10 Questions: A day in the life of… James Nolan
We asked James about how he got into Marine Surveying, what attracted him to the work and what he likes best about a career as a Marine Surveyor in Australia. James also offers his expert advice to the next generation of Marine Surveyors.
Question 1.
Pease tell me something about your working life before you came into the surveying profession.
I grew up in Tasmania around water and boats and once I finished school I decided I wanted this to continue in my working life so I went off to the Australian Maritime College and completed a degree in Naval Architecture. During these studies I decided I wanted to pursue a career as a Marine Surveyor.
Question 2.
What was the attraction of marine surveying and how did you get a foothold in the industry?
The attraction of Marine Surveying for me was the wide variety of work opportunities and the fact it offered a balance of office and field-based work.
Once I finished my studies at the Maritime College, I got the opportunity to work as a graduate marine surveyor with Marine Safety in Western Australia. Coming out of university I had a good technical grounding but very little practical experience. Working as a graduate surveyor gave me a great introduction to the practical side of surveying. Since university I have worked as a Marine Surveyor in Western Australia and Victoria and these roles have taken me all over the world to places I would never have visited if it hadn’t been for the profession.
Question 3.
There seem to be a number of amendments coming from AMSA in recent times. How can the Australian marine regulator best support the work of local surveyors?
The best thing AMSA can do is to have faith in the system they have put together and let it bed down. It is not perfect, but no system is. In many cases doing less would be doing more for surveyors. This goes for many of the operators also, they have seen a lot of change in the last 5 years and need time to adapt.
Question 4.
What mechanisms do you use to help yourself to keep abreast of changes in the surveying profession to keep yourself current?
As a Marine Surveyor you need a very broad knowledge of all aspects of vessels and their operations. At Maritime Survey Australia (MSA) we have a team with a broad skill-set and experience. Not only do we each draw on this experience daily but fortnightly we also run tech talks for the team where a Surveyor is invited to present on a topic.
I am also a member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects and the Australasian Institute of Marine Surveyors which issue insightful magazines, newsletters and webinars that I attend. At MSA, we also encourage yearly training with external service providers to continue our professional development; mind you this has been challenging over the past few years through the pandemic.
Question 5.
What pieces of advice would you pass on to the next generation of marine surveyors?
Surround yourself with an experienced team of surveyors that can impart their experience on you and offer support. Being a surveyor is a lifetime of learning that doesn’t stop once you start your working career.
Even now after 23 years working as a marine surveyor, I am learning from other surveyors in the team at MSA all the time. Our surveyors have diverse backgrounds including Engineers, Naval Architects, Shipwrights and Masters and a wealth of experience.
Question 6.
How do you see the surveying profession changing in the next 20 years in Australia and do you think it will still be an attractive second career option?
With the privatisation of the Domestic Commercial Vessel (DCV) Marine Surveying by AMSA in Australia, we are seeing the expectations from Industry becoming more demanding in the short period the regime has been in place as the industry now has a choice as to who they appoint. To meet this, Surveyors wanting to work in the DCV marine survey sector will not only need experience and/or qualifications before becoming accredited by AMSA, but also significant on the job training before they work independently in a team.
Question 7.
What do you most like about your role as a marine surveyors and which aspects of the job do you find most challenging?
I like the variety that the role as a Marine Surveyor brings. I still get to enjoy aspects of being a Naval Architect such as plan assessments, stability and consultation work, but also the aspects of surveying. I can be in the office one day working on a stability booklet and the next day out completing surveys on a fishing vessels, meeting and interacting with the operators.
As a Director at MSA I have enjoyed the challenge of growing the business and adapting our work and skill-sets to meet their needs and challenges. Our key goal is to understand what our client wants to solve and coming up with a way to accomplish and deliver what they need. This has seen demand for our services grow and has provided enjoyable challenges in growing our team to service these needs.
Question 8.
What is the most important item in your toolbox and why?
Being part of the Maritime Survey Australia team. Being able to solve a problem quickly by looking at our system online, calling a subject matter expert in the team or sending out a message to the MSA WhatsApp group makes the role a lot easier.
Question 9.
Please tell me a couple of interesting or unusual facts that most people would not know about you.
I am a mad Melbourne Demons supporter. When they one the flag last year, I was stuck at home watching it while one of my mates in Perth used my membership to go and watch the game. What made this worse was they are a Port Adelaide supporter, damn COVID!
Question 10.
How do you like to relax when the surveying work is done for the day?
I have a nine and a five year old kids so they keep my wife and I on our toes. But when I do get time, I love to get out sailing. I have raced sailing dinghies since I was kid growing up in Tassie. Now that I am not so agile, I sail a Sabre at Black Rock Yacht Club in Victoria. Getting out on the water still washes any stresses in life away.
