By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
These skills will help you succeed in the growing world of online work and open up new opportunities for your career!
Online working has become an essential component of professional practice in many fields, including land surveying. Kenyan land surveyors increasingly engage with digital platforms to access job opportunities, collaborate remotely, and deliver services more efficiently. This chapter explores how survey professionals can leverage online jobs to expand their career prospects and maintain competitiveness in a fast-evolving technological environment.
Online working refers to performing professional tasks or jobs via internet-based platforms without physical presence at a traditional workplace. For land surveyors in Kenya, online working offers avenues to engage with clients, firms, and projects beyond geographical constraints, enabling flexible work arrangements and access to global markets.
Online jobs encompass a variety of roles and tasks that can be performed remotely using digital tools. For land survey professionals, understanding the types of online jobs available helps in selecting opportunities that match their skills and career goals.
Freelancers offer specialized land surveying services such as boundary surveys, topographic mapping, and cadastral data analysis on a project-by-project basis. Freelance platforms connect Kenyan surveyors with clients who need precise geospatial data without hiring full-time staff.
Land surveyors often spend significant time processing field data and creating technical drawings. Online jobs in data processing and computer-aided design (CAD) drafting allow professionals to deliver accurate plans and maps from any location, supporting firms that outsource these tasks.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialists analyze spatial data to support planning and development projects. Online GIS jobs involve creating thematic maps, performing spatial analysis, and integrating survey data into GIS databases, which are critical for county governments and environmental agencies.
Experienced land surveyors can provide consultancy services online, advising clients on land use, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution. Virtual meetings and digital documentation facilitate remote consultancy engagements with individuals, firms, and public institutions.
Survey firms and educational institutions seek professionals to deliver training and technical support on survey software remotely. Online trainers prepare tutorials, conduct webinars, and assist users in mastering tools like AutoCAD Civil 3D and Trimble Business Center.
Many online jobs involve labelling images, maps, text or audio so that artificial intelligence systems can learn from them, or rating and correcting AI answers. Surveyors are well suited to geospatial annotation, such as outlining buildings, roads and land cover on aerial and satellite images.
Online job platforms are websites or applications that connect job seekers with employers or clients offering remote work. For Kenyan land surveyors, selecting the right platforms is essential for accessing legitimate and well-matched opportunities. Platforms differ in the type of work offered, entry requirements, how work is assigned and how and when workers are paid, and their availability in Kenya changes over time, so each must be checked before relying on it.
Platforms such as Freelancer and Fiverr host a wide range of jobs including surveying-related tasks. These marketplaces offer profiles, bidding systems, and payment protection, enabling Kenyan professionals to compete internationally.
Certain platforms focus specifically on geospatial and surveying jobs. Websites like GeoJobs and SurveyingJobs provide targeted listings that match the skills of surveyors, reducing competition from unrelated fields and increasing the likelihood of relevant assignments.
LinkedIn and similar networks facilitate connections between surveyors and employers who post remote jobs or contract opportunities. Maintaining an active profile and engaging with sector groups increases visibility to recruiters seeking online talent.
Kenyan government agencies and county offices sometimes advertise remote consultancy or data processing roles on official websites and procurement portals. Monitoring these sources can reveal online jobs aligned with public sector projects.
Websites like Udemy and Teachable allow survey professionals to create and sell courses online, generating income through training services. This approach complements traditional job roles by leveraging expertise for educational purposes.
| Platform | Main type of work | How work is obtained |
|---|---|---|
| Remotasks | AI data labelling and annotation tasks | Complete training courses, then take tasks from a queue |
| DataAnnotation.tech | AI training tasks: writing, rating and checking AI responses, coding | Pass a qualification assessment, then choose available projects |
| Cloud worker (managed cloud workforce, such as CloudFactory) | Data annotation and processing in managed teams | Apply, pass assessments and join a supervised team |
| Upwork | Freelance projects in any field, including CAD, GIS and survey drafting | Create a profile and submit proposals to client job posts |
| OneForma | Data collection, transcription, translation, annotation and evaluation | Register, apply for projects and pass project qualifications |
| Appen | Search evaluation, data annotation, transcription and surveys | Register, apply to projects and pass qualification tests |
Remotasks is a crowdsourcing platform owned by Scale AI that pays workers to label data used to train artificial intelligence, such as drawing boxes around objects in images, tagging map features, transcribing audio and checking AI outputs. Workers complete free training courses before they can access paid tasks, and pay depends on the task type and the accuracy of the work. In March 2024 Remotasks stopped operating in Kenya, so Kenyan workers should check its current status before signing up and be careful of agents who offer access to accounts. Example: before the platform withdrew from Kenya, many young graduates worked on image annotation tasks from cyber cafés and home offices.
DataAnnotation.tech is a platform that recruits people to help train AI models by writing, rating and correcting responses from chatbots, comparing answers and, for those with programming skills, checking code. Applicants take an assessment, and those who pass can choose from available projects and are paid per hour of work. Projects suit people with strong English writing, reasoning and subject knowledge, including surveying and mathematics. Example: a surveying graduate with good writing skills could rate AI answers to land surveying questions and correct their errors.
A cloud worker is someone who does data and digital tasks remotely for companies through a cloud-based managed workforce, rather than as an independent freelancer. Providers such as CloudFactory, which has a large operation in Kenya, recruit workers into supervised teams that annotate images, process documents and moderate content for clients, with regular training and team leaders. The work is more structured than open crowdsourcing, often with set shifts and steady monthly pay. Example: a cloud worker on a mapping project might trace buildings and roads on satellite images for a client's map database as part of a team.
Upwork is a global freelance marketplace where clients post jobs and freelancers submit proposals to win them, covering fields from writing and design to engineering drafting, GIS and surveying support. Freelancers build a profile and portfolio, apply using "Connects" credits, and are paid through the platform under fixed-price contracts with milestones or hourly contracts tracked by its work diary. A strong profile and good client reviews are the key to winning higher-value work. Example: a Kenyan surveyor could win a contract to convert a client's field survey data into AutoCAD topographic drawings for a housing developer abroad.
OneForma is a crowdsourcing platform run by a global language and AI data company that offers short and long projects in data collection, transcription, translation, search and content evaluation, and annotation. Workers register, complete their profile, apply for open projects and pass qualification tests before working. Many projects need specific languages, so Kenyan workers with English, Kiswahili and other local languages may qualify for language-based tasks. Example: a worker could transcribe Kiswahili audio recordings or record voice samples for a speech recognition project.
Appen is a global AI data company whose crowd workers, registered through its contributor platform, take part in projects such as search engine evaluation, social media rating, data annotation, transcription and short surveys. Workers apply to projects, pass qualification exams and then work flexible hours, usually being paid monthly according to the project's rates. Projects depend on location and language, so the number available in Kenya varies. Example: a contributor might rate how relevant search results are for queries from Kenyan users, using the project's guidelines.
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Create a free accountThis chapter explored the concept of online working, introducing various types of online jobs that individuals can undertake across different sectors. It detailed prominent online job platforms such as Remo Task, Data Annotation Tech, Cloud Worker, Upwork, One Forma, and Appen, highlighting their unique features and opportunities. The process of creating and managing online accounts and profiles was examined, emphasizing the importance of presenting a professional digital identity. Techniques for identifying suitable online jobs and effectively bidding for them were discussed to enhance chances of securing work. The chapter also covered the significance of maintaining a consistent and trustworthy online digital identity in building reputation and client relationships. Practical guidance on executing online tasks efficiently was provided to ensure quality and timely delivery. Finally, the management of online payment accounts was addressed, outlining best practices for handling earnings securely and reliably.
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