Looking for new job but uncertain about career direction...
November 12, 2013 7:24 PM   Subscribe

I'm a GIS office worker for a city government in the midwest. After a few years in my full time position I think its time for me to go, and move closer to my family, but I'm having trouble figuring out what exactly I should be looking for. Suggestions much appreciated.

First off, I will admit that I suck in general at looking for jobs, and this is probably hurting me more than anything. I've been reading some good advice here on askmefi about the job hunting process, and I know I need to work on it, but I wanted to ask a question more about my job now and what I should be looking for.

My job title is "GIS Specialist" , which where I work means I do some data entry, feature data maintenance, map creation for various city departments, database maintenance, and light python scripting. I feel like I more than qualify for any job listed as a GIS Technician, but I don't think I would qualify for a position as a programmer. One of my constraints along with my crappy job hunting skills is the fact that I'm trying to find a job in a specific city area to move closer to my family. If I didn't mind moving anywhere it wouldn't take me too long to find something , but after travelling around for ten years I want to be close to home in the southeast US.

This has led me to think about whether I should even be trying to find another job as a GIS tech or specialist, or whatever. I think for a lot of people GIS is just another tool now, and the focus of their jobs is something else. At this point I wouldn't mind getting a job where GIS is not in the title, but it would be nice if I could use the skills I've gained over the last few years as a way in to some other job. The problem is, I can't really think of what these other jobs might be. Sometimes I feel like I'm in such a niche field I'm not sure how I could make a move into something different without feeling like I'm starting over.

So for those of you who have used GIS, are a GIS professional, or just general IS/IT ... any suggestions? Thanks.
posted by ajax287 to Work & Money (5 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I do HR and deal with a lot of engineering types; right now most of our GIS techs sit about twenty feet from my desk. So that's where I'm coming from with this. The links are all to job descriptions that include a list of KSAs (knowledge, skills, abilities) you'd want to have to be considered qualified.

Do you have any skills in the drafting arena? We see a lot of folks moving back and forth between the GIS and drafting/CAD fields, in terms of who does what, where I work (another municipality.) The lowest-level classification we have in IT is "information systems technician;" my dad moved from a hybrid Engineering Associate type position (that included a lot of GIS-type work) to information systems analyst pretty much the nanosecond he got his CS degree.

Having worked in tech support, I recommend strongly that you stay away from it. Your skills are way beyond what's needed for that, and it'll be incredibly unfulfilling if you're interested in doing anything with, e.g., Python. Also it's a more or less universally miserable kind of occupation. If I had to pick between them, I'd rather go back to waitressing, which also pays better.

BTW, the BLS Occupational Handbook has a lot of good stuff in it as far as figuring out what kinds of jobs are out there given an amount of experience and general occupation type. You can also talk to people at temp agencies that place tech staff about where your current skills/education may take you.
posted by SMPA at 7:42 PM on November 12, 2013


I've been a GIS Developer (and Sr GIS Specialist and Sr GIS Programmer/Analyst and the like) for 15+ years. More recently, I worked as a consultant for a software vendor in the business intelligence (BI) and infographics industry.

One thing that is clear: There is currently an unlimited demand for people with experience communicating with data and with an understanding of data structures and databases. Loads of jobs are opening up in the world of data visualization. It may be easier to find a new position near your family if you were to think about data analysis in a broader sense. But, fair warning, the job titles often don't include 'GIS'.

Look at FlowingData.com as an introduction to the industry. Then look into Tableau (www.tableausoftware.com), QlikView, Spotfire and the like. At the least, you may find a new perspective on your current job.

Good luck. I sympathize with the job hunting situation. It is often a daunting process.
posted by geofixer at 9:58 PM on November 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


There are plenty of federal agencies for whom GIS Is a core business process. I can't tell from your profile where you're located, but I have direct experience with some of these in the US context and knowledge of others elsewhere in the (primarily English-speaking) world. Please feel free to memail me if that's remotely of interest.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 11:34 PM on November 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


I was going to suggest looking at USA Jobs. It's a long, arduous process and at times it feels like you're putting your application into a black hole. But people get hired. So give it a try.

Applying to the federal government is nothing like applying in the public sector, so read up on how to do the stupid-long resumes and how to answer KSA/KPI stuff.

Once you're in though, man, it's sweet!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:19 AM on November 13, 2013


Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the links and advice! Having some things to look into and investigate is always a nice change from trawling the same GIS job boards.
posted by ajax287 at 8:27 PM on November 13, 2013


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