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*Throws on his Career Counselor wannabe hat for a minute* Jay (and anyone else who may be in a similar position), There’s a few things that you would want to look at. If you’re still a student, I’d get an internship, preferably at the ground level of GIS. Perhaps it’s with a small gov’t agency or non-profit. I see that you’re with a university now from your sig file, but I don’t know if that’s student research, grad assistant, or a new professional position. If you’re incorporating GIS as an addition to engineering, such as your sig also implies, then you’ll want to work with Esri/Engineering software connections. GIS is a very broad field now, so the best way to marry Engineering and GIS is to find a project, even a fairly “small” one, where the skills of both trades are requisite. There’s plenty of job sites, gjs.com, gisjobs.com, the AAG job board, GoGeomatics.ca, etc. The best way, however, to obtain a job, is to work with someone, as a student or in early career stages, at the place you want to work. Most people do not leave school and go to work for one firm for 40 years, and most employers know that. A good employer realizes that when they get a person who is under 30, their residency in position is typically less than 3 years. At one point, one of the estimates I’d read was 18 months, though the 2007-9 recession and resulting slow employment growth has slowed that emphasis on “jumping”. After 30 or so, people shift from a “build skills and learning what I want to do” mode to more of a “I’ve found what I want to do, now how do I build a career?” Career savvy pros and many HR folks know instinctively where a person is on the life and work timeline, and good organizations and firms know that jobs have a limited lifespan, but careers are lengthy. One other word of caution: don’t look for “hiring GIS skills” *necessarily*when job searching. Look for results that the employer wants, and match them. For example, there may be 100 jobs for GIS specialist, but if you lack for Python skills or some kind of analytic tools that the job requires, you won’t get that job. If on the other hand, you apply for say “landform analyst” and you can prove you have all the skills, then you may get a job you never thought you’d get because you fit the needs of the employer. Don’t be afraid to apply for a job where you match all the needs of the employer, even if they don’t specifically hang out a sign for a title you think you should apply for. The best thing you can do to address the need in a resume is to be specific. I see a bunch of resumes annually (either in career workshops or internships), and so often they’re guilty of being one of the following: 1) Generic. They were blasted, not written for a job in specific. Next stop: circular file drawer. 2) They don’t fit skills to my job needs. Sometimes, a person address the job properly in a summary, but fails to back up claims in the first line by demonstrating skills appropriate below it. 3) Over-adding irrelevant skills. Unless I have need of your skills in tree-planting, don’t mention that you worked for the tree planting firm, unless you can also show me you used a software or other relevant skill (Environmental Analysis) that I need as an employer. I’d much rather have a one-page resume that nets results than a 3 page one that gives me a lifetime of stuff I don’t need. I’ve only got so much time to read a resume. Good luck to you and best of success, Rich From: Northeast Arc Users Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jay Michael Thrasher Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2014 1:45 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Still need a few Student Lunch table hosts at NEARC Hi all, I am a recent MS graduate looking to engage in a career with GIS related work. Unfortunately I will be unable to attend the NEARC Conference. I would like to speak on behalf of all the recent grads, young professionals and engineers with similar GIS-related ambitions who are on this List Serve. For those of you with GIS career experience, could you please share any advice or information you may have for those of us starting off or for those of us looking to incorporate GIS into our career paths? Assuming that we have basic course training in GIS and would like to apply these skills in the workforce, apart from NEARC Conference are there any other networking events or online job bulletins specific to GIS? Thank you for your help! Jay M. Thrasher Jr. Research Associate Earth Engineering Center Columbia University New York, NY 10027 +1(508) 954 0677 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> On Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 9:23 AM, Leslie Pelch <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: Hello Everyone, Thank you to the generous folks who have volunteered to chat with students at lunch on Monday at the NEARC conference next week! We still need people to host the Mobile technology and the Natural Resources tables. If you are planning to be there, remember how important it is to mentor the next generation! No formal presentation required, just a willingness to talk about your professional life a bit. thanks Leslie Leslie Pelch, GISP Outreach Coordinator VT Center for Geographic Information 58 S. Main St, Suite 2 Waterbury, VT 05676 802-882-3002<tel:802-882-3002> http://vcgi.vermont.gov https://www.facebook.com/vermont.center.for.geographic.information @VCGI http://vcgiblog.wordpress.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This list (NEARC-L) is an unmoderated discussion list for all NEARC Users. If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from this list, you can remove yourself by going to http://listserv.uconn.edu/nearc-l.html. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This list (NEARC-L) is an unmoderated discussion list for all NEARC Users. If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from this list, you can remove yourself by going to http://listserv.uconn.edu/nearc-l.html.