First, many thanks to Leslie for putting together a survey to collect some
of this data from the NEARC listserv community. I’m very interested in
learning what the survey turns up.
Second, Leslie’s survey is structured in a really useful way: partitioning
the required/desired specific tool knowledge according to whether the
position is in management-, professional-, or technician-level. I’d be
surprised if the answers didn’t vary quite a bit across those categories.
Speaking from the perspective of one public-sector GIS shop, when I’m
hiring a GIS technician, I’m looking for someone to carry out some
well-defined set of tasks with a specified toolset. Knowledge of that
toolset is absolutely essential for such a position: budget and schedule
have been allocated to get a specific job accomplished, not to train
someone on things not related to the specifics of that project. More
general/broad knowledge of the world of GIS is certainly a “nice to have” –
mostly because it suggests the candidate has an inquiring/probing intellect
- but the lack of it wouldn’t be a deal-breaker.
Moving further up the food chain, knowledge of specific tools becomes
increasingly less critical, and broader knowledge of the world of GIS tools
and technologies becomes more and more so. While many of the projects my
team works on are similar to ones we’ve done in the past, this is becoming
less and less the case. There are more “outlier projects” that require us
to think and work in new ways, and to ramp-up on new tools and technologies
– often very quickly. This is where knowledge of only one toolset – however
deep – can actually be a negative. There’s old aphorism worth quoting here:
“If the only tool you know is a hammer, every problem you run in to will
look like a nail.”
The reality is that the GIS software ecosystem *as a whole* is developing
and growing by leaps and bounds; moreover, that rate of development is
accelerating. While commercial vendors periodically roll out new versions
of their products, most of these seem to be good, old-fashioned periodic
incremental releases. It’s pretty rare that something game-changing is
introduced. Over the past several years, most of the things that have made
me “sit up and take notice” have been happening on the open-source side of
the world rather than the commercial side.
To reply to Jessie Braden’s question: I don’t think it’s the quite case
that my agency “strongly prefers” ArcGIS (when compared to QGIS, say), but
rather that ArcGIS has a such huge “installed base” of existing MapDoc’s
(.mxd’s), personal-, file-, and SDE-feature classes we’ve accumulated over
(literally) decades of work that people are pretty much forced to work with
it. Our GIS people need to be able to work with this stuff with some degree
of fluency (if not necessarily virtuoso-level skill) *simply because it is
there*. (From a vendor’s perspective, this is where the real value of
having an installed base is. If huge fraction of a customer’s assets are in
your proprietary format, you’re a long way towards having a captive
market.) If truth be told, the level of skill we need here on the order of
what any reasonably intelligent person can develop in one or two semesters
of coursework using ArcGIS.
Although one might hypothesize that start-ups are more likely to turn to
open-source GIS software than the public sector, this isn’t necessarily be
the case. The public sector is often asked to do more and more with less
and less. When you’re faced with a very finite – and perhaps shrinking –
budget, open-source looks awfully attractive. Not just because it’s free
(if no support is purchased) or likely to be less expensive (if support is
purchased), but because it’s often at least as good, if not better, than a
commercial alternative.
So to conclude, from the perspective of what I’d like to see from GIS
educators, my answer is: graduates who have a well-rounded knowledge of the
field: database principles, spatial analysis techniques, cartography, and
the like. Ideally, I’d like them to be able to think algorithmically, and
be able to fluently express algorithmic thought in a (modern) programming
language such as JavaScript or Python, say. I’d like them to be competent
users of more than one GIS package (e.g., ArcGIS and at least one other).
But the most important thing I’m looking for is the demonstrated ability to
ramp-up on new GIS tools and technologies swiftly, fluently, and with real
enthusiasm … because a huge chunk of what they know today will be getting
long-in-the-tooth in 5 years, if not sooner.
All best,
Ben
*Benjamin Krepp* | Manager of GIS and IT
CENTRAL TRANSPORTATION PLANNING STAFF
857.702.3670 | *[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>*
www.ctps.org/bostonmpo
[image: email_logos_2015]
*From:* Northeast Arc Users Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On
Behalf Of *Pelch, Leslie
*Sent:* Thursday, September 22, 2016 8:46 AM
*To:* [log in to unmask]
*Subject:* Re: GIS user data
I agree 100% with Jarlath, but it also occurs to me to ask the members of
the listserv Christina’s real question. As an employer – do you care
greatly whether a potential employee has geospatial software experience
with a particular product or just enough experience to apply their
knowledge and learn any product? Since I have gotten in trouble before for
asking questions that end up causing too much email traffic…I will make a
simple survey monkey to collect some responses…..And then report back the
results.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LMD9VCS
LP
*Please Note New Email : [log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>*
___________________________________
Leslie Pelch, GISP, PMP | Outreach Coordinator
Vermont Center for Geographic Information
1 National Life Dr, Davis Bldg, 6th Floor|Montpelier, VT 05620-0501
802-882-3002
vcgi.vermont.gov
{notsecure}
Connect with us via Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/vermont.center.for.geographic.information?ref=hl>,
Twitter (@VCGI), Linked In
<https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-vermont-center-for-geographic-information-inc.>,
and our Wordpress Blog <http://vcgiblog.wordpress.com/>
*From:* Northeast Arc Users Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>] *On Behalf Of *Jarlath P.M. O'Neil-Dunne
*Sent:* Wednesday, September 21, 2016 8:17 PM
*To:* [log in to unmask]
*Subject:* Re: GIS user data
Honestly I don’t think it matters, whatever you teach it will have
radically changed in 2-3 years. The software packages have such similar
capabilities, the challenge is not overloading students with so many
different geospatial solutions that they spend more time learning the
buttonology than doing things.
*--*
*Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne*
*University of Vermont | Spatial Analysis Lab*
*Twitter: @jarlathond*
*Blog: http://letters-sal.blogspot.com/ <http://letters-sal.blogspot.com/>*
*From: *Northeast Arc Users Group <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of
Christina Herrick <[log in to unmask]>
*Reply-To: *Christina Herrick <[log in to unmask]>
*Date: *Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 1:53 PM
*To: *"[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
*Subject: *GIS user data
Hello,
Does anyone know if there are data available (maybe in a past survey) that
summarizes GIS use by industry? I know that NH GRANIT conducted a survey
10 years ago about GIS use in the state, but that survey only asked if
towns used GIS and how often.
Specifically, I'm interested to know GIS users who use proprietary software
such as Esri products, those who use open software like QGIS, and those in
between. Industry information would be a bonus-- are you a government
employee, non-profit, academic, etc.
This stems from a discussion here on campus regarding students and their
attractiveness to future employers based on the types of GIS they're
familiar with. We've heard extreme arguments on both sides regarding which
GIS is "best". It would be nice to be able to back those opinions with
fact.
Thanks everyone
*Christina Herrick*
Research Scientist
V: 603.862.2639 | F: 603.862.0188
*University of New Hampshire*
*Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space*
*Earth Systems Research Center*
Morse Hall, 8 College Road
Durham, NH 03824
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