YSN Member Spotlight: Marcus Schmitt

Building the Network. Expanding the Profession. Unlocking What’s Possible.

Some careers are chosen. Others slowly reveal themselves.

For Marcus Schmitt, surveying started as one class among many and turned into a profession, a purpose and a global network of friends and collaborators.

Originally from Iowa and now living and working in the Chicagoland area, Marcus didn’t grow up knowing exactly what surveying was. Before college, his understanding was simple: surveyors worked on roads. That was about it. Everything else unfolded later and changed the trajectory of his career.

After high school, Marcus enrolled at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa, studying Civil and Construction Engineering Technology. The programme exposed him to a wide range of disciplines: soil testing, drafting, construction methods… and surveying.

Something clicked.

Surveying wasn’t just technical, it was dynamic, varied and deeply connected to how the world is built.

That curiosity turned into a career.

Marcus entered the surveying profession after graduating college and knew early on that he didn’t want his future limited by missing credentials. Licensure wasn’t just a checkbox, it was freedom. When he moved from Iowa to Illinois and discovered that a bachelor’s degree was required for licensure, he made a decision many shy away from: he went back to school. Not because he had to, but because he wanted the doors open.

Today, Marcus is a licensed Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) in Illinois and Iowa, with more than a decade of experience across surveying and geomatics. But titles only tell part of the story.

Since 2018, Marcus has been deeply involved in the Young Surveyors NetworK. His first YSN meeting was in College Park, Maryland – a FIG Young Surveyors Network North American meeting he attended with modest expectations. He went to hear speakers talk about career development.

What he found instead was community.

The people he met at that first meeting didn’t just become contacts, they became friends, collaborators and trusted voices throughout his career. For Marcus, that’s the real power of YSN. The conversations between sessions. The shared challenges. The realisation that you’re not navigating this profession alone.

Now, Marcus serves as Vice-Chair of Administration for the FIG Young Surveyors Network, is the FIG YSN Delegate, founded both the Illinois Young Surveyors Network and the FIG Americas Regional Network.  He represents Illinois within NSPS YSN. His focus is simple and ambitious at the same time: grow the network early, especially for students, recent graduates and career-changers who may feel overwhelmed by how big the profession really is.

Because surveying is big.

It blends technology, history, fieldwork, office work, problem-solving and collaboration with nearly every other trade on a project. No two days are the same and that’s exactly why Marcus loves it.

YSN, he says, helped him break out of his shell.

It pushed him to connect, speak up and engage not just as a surveyor, but as a professional and a person.

And for anyone new to the industry or just finding their place in YSN, Marcus keeps it real: the profession is busy. There’s a workforce shortage. The work can be demanding. That’s why connections matter. Having peers who understand the path you’re on can help you stay grounded, focused and excited about what’s ahead.

Marcus’s journey is a reminder that surveying isn’t just a job – it’s a platform. A place where curiosity turns into capability and where networks turn into opportunities that stretch far beyond your first role.

If you’re early in your career, wondering what’s possible – this is it. This is what leaning in looks like.