Jobs Qualifications
Once you've completed your coursework and gotten experience, where do you look for a job? There are quite a few job sites on the internet specializing exclusively in GIS employment opportunities. So write up a resume and cover letter and hit the internet. Aim for jobs that meet your education and experience level. In general, the hierarchy and required GIS experience for hands-on (i.e. non-managerial) positions is as follows:
Digitizer - little to no experience needed. This is the entry level position in the field. Most of the tasks will involve the conversion of hard copy maps to digital sources via digitizing.
Technician - 1-2 years experience with GIS based software. If you first took an internship you should be able to aim for these types of jobs. Common tasks involve cartographic output (mapmaking) and data manipulation. A lot of positions are also starting to look for some basic programming experience.
Analyst - 2-3 years experience with GIS based software. At this level you should be performing more complex analyses and RDBMS. In addition, an analysts will also be primarily concerned with application development and should have a fair amount of programming experience.
As with all technical fields, GIS is a rapidly developing field. Keep yourself up-to-date by attending conferences and reading GIS based magazines. To find out more about other jobs in Geography be sure to visit Matt's Geography site at About.com.
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