YSN Member Spotlight: Ben Allen
From Online Retail to Property Corners – Finding a Career with Direction
Some people find surveying in college.
Some stumble into it by accident.
Ben found it while Googling “top outdoor jobs” and then accidentally ran into YSN while backpacking through Europe.
Originally from Western Massachusetts, Ben’s surveying journey took shape in Boston and later Charleston, South Carolina. Before surveying, his world looked very different. He worked in online retail, specializing in liquidating distressed denim and apparel – buying distressed inventory from stores that were closing. The work was fast-paced, overwhelming and fiercely competitive.
There was no clear competitive advantage. No long-term edge. Just more stuff to sort through and another “me-too” online retailer.
At 25, Ben started searching for something else, something outdoors, tangible and a clear path forward. Land surveying topped the list. Not knowing exactly what surveyors did, he called a local surveyor in the Boston area and started asking questions. The surveyor told Ben to call the Massachusetts Association of Land Surveyors and Civil Engineers (MALSCE).
Then something unexpected happened.
The next day, that same surveyor called Ben back and offered him a job.
Ben worked for him for three years. It was old-school surveying: limited equipment, low overhead and a front-row seat to how a solo Professional Land Surveyor actually runs a small business. Ben noticed something else too, the economics made sense. Surveying wasn’t flashy, but it was durable. It rewarded expertise, not hype.
Licensure became the goal.
It took ten years.
Along the way, Ben leaned on instincts shaped long before surveying. As an Eagle Scout, the profession’s emphasis on public trust, stewardship and ethical responsibility felt familiar.
Surveyors protect the public.
They define boundaries.
They quietly hold communities together. And yes – sometimes they get to play in the woods.
YSN played a key role in keeping the long view clear. Well on his way to Licensure but still searching for meaningful mentorship and community in South Carolina. Ben discovered the Young Surveyors Network in a way only surveyors could appreciate – while backpacking across Europe on a summer sabbatical. First completing the Camino, he registered for an FIG Working Week in Warsaw Poland. There, he met Jacob Heck, the current US – NSPS YSN president. That chance encounter introduced him to a global community of young professionals walking the same path.
Today, Ben is a newly licensed Professional Land Surveyor, the South Carolina YSN State Coordinator, and the person who helped get SC YSN off the ground. Looking ahead to 2026, he’s investing even further, purchasing his own equipment, working with other surveyors to broaden his project experience and planning to complete a master’s degree in Geomatics/ GIS.
For Ben, surveying works because it’s honest. The steps are clear. The ladder exists. You can see where effort leads.
His advice to young surveyors is equally direct:
Invest in yourself.
Conferences, seminars, society meetings – those aren’t extras. They’re accelerators. No one else is responsible for your growth.
The field days can be brutal. Weather, bugs, traffic, low early pay. But knowing what’s on the other side – professional autonomy, six-figure earning potential and real expertise – makes the bad days survivable.
Surveying isn’t easy.
But it is worth it.