Advice to obtain a job

[JavierCampo]

Hello,

My name is Javier, and I have had a big, lifelong passion for maps, being able to fully interpret and comprehend them at a very young age and eventually memorizing the whole highway network of my home state. Based on this love of maps, I decided 2 months ago to switch careers and find a meaningful career in GIS.

For the past 2 months, I have taught myself GIS fundamentals on ArcGIS Pro, and last week, I successfully passed the ArcGIS Pro Foundations certification exam. At the same time, I have been looking for an entry-level position (e.g., GIS Technician) that would allow me to develop a career in GIS. However, I did not graduate with a Geography degree and I have no prior career experience in GIS, which makes it a challenge when searching for jobs. Aside from a certification, are there any important skills or programs I should learn that will help me stand out? I am currently learning Python. And to get a job at my level of expertise, what positions should I be looking for? My main interest is within transportation and cartography.

Thanks In Advance,

- Javier

[Robert_LeClair]

A couple things to consider when pursing a GIS career.  There is a lot of free Esri training you can complete on the Tutorial Gallery | Documentation (arcgis.com) that you can enroll in for free and learn valuable skills.  In addition, you may want to consider the ArcGIS for Personal Use program where you can get ArcGIS Pro for a heavily discounted price and learn ArcGIS Pro.

One way to gain work experience is to apply for GIS Internships such as one's listed here.  Some of these may lead to a full time position.  In addition, there are many GIS Technician jobs listed here that you could consider applying for.

If you have the drive to learn the software and the passion to succeed, I have no doubt you'll be able to find a full time job in the GIS arena.  It's a very rewarding job!

[JosephKerski]

Javier:

In addition to the great advice from my colleague Robert, I would just echo Robert's comments that seeing the fact that you are learning Python, this is a great start as Python and JavaScript are the tools powering all modern GIS layers and maps and spatial analytics.  You might at some point investigate using the Jupyter Notebooks via the lessons and other resources we have posted on this spatial data science page:

https://www.esri.com/en-us/landing-page/industry/education/2020/data-science-in-higher-education

In addition, I have career advice in this story map, including the top 5 skills that I believe are necessary to be successful, along with trends in GIS and forces acting on GIS right now:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4d638de721c24a269481ccef3173c570

It also includes a few maps I made as a young person (sketched) which I share in response to your statement about memorizing the highway network as a young person!  🙂

Don't let the lack of GIS or geography degree be a hindrance.  Many people entering GIS nowadays have a wide variety of backgrounds and not necessarily GISc or Geography! 

With all best wishes,

--Joseph Kerski