topic Re: Continuing to Develop GIS Skills in Training in GIS Questions

Continuing to Develop GIS Skills

MaxOrlandi — Wed, 17 May 2017 18:04:17 GMT

I just graduated college with a certificate in GIS. I want to continue my career as a GISer, but do not have the funds to purchase ARCmap or any of the other software to continue my skill set. Currently unemployed, I do not want to stay stagnant in my development, but rather want to tone my skills and learn new applications. Is there any way to continue a toward progression? Recommendations for books, free software, forums?

Much appreciated,

Max

Re: Continuing to Develop GIS Skills

DerekLaw — Wed, 17 May 2017 18:31:18 GMT

Hi Max,

FYI, some GIS job postings:

You can purchase ArcGIS Home use which is $100, Esri Store

Suggest you checkout the Esri Training site: https://www.esri.com/training/ which offers many training modules for free.

Another place to continue learning about ArcGIS: Learn ArcGIS

2 other great resources,

Hope this helps and good luck with the job search,

Re: Continuing to Develop GIS Skills

JayantaPoddar — Wed, 17 May 2017 19:24:39 GMT

Hi Max,

I appreciate your enthusiasm.

Apart from the wonderful suggestions from Derek Law‌, I would suggest you also explore other platforms/freewares.

A few pointers given below.

You could also work on free GIS softwares like QGIS, statistical software like R, and scripting language like Python.

For a database, you could check PostgreSQL

You can choose the topics based on your interest and career goal. Follow the rule of "One step at a time".

Check

Training Material - QGIS

Maps and Data Visualisations with R

Lesson 1: Introduction to GIS modeling and Python | GEOG 485: GIS Programming and Automation

Spatial Database Concepts with PostGIS

Re: Continuing to Develop GIS Skills

RebeccaStrauch__GISP — Wed, 17 May 2017 20:23:47 GMT

Alos look at getting a free license ArcGIS for Developers and 60-day trial https://www.arcgis.com/features/free-trial.html With the trial, I recommend planning you 60 days so you can make the most of the time, or as Derek suggested, the personal use which is $100 /year ....but as the name suggests, not to be used for profit.

You can also watch many of the recorded tech sessions for the Esri User Conferences and Developers Summit at Esri Videos | E360 Videos: GIS, Events, ArcGIS Products & Industries And thru their YouTube channel. These cover all levels and topics.

Re: Continuing to Develop GIS Skills

AdrianWelsh — Wed, 17 May 2017 21:44:12 GMT

On top of what everyone else said, there ways you can volunteer with various GIS groups in order to get more experience and potentially get to use the software for free. Take a look at some of these sites:

Volunteer Opportunities - Emerging GIS Leaders

GIS Volunteer Opportunities?

GISCorps - Our Volunteers

CrisisMappers - THE HUMANITARIAN TECHNOLOGY NETWORK

and some listed here: More Than Wishful Thinking

Re: Continuing to Develop GIS Skills

KevinTarver — Thu, 18 May 2017 19:52:25 GMT

All great suggestions. Nothing however beats hands-on experience. One great way to do this is to offer your GIS services in the form of an internship, accepting the experience in lieu of financial compensation will often seal the deal especially for a company that wasn't even in the market for an intern.