daylight. Work includes shifts.
• Work is largely offshore. For company personnel, offshore work tends to be continuous from April to October with only slight slackening in the winter months due to the weather conditions.
• Onshore work generally follows a nine-to-five day, though hours may be longer if particular problems arise. For senior staff, weekend duty, which involves being on-call to handle any offshore problems, usually falls one weekend in every five.
• Opportunities for self-employment/freelance work are good, but depend on levels of commercial activity and your personal contacts. Contract surveyors would normally be expected to have five years' experience or more.
• Although the profession has traditionally been male-dominated, the male/female ratio is now 60:40.
• The working and living environment may be in cramped and uncomfortable surroundings.
• Jobs are available worldwide at coastal and offshore sites. The work may involve international activity, onshore and port work. Staff are generally encouraged to live within commuting distance of the main office, although this is not essential as you will be flown to the port where you will join the ship.
• The role involves living away from home for extended periods, sometimes at short notice, which can be disruptive to your personal life. Long periods away from home are interspersed with short breaks onshore, spent either at home or at shore locations for reporting, training and development.
• Overseas work is common: oil and gas exploration currently provide many opportunities in countries such as Norway, the Arabian Gulf, China, the Pacific Rim, Venezuela, Mexico, the United States, West Africa and Angola.