CAREERS IN GIS

A good majority of GIS jobs exist in local government…state, province, county, parish, city, territory, village, etc.  This statement should not be something new to many of you.  If you are looking for a GIS job, local government is a very good starting point.  The problem is that you and every other qualified GIS professional knows this same information.  To complicate matters, whether you want to admit it or not, politics may enter into the mix as to whether you find out about a job or even get an interview.  Becoming friendly with those who may have political connections can never hurt your chances at getting your dream GIS job.

Now I am not suggesting that you compromise your ideals or make all sorts of political contributions to simply get considered for a job.  You just need to get acquainted with those who may carry some weight in your local government office.  Councilmen, aldermen, representatives, committee or board members…these are the individuals that you want to connect with.  Remember these individuals are locals (or should be).  They represent you and the interests of your community.  Why would they not want a qualified local person to receive a job opportunity instead of someone from outside the area they represent?  Their recommendation may not guarantee a job for you but it gives you an inside connection.

In true political fashion though, you need to get your face out there.  A cold email to these individuals simply saying that you live in the community may not get much of a response depending on the size of bureaucracy that you are trying enter.  Instead, go to public community meetings and introduce yourself before or after the meeting.  Be persistent but not pushy.  Getting in a handshake along with just a few minutes of explaining who you are, what you are qualified to do, or what you can offer can open all sorts of doors.

Why do you love GIS?  Do you love GIS?  Why did you choose to study it in school?  If you did not study about GIS in school, why are you interested in it now?  Would you incorporate GIS into your career or into your life even if it was not your primary concern or even if you were not being paid to deal with it?

These questions should answer where your passion lies.  I have seen too many people studying GIS or looking for a job involving GIS who simply have a look of apathy or hopelessness in their eyes.  If you happen to receive a job interview, do not be foolish enough to think that an interviewer will not notice this.  People can usually tell whether someone is excited about an opportunity.  I do not mean “excited” because they are desperate for a job but excited because they love what they do and they want you to know how much they love it.

The key is conveying your passion for GIS to an interviewer without embarrassing yourself.  Do not show up to an interview dressed as a globe or a GPS unit.  Also, as impressive as you may think it is, I would not advise putting the latitude and longitude of your home address on your resume in place of a normal street address.  (You would be surprised how many people in the GIS industry would not have a clue as to what those strange looking numbers may be.)

However, people have forgotten the power of a portfolio either to receive an interview or to present during an interview.  Maps you have produced, analyses you completed, websites you maintained or created, or computer code that you wrote.  All of these are things that can be simplified into a PDF or a web link for display/presentation purposes.

If you plan to have a face-to-face interview with someone, put together a packet of information to present to the person at the time of the interview.  It will give you a chance to discuss things that you have done and/or things that you can do.  Unbelievably, interviewers get bored.  Give them something that sparks a conversation.  Not only will you show them your passion, it will definitely make you stick out in their mind from who knows how many others that may be applying for the same position.

International organizations, such as the ones listed below, provide some assistance in developing countries when it comes to finding GIS jobs.  Simply put, everyone needs maps.  All organizations included on the list have GIS/mapping needs to further their purposes (either currently or in the past few years) in various parts of the world.  Having staff that not only know GIS but also know about local culture, environment, language, or politics provides a massive benefit.  Possessing these skills allows the international organizations to move their plans forward with much greater speed.  As a result, they will reach their goals of helping the environment or the people they are trying to assist more quickly.

As with most employment opportunities around the world, networking is necessary.  Acquiring a job with one of the organizations below is not extremely easy in certain cases, but it is still possible.  Here are a few bits of advice when exploring the given options.

1) Do a simple keyword search for GIS on each organization’s website.  If that does not produce anything, try a Google search with the organization’s name and GIS.

2) Follow the maps.  If you see a map associated with a project, try to find out who made it.  That will likely lead you to a GIS source within the organization.

3) Locate contact information on who may be in charge of hiring staff.  It can be a project coordinator or a human resources department.  Some of the organization’s websites have links to available jobs.  However, if there is no job link do not be afraid to email a contact that you may find.  You never know what an inquiry may produce.

4) Examine the requirements for working with the organization.  Certain skill sets, certificates, or citizenship are often necessary to acquire a position.  But once again, I would still inquire about projects that spark your curiosity.

I intend to update the list below with even more international organizations so please stay tuned for future posts about this subject.  Happy job hunting!

Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED)
AlertNet
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)
Conservation International (CI)
Cooperative for Relief and Assistance Everywhere (CARE)
European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO)
Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU)
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR)
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
International Relief and Development (IRD)
International Rescue Committee (IRC)
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Management Systems International (MSI)
MapAction
National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (varies by country or region)
Network for Information, Response and Preparedness Activities on Disaster (NIRAPAD)
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)
Oxfam International
Panthera
Snow Leopard Conservancy
Snow Leopard Trust
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
The Nature Conservancy
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC)
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Program (UNOSAT)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
World Bank
World Food Programme (WFP)
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Resources Institute (WRI)
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

New data capture devices, new data sources, new media, new types of distribution…all of this has a foundation in the realm of GIS development and will not go away anytime soon.  There will always be something new around the corner that will require some sort of technical/computer programming know-how in relation to GIS.

However, what happened to the GIS analyst? I know plenty of developers who can create a mobile device application that collects the geo-location of people who bought coffee this morning and display their location on a map.  And?  What good is that data?  Will it improve society and tell us more about ourselves?  Where is the analysis?  Do not misunderstand.  These new Web 2.0/NeoGeo data collection and display applications are awesome.  They have driven the GIS industry to new and interesting places.  However, how can we have all these great new data and applications and no new analysts?

Unfortunately, the need for “pure” GIS analysts has fallen off.  A single analyst accomplishes more work now than most can imagine due to better software and methods.  Another fact is that many positions have been disguised.  GIS analysts are currently placed in jobs titled Market Research Analyst, Crisis Management Analyst, Property Tax Policy Analyst, etc.  All of these positions and many others utilize GIS in major ways but subject matter and the employer’s focus will dictate the occupation title.

A title change is not necessarily a bad thing but it does make it more difficult to find a GIS analyst position.  (Make note of that when doing keyword searches on jobs.)  It also brings into question what someone may need to know beyond just spatial analysis methods and GIS in order to get a job.  Do you need to have experience in Marketing and GIS or Retail Management and GIS or Medicine and GIS to be qualified for these “disguised” positions?  It definitely will not hurt you to know about a subject outside of your GIS “comfort zone”.  Getting experience is the tricky part.  Getting a dual-degree in Geography/GIS and another subject is one route you could take.  Another is to become familiar with a particular industry’s language and interests.  Look into books and trade magazines that discuss different applications.  Future GIS analysts must become chameleons.  If the position that you want is disguised, fight fire with fire.

As you search around for jobs related to GIS analysis and especially GIS development, you may run across the terms “neogeographer”, “neogeography”, or “neogeo”.  Do not be afraid of these terms.  These terms grew out of the need to describe how people acquire knowledge or how they do their jobs relating to new ways of collecting, distributing, and viewing spatial data.

For those of you wondering what these terms mean or even if they apply to you, the best place to start is by first defining Neogeography.  Wikipedia is a simple first stop to get a decent definition.  In addition, O’Reilly Media actually published an entire textbook a few years back named Introduction to Neogeography.  Some other prominent GIS bloggers like Peter Batty and James Fee have also framed this subject.

So is a neogeographer a good thing to be?  This is usually a self-applied label with no real certificate or degree program associated with it yet.  Therefore, I would probably say that if you like the label, then go with it.  Or I can even do one better.  Go to the Ogle Earth NeoGeo jobs board and see if you are qualified for any of the jobs listed.  If you are, go ahead and proclaim yourself as a neogeographer.  However, you can just as easily label yourself a GIS Developer or GIS software engineer or GIS database guru and people will still likely understand what your speciality is.

Personally, I like to identify with a term coined by Don Meltz on his blog…“geoagnostic”.  Therefore, before you get nervous about whether or not you need to add one more description or label to your resume, I will encourage you to calm your fears.  Neogeographer is a cool, flashy title to associate with but only time will tell if it is here to stay.  My question with this type of label is what the next generation of neogeographers will call themselves…superneogeographers, perhaps?

Anyhow, if you deal with GIS or geography on a regular basis, you should already know that there are all types of applications and users out there.  There are GIS applications that are geared towards such things as criminology, archeology, real estate, or mining.  In the same vein, there are cartographers, biogeographers, cultural geographers, economic geographers, and medical geographers.  There are also software designers, media specialists, and database admins that deal with spatial applications.  The list goes on and on but in the end, we all love maps/space and how they relate to our particular interests, no matter what we call each other.

Having a GIS certificate will always help when looking for a job in the GIS industry.  Unfortunately, no major magazine or online publication ranks GIS certificate programs the same way business schools, law schools, and undergraduate colleges receive ranks.  Therefore, it is up to you to decide.  However, you should not necessarily look for the “best” GIS certificate program. You should look for the “best” program that fits your needs.

There are GIS Certificates offered at colleges and universities all over the world but each of them have different curriculums, different instructors, and different requirements.  Here is a list of of GIS certificate programs maintained by the University Consortium on Geographic Information Science (UCGIS). The list is fairly comprehensive but I will let you be the judge.  I recommend using a select set of criteria to decide whether a certain GIS certificate program is for you.

1)      Cost:  Many certificate programs do not offer specific financial aid.  Some public colleges and universities may offer needs based assistance but you will likely need to qualify.  However, the rest of us will be paying out of pocket to enroll for a given number of credit hours.  Does the program fit your budget?  The most expensive programs do not necessarily mean they are the best.

2)      Online or in-person:  You need to consider how well you retain information acquired in different environments.  I have taught students in online courses and traditional courses.  Some students do well in one environment but not in another.  Everyone learned from a live person at some point in his or her lives.  However, not everyone has taken classes online.  I would definitely ask an online program administrator if you can see some examples of how classes are taught before enrolling to make sure you would not have difficulty.  Some online programs convey information very well while some others are not that good.

3)      Number/diversity of instructors:  It is usually not a good idea to learn everything you know from just one instructor.  You want to become a well-rounded student.  Look for programs that are taught/administered by at least more than one person.  The reason is to absorb different perspectives on the same subject.  I would say the more instructors, the better.

4)      Curriculum: The Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge published by the Association of American Geographers (AAG) and the University Consortium on Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) is probably the most comprehensive document put together on what sort of curriculum you should expect from a GIS program.  However, it is extremely rare to find a certificate program that includes everything listed in the GIS&T Body of Knowledge.  Nonetheless, look at the list to see what sort of things YOU want to learn more about and then make your judgment about a program.  Personally, I would also look for a program that requires more than four classes for certificate completion.  Six to eight courses is average.  That should give you a comprehensive exposure to what is necessary for GIS proficiency.

There are many FREE GIS related newsletters and/or e-magazines out there that can you can feed to your email account on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.  Many of these newsletters contain not only GIS industry information but also GIS job information.

Now it can get a bit annoying having all these feeds crowding your inbox along with information flowing in from GIS blogs.  However, here are the facts:  if you are not reading these, someone else is.  And guess what?  They are your competition!  If you really want to land that great job opportunity, you will need to spend 30-60 minutes per day doing research. The early bird does not get the worm anymore.  The bird who gets the worm is the one who never went to sleep in the first place.

Anyhow, below are the major email GIS newsletters/e-magazines that you can subscribe to for free.  They are in no particular order.

ESRI Publications

GISuser.com Newsletters

Directions Magazine

Geocommunity Spatial Newswire

GPS World and Geospatial Solutions (GPS World and Geospatial Solutions are separate but have been combined temporarily while site reconstruction occurs for Geospatial Solutions)

Geoplace.com’s GeoReport

GISCafe Daily Newsletter

GITA (Geospatial Information and Technology Association)Be Ready Bulletin

Point of Beginning eNewsletter

It should be noted that there are other more local GIS publications that you can subscribe to also.  Below are a few examples of what you may find.  There are hundreds of others.  Do a Google search on GIS groups/affiliations/associations in your region and you may find something similar.

City of Atlanta GIS Newsletter

Westchester County New York GIS Newsletter

Forth Valley UK GIS Newsletters

Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium Newsletter

Databases are the backbone of any GIS system.  They are the “I” in GIS.  This means that a knowledge of databases (particularly the software used to manage them) should be somewhere in your repertoire.  By knowledge, I mean the basics of a database system…how to access a table, how to make a query, how to log in is even a basic skill.  When you finally get the job you have been looking for, you will likely either need to link map files on your desktop or from the Internet to records stored in a database or need to store all of your data records, including map files, in a database management system.

Unfortunately, knowing how to operate one database platform does not mean that you automatically are familiar with all.  Regardless, knowing even one DBMS gives you two advantages.  1) It shows an employer that you are familiar with the concepts of a DBMS and that 2) you can possibly learn how to work with different database platforms.

Now the important question is “Which database system should I become familiar with?”  The question that should be asked is “Which database system CAN I become familiar with?” The reason for this is that the most heavily used database platforms out there are too expensive for an ordinary person to afford and train themselves on.  For instance, if you are not already working in an job environment utilizing “the big three” DBMS’s like Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, or IBM DB2, I doubt you will be able to afford the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars required to purchase a software license.  Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and IBM DB2 are usually only utilized in enterprise wide environments with numerous users.  Nevertheless, if you have the means and/or access, try to learn as much as possible.

Two other very popular database platforms that you may likely run into are MySQL and/or PostgreSQL.  What is nice about these two are that they are both open source database platforms.  Yes, free and open source!  All you need is access to a computer and the Internet in order to download and install either of these systems.  Teaching yourself is a different story.  Do a nice Google search on learning resources.  I am sure you will find plenty.

When looking to begin a new job or move on to a better job, you should consider whether you want to be a big fish in a little GIS pond or little fish in a big GIS pond.  This is very important because it may determine if you grow and mature as a GIS professional.

There are plenty of “assembly line” GIS positions out there.  These are positions where you will encounter the same 2-4 tasks repeatedly.  These positions are usually in organizations where you are the “little fish”.  GIS consulting firms, large local government offices, places where you have more than two or three GIS users are where you find many of these positions.  I hate to state it, but it is rare to find any encouragement of professional development in these environments.  No training on new software or new methods, no conference attendance, no challenges, no GIS stimulation.  Usually for budgetary reasons, that is left to your superiors who are more experienced.

Then how are you ever supposed to learn if never given the chance?  Personally, I believe in training those who have less experience to the point of where their knowledge is equal to mine.  It may be the educator in me, but my philosophy is that if I know that a colleague knows how to accomplish a difficult task, that frees my time to work on other projects without any worries.

Do not misunderstand, having a job in your field is definitely better than not have a job.  Do not turn down a job just because the environment is not perfect.  However, if you are looking to move on to a better job, you need to be happy.  If you do not gain exposure to new things, especially in the GIS industry, you will not advance.  I vote for being the “big GIS fish” Being the big fish in the little GIS pond is a blessing and a curse.  You may gain more opportunity to explore new techniques or new applications but you will have a lower salary.  On the other hand, GIS professionals that you can hopefully learn from or brainstorm with will not surround you.  But then again I have posted other material on how to expand your horizons that you can use to advance knowledge

You may be using every search engine available to try and locate jobs on the Internet and are probably coming across the same old job postings every day.  Or what’s even worse is when you hear about someone who landed a great job that you would have loved to apply for.  How did they know about these jobs?  Many times these postings were made public but you were not looking in the right places.

When searching the Internet for available positions, you are likely searching using two main types of websites to locate postings.  The first type of website is where a person looking to hire manually loads the posting information to the site.  The second type of website will scour the Internet looking for job postings that match the description or keywords that you enter.  It is this second type of site that can be misleading.  Employer’s web servers may sometimes block these “search engine” type websites from accessing or publishing their online information.  The way these sites search for jobs can make them appear malicious and are therefore blocked.  Another, more likely, scenario is that jobs posted on an employer’s website are so new that the information has not existed long enough to be detected by the search engine.

So how are you supposed to find out about these jobs?  The answer is that you have to regularly check the career/jobs section of an employer’s website for new postings…all of them.  That may sound like a lot of work but no one said it would be an easy task.  However, you can definitely narrow it down.  First thing that you need to do is identify which corporations, businesses, consulting firms, government offices, etc. use GIS.  That list may sound long, but the categories are pretty easy.

1.  Any government office these days is using GIS for something.  City, county, state, federal, along with any and all of their subdivisions…public works, police, fire, park districts, tax assessor, public schools, public health, etc.

2.  GIS consulting firms.  A simple Google search will return the ones in your area.  Start combing their websites.

3.  Real estate management firms.  GIS and real estate go hand in hand.  There is no guarantee that the firm in question will be using GIS but the biggest ones almost definitely are.

4.  Insurance companies.  I do not mean local sales offices (but it’s worth a shot) but GIS is likely used in corporate headquarters.  Insurance companies are realizing the benefits of GIS in analyzing all sorts of information and can be a good source for jobs.

5.  Any sort of company dealing with retail.  Think of large department stores, chain restaurants/franchises, pharmacies, grocery stores, just about anything located near shopping districts in your area that you can find in cities and towns across the USA or around the world.  The corporate headquarters of those institutions are very likely using GIS to analyze their own operations and their competition.

6.  Transportation/distribution companies.  UPS, FedEx, trucking, railroads, anyone that deals with getting things from here to there needs to analyze costs across space.  That means using GIS.

7.  Colleges and universities.  In many cases some sort of advanced degree is needed to work in these environments but do not think you need to be a professor to work here.  Many different disciplines are incorporating GIS into their research which usually means staff positions using GIS.

If you visit these sites systematically, you may very well get lucky and get a huge jump on others who may still be searching Hotjobs.com every five minutes waiting for some new job posting to appear.