• Question: if i where to work in the GIS what would i have to do?

    Asked by matematika to Sylwia on 6 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Sylwia Nikel

      Sylwia Nikel answered on 6 Mar 2018:

      It would depend on what stage of your education you would be and if you would like to follow a traditional path to study first and then find employment or for example try it first as an apprenticeship.
      I followed a less traditional path and after graduating college in banking I have taken an apprenticeship in one of the local Land Surveying companies learning GIS from a very basic but also an important stage – digitisation. I have learned then that GIS is what I want to do for my career path and decided to do a degree.
      What I would suggest, if you are interested in a career in GIS, is to find which companies have that department – obviously Arup has, that’s where I work, I know Jacobs, AECOM and Aimie have GIS departments. Then see if they are offering apprenticeships in this department or if not, ask for it in an email. There is never a harm to ask, my dad always says. Companies like that will sometimes offer to sponsor your studies while being their apprentice.
      If you prefer to follow a traditional path to study first and then go to work lots of universities offer BSc in GIS and I would recommend UNIGIS for your MSc. UNIGIS is distance learning course but is very relevant to the work that you will be potentially doing.
      I would also suggest, regardless of what path you would choose, to register as a student member in RGS (Royal Geographers Society) and AGS (Association for Geographical Information).
      If you want a practice in GIS, ESRI (one of the main software for GIS supplier) offers free ArcGIS Online for schools that can be trialed in a classroom.
      Lastly, I myself organise GISday @ Campus every year where we prepare sessions of workshops, interactive presentations for schools and the event is still free to attend. It has been now ordanised for 3 consecutive years. To learn more you can read my article about it on my LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/reserve-your-space-gisday-campus-2017-wednesday-15th-sylwia-nikel/ or the event website http://www.campusgisdy.com.
      I hope this has answered your question fully but if not, I’m very happy to answer more detailed questions.

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