Exam Bulletin

Department of Transportation

Exam Code: EX-3038

Examination Plans Included:

  • TRANSPORTATION SURVEYOR (CALTRANS) - Open

Final Filing Date: Applications are accepted on a continuous basis.

Classification Details

TRANSPORTATION SURVEYOR (CALTRANS): $6,027.00 - $11,567.00 per Month

View the TRANSPORTATION SURVEYOR (CALTRANS) classification specification.

Application Instructions

Continuous (cut-off dates for 2024: January 31st, February 29th, March 31st, April 30th, May 31st, June 30th, July 31st, August 31st, September 30th, October 31st, November 30th, December 31st)

Applications are accepted on a continuous basis.

Who Should Apply:

The information below will help you determine which classification(s) is(are) appropriate for you. Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualifications as stated on this bulletin to compete in this examination.

Open and Open, Non-Promotional Examination(s):

  • TRANSPORTATION SURVEYOR (CALTRANS) - Open

For all Classifications, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 6 months:

Exam Code(s):

    3038

For TRANSPORTATION SURVEYOR (CALTRANS), once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 6 months:

Exam Code(s):

  • EX-03038

How To Apply:

Candidates are required to submit 1)STD678 State Application  and 2)  Supplemental Application
If you wish to submit in person or by mail, please follow the instructions below:

Submit an Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) to apply for this examination.

Electronic applications can be submitted through your account at www.CalCareers.ca.gov.

You may apply by mail to:

  • Caltrans Examination Services (MS 86)
    Caltrans
    Examination Services
    P.O. Box 168036
    Sacramento, CA 95816-8036

Indicate the Examination Code and Classification(s) on your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678).

You may drop off your application and any applicable or required documents at:

  • Caltrans
    Examination Services
    1727 30th Street
    Sacramento, CA 95816
    8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    **Candidates are responsible for obtaining proof of mailing or submission of their exam.

Indicate the Examination Code and Classification(s) on your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678). All applicants must provide proof of identification. Accepted forms of identification are: 1) a photo identification card or 2) two forms of signed identification.

Special Testing Arrangements:

If you require assistance or alternative testing arrangements due to a disability, indicate on your application that you need reasonable accommodation. You will be contacted by a representative of the testing department to make the necessary arrangements. If you have not been contacted by the time you receive notification of testing, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

If you are unable to submit your application or complete the test due to a disability, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

Minimum Qualifications

All applicants must meet the education and/or experience requirements as stated on this exam bulletin to be accepted to the examination.

Unless otherwise stated in the Minimum Qualifications, qualifying experience may be combined on a proportionate basis if the requirements stated below include more than one pattern and are distinguished as "Either" 1, "or" 2, "or" 3, etc. For example, applicants possessing qualifying experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 1 and additional experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 2 may be accepted to an examination as meeting 100% of the overall experience requirement.

00103029 - TRANSPORTATION SURVEYOR (CALTRANS)

Graduation from a four-year curriculum in surveying, surveying engineering, or surveying geomatics accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology. (Registration as a "Senior" in such a curriculum will admit an applicant to the competition, but applicants must produce evidence of graduation before being considered eligible for appointment.)

(Possession of a valid certificate as a Land Surveyor in Training issued or accepted by the California Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors or possession of a valid certificate as an Engineer in Training accepted by the California Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors in lieu of a certificate as a Land Surveyor in Training may be substituted for the required education.)

Position Description

00103029 - TRANSPORTATION SURVEYOR (CALTRANS)

This series is available for use within Caltrans. Incumbents determine and establish boundaries of State-owned lands; establish high-order vertical and horizontal control; provide photogrammetric mapping and topography; prepare and record maps; plan and direct the work of a staff in field surveys or office assignments; make technical studies and investigations pertaining to land or engineering surveying, property titles, descriptions, and deeds; write memoranda and prepare reports; and do other related work.

This is the entry, first working, and journey level of professional surveying work in Caltrans. Under the direction of a licensed land surveyor, incumbents perform a wide variety of professional land surveying work in either an office or field setting; as incumbents progress in experience, they will be assigned more difficult work and may function as a lead person over the activities of various surveying and technical personnel in the office or field. At the journey level and with a license, the incumbent will work in a responsible charge capacity.


Drug Testing Requirement:

Applicants for positions in this class are required to pass a drug screening test. Testing of current employees who are applicants in an examination or who are transferring is permitted only if the person does not have a current appointment to a class for which drug testing is a requirement.

For information regarding position location(s), please refer to the Eligible List Information section.

Examination Information

This examination consists of the following component(s):

Component OrderComponent TypeComponent DuePercentage of Final Score
1Online ExamWith Application100%

Components that are due with your application will be scored and will count toward your final examination result. Failure to submit these items may result in disqualification or elimination from the examination.

A final score of 70% must be attained to be placed on the eligible list.

In addition to evaluating the applicant's relative knowledge, skill and ability as demonstrated by quality and breadth of education/experience, emphasis in each test component will be on measuring competitively, relative to job demands, each applicant's:

Knowledge of: Fundamental surveying, mathematics, and basic science as applied to surveying; methods of precise survey measuring; use and adjustment of precision surveying instruments; procedures, equipment, and materials used in surveying, including conventional and state of the art; mapping and drafting techniques; mathematics and procedures used in plane and geodetic surveying; computer applications and usage; the California Coordinate System; Code of Safe Surveying Practices; photogrammetric mapping procedures; principles and practices of boundary determination, land title research, and surveying; legal descriptions of real property; methods and terminology used in searching for land titles and factors involved in determining ownership of property; real property acquisition and mapping laws pertaining to public and private ownership of real property; monumentation of facilities; the Land Surveyors' Act; the Subdivision Map Act; factors which influence the impact of departmental projects on property and basic net; right of way engineering projects; planning, design, construction, and right of way procedures and policies as they relate to surveys.

 Ability to: Perform the less complex field and office surveying work; make precise survey measurements; interpret legal descriptions of real property; make and interpret the less difficult survey calculations; apply and utilize the principles of the California Coordinate System; research, analyze, check, and adjust survey data; research and compile evidence and documentation for boundary determination; assist in planning, directing, and coordinating the work of a group of survey or right of way engineering personnel; do mapping and drafting; analyze situations accurately and take effective action; prepare clear and concise reports and correspondence; write property descriptions and prepare legal land documents and descriptions; operate precise surveying instruments (conventional and state of the art); establish and maintain friendly, business-like relations with those contacted in the course of the work; communicate effectively.

Eligible List Information

A Departmental Open eligible list for the TRANSPORTATION SURVEYOR (CALTRANS) Classification will be established for:

  • Department of Transportation

The names of successful competitors will be merged onto the eligible list(s) in order of final score regardless of test date. Eligibility expires 12 months after it is established. Applicants must then retake the examination to reestablish eligibility.

Resulting Eligibility List(s) will be used to fill vacancies throughout the State of California.

Veterans' Preference will be granted for this examination. Veterans' Preference is an assistance program for veterans, veteran widows and widowers, and spouses of 100% disabled veterans who seek employment with the state. Veterans' Preference is also extended to currently serving military members nearing their retirement or separation date.

You are not eligible for Veteran's Preference if you are:

  • A veteran who has been dishonorably discharged or released.
  • A veteran, widow or widower of a veteran, or spouse of a 100 percent disabled veteran who currently has permanent civil service status. (Permanent civil service status is the status of an employee who is lawfully retained in his/her position after completion of the applicable probationary period. This does not include limited term).

Veterans' Preference is codified in Government Code Sections 18973 – 18979.

Veteran status is verified by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR). Directions to apply for Veterans' Preference are on the Veterans' Preference Application (Std. Form 1093), which is available at www.CalCareers.ca.gov, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Career Credits are not granted for examination(s) administered on an Open basis or a Promotional basis.

Testing Departments

  • Department of Transportation

Contact Information

Questions regarding this examination should be directed to:

Department of Transportation
California Department of Transportation
Examination & Recruitment Services MS-86
P O Box 168036
Sacramento, CA 95816-8036
Phone: (916) 227-7858
askexams@dot.ca.gov

California Relay Service: 1-800-735-2929 (TTY), 1-800-735-2922 (Voice). TTY is a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, and is reachable only from phones equipped with a TTY Device.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The State of California is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

Drug Free Statement

It is an objective of the State of California to achieve a drug-free State work place. Any applicant for State employment will be expected to behave in accordance with this objective, because the use of illegal drugs is inconsistent with the law of the State, the rules governing civil service, and the special trust placed in public servants.

General Information

Examination and/or Employment Application (STD 678) forms are available at the California Department of Human Resources, local offices of the Employment Development Department, and through your CalCareer Account (www.CalCareers.ca.gov).

If you meet the requirements stated on this examination bulletin, you may take this examination, which is competitive. Possession of the entrance requirements does not assure a place on the eligible list. Your performance in the examination described in this bulletin will be rated against a predetermined job-related rating, and all applicants who pass will be ranked according to their scores.

Department of Transportation reserves the right to revise the examination plan to better meet the needs of the service, if the circumstances under which this examination was planned change. Such revision will be in accordance with civil service laws and rules and all applicants will be notified.

General Qualifications: Applicants must possess essential personal qualifications including integrity, initiative, dependability, good judgment, the ability to work cooperatively with others, and a state of health consistent with the ability to perform the assigned duties of the class. A medical examination may be required. In open examinations, investigation may be made of employment records and personal history and fingerprinting may be required.

Eligible Lists: Eligible lists established by competitive examination, regardless of date, must be used in the following order: 1) sub-divisional promotional, 2) departmental promotional, 3) multi-departmental promotional, 4) service-wide promotional, 5) departmental open, 6) open. When there are two lists of the same kind, the older must be used first. Eligible lists will expire in one to four years unless otherwise stated on the bulletin.

High School Equivalence: Equivalence to completion of the 12th grade may be demonstrated in any one of the following ways: 1) passing the General Education Development (GED) Test; 2) completion of 12 semester units of college-level work; 3) certification from the State Department of Education, a local school board, or high school authorities that the competitor is considered to have education equivalent to graduation from high school; or 4) for clerical and accounting classes, substitution of business college work in place of high school on a year-for-year basis.

Accepted applicants must provide proof of identification at each in-person test session. Acceptable identification consists of a photo identification card or two forms of signed identification.

Application Methods:
By Mail
In Person (see bulletin for details)
Alternate Application Process

While we recommend that you utilize your CalCareer Account to take advantage of all the tools available, you may choose to apply for this examination without using your account. In this case, print and complete the Exam Application Package Checklist and include it if you submit a hard copy application.

Exam Application Package Checklist

Blank Application Form (STD678)

Accommodation Request (STD679)