Job opportunities with GIS?

Parent Cafe
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<p>My daughter will soon be done with her Geology degree (BS) and will have completed a certificate program in GIS. She is a strong student and is currently working a summer GIS paid internship and loves it (she is a rising senior at Pitt). Des anyone know what the job outlook is for Geology majors with GIS experience? She wants to find a job in GIS upon graduation - absolutely loves it.</p>

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<p>She may want to talk with her her professors, Career Counseling at her college, and/or alumni who with similar backgrounds and of course, the people at her internship.</p>

<p>The simplest, but probably least effective, method is Google “GIS analyst + geology”. Another place would be the forums at forums.arcgis.com. </p>

3

<p>I don’t think that the Occupational Outlook Handbook looks at GIS specifically, but they look at Geography and Geology.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/geographers.htm”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/geographers.htm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/cartographers-and-photogrammetrists.htm”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/cartographers-and-photogrammetrists.htm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/geoscientists.htm”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/geoscientists.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I don’t work in GIS specifically, but teach in an MIS program and am currently developing a course on the use of GIS for business. Because of that, I have been researching the GIS field quite a bit (also because my son is an urban planning major and they will be using GIS a fair amount in his course of study). </p>

<p>In GIS, the best jobs are for those that can do the ‘most’ with the system. Many people that have certificates in GIS can only do the basic things with GIS. Basically create maps of ‘what is’…where are the houses, where are the rivers, what is the average income within each census tract, etc etc. They can’t do the spatial analysis…like a what if analysis. How will these 10 new apartment complex that were just approved effect water runoff? Where might it now flood?</p>

<p>The best jobs are for people that can take this basic data and do something with it rather than just reporting it out through a map. This requires a more advanced skill set in things like statistical analysis, database design, and scripting.</p>

<p>She should take her GIS elective courses in GIS Database Design, GIS Programming and Scripting (perhaps Python programming), and Spatial Analysis (the math/stats part). Really, any GIS elective that focuses on the computer side…programming; DB design, development, and management…will make her much more employable. </p>

<p>Here is an example of combining GIS with Geology (hydrology) at the spatial analysis level…
<a href=“Teaching Spatial Analysis for Hydrology and Watershed Management”>http://proceedings.esri.com/library/userconf/proc99/proceed/papers/pap729/p729.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I just had this discussion with a professor last week. If she’s does what the person above said and gets really good, oil/gas companies will welcome her eagerly. She could also work for the government doing military combat projections or disease control among other things. There are also many other random industry jobs. She did good, GIS demand is apparently about to take off.</p>

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<p>GIS demand has been “about to take off” since the early 1990’s.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.nga.mil”>www.nga.mil</a> (civilian agency)</p>

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<p>My best friend’s son has a Master’s degree in GIS (he was a Psych major as an undergrad). He’s working for a defense contractor and is very happy. (Truth be told, I have no real idea what GIS is or what he does.)</p>