Ambassador Spotlight ‘Jay Sidhu’

A HUGE welcome to Jay Sidhu from Perth, Western Australia! Let’s learn a bit more about him:

Where did you study? Curtin University, Perth Western Australia. I studied Bachelor of Surveying and Bachelor of Commerce double degree.

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? Surveying requires a Tertiary qualification from University or TAFE.

Curtin University offers two courses:

  • A four year Bachelor of Surveying Degree will allow you to work in any field of surveying, and a 3 year Bachelor of Mining Technology (Mine Surveying) will allow you to be a mining and engineering surveyor. 
  • An ATAR score of 70 is required for admission to the degree courses.

For entry to TAFE, you will need Year 11 maths at OLNA or NAPLAN 9 Band 8 at Certificate III level in Engineering and Mining Surveying. After that, you can then proceed through Cert IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma which will lead to a career in engineering and/or mining surveying.

To become a Licensed Surveyor, you will need a Bachelor of Surveying degree, followed by 2 years of experience in cadastral surveys, training, and assessments.

You can work as a survey technician on mine sites with a Diploma, but to become an Authorised Mine Surveyor, you will need to have an Advanced Diploma, 1 – 2 years on the job experience, a reference from a supervising surveyor and an interview with the Mines Registration Board.

How did you get into surveying? I got into surveying with the help of my mum who said that it would be a career with lots of job prospects and it was in demand, so I gave it a go and I have not looked back since. I love the surveying industry.

How long have you been in the industry? I have been working in the industry since I was a first year student in 2009. So I have been in the industry for 13 years and loving every moment of it.

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention?

Western Australian Institution of Surveyors  (Surveyors WA) – Link –https://www.surveyorswa.org.au/

Vision Surveys Consulting is a company that I am a Director/Co-owner of based in Perth, Western Australia. – Link –https://visionsc.com.au/

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? Getting the word out there for our beautiful profession is a must! Surveyors all have explorer blood through our veins, and we are all passionate of what we do and the new courses we chart.

Getting that all out there to kids and seeing a kids get involved and interested in what you do provides a great sense of satisfaction not only to yourself but to know that our profession will keep growing to bigger and better things as we advance into the future.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? The number of surveyors here in Australia is declining and we really would like to keep the industry thriving for years to come. It is important for kids to know early who we are so that they can find out more as they go through school and have a profession in surveying or the broader geospatial industry on their list to work towards. I am yet to meet a surveyor who didn’t love his or her job. That really is a fantastic statement, and you know anyone who joins our cohort will love every minute of it.  

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? I will keep doing what I do at career fairs and get more contact out in social media encouraging parents to share stories about surveyors – who we are – what we do and all the exciting aspects we are involved in to increase interest within our future leaders.

What are your hobbies? In my free time I enjoy playing tennis and I practice Taekwondo (working my way towards my 4th Dan next year)

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? Would like a “cool vibe” sort of character – I like to play with names that are catchy – that’s how I came up with the name Fresh Prince of Surveys which definitely grabs people attention. So perhaps something funky like that. 😊

Cool and funky – that grabs attention and it sticks.

What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? More informative videos from the GKiS crew and more videos from all the members to be shared globally.