The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (HKIS) will host a booth at the Career Forum to introduce visitors to the work of the HKIS, the kinds of jobs that surveyors perform in different parts of the industry, and entry requirements for membership of the institute.

By participating at the forum, HKIS hopes to attract new blood to what it says is a high-growth profession.

Vacancies for surveying professionals of all levels are set to rise on growing demand from Macau and the mainland, as well as in Hong Kong.

Based on a recently conducted HKIS survey of industry firms, more than 70 per cent of respondents said they faced a shortage of surveying professionals in the past year. About 75 per cent said they would hire more staff in the next six months to fill vacancies in entry-level staff of assistant surveyor grade, as well as surveyors with three to five years of experience.

“The prospects for professional surveyors are optimistic and we need to encourage and attract more potential young professionals to join the surveying profession,” says the institute.

Surveyors in Hong Kong can join one of the institute’s seven divisions: building surveying, general practice, land surveying, quantity surveying, planning and development, property and facility management, and the Young Surveyors Group.

As the only professional surveying body incorporated by ordinance in Hong Kong, HKIS sets standards for professional services and performance, establishes codes of ethics, sets requirements for admission as professional surveyors, and regularly organises a wide range of professional development courses.

The institute also advises the government on policy making, and has agreements with professional surveying and valuation institutes in Britain, Australia and Singapore, with reciprocal recognition of members’ qualifications