Abstract
The ubiquity of geospatial science instruction has meant that basic geospatial knowledge is widespread. However, this is now no longer enough, relative to a decade or more ago, for students to attain related employment upon graduation. Even the best students are currently struggling to find appropriate work, and many are either deferring entering the job market by extending their education through to graduate degrees or attending technical finishing programs at colleges in order to gain deeper experience with advanced technical software use. Independent of the specific student strategy adopted, soft skills, networking, and school-based work experiences are complementary and equally important aspects of the process of transitioning from postsecondary education into a career. This chapter places into context the student decision of whether or not to extend study, as well as the institutional quandary of how best to position students for the transition to work. As such, the authors focus on hard and soft skills that are necessary to thrive within the current geospatial technology field. The discussion borrows from geospatial technology competency models as well as workplace surveys. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how the elements of the post-education employment puzzle can be pieced together.
The views expressed in this chapter are expressly those of the authors and do not represent the views of their employers.
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Notes
- 1.
Penn State Public Broadcasting produced an engaging series of videos about Geospatial Revolution: http://geospatialrevolution.psu.edu
- 2.
Example titles of Mapping and Related Technologists and Technicians: http://cnp.edsc.gc.ca/English/NOC/ProfileQuickSearch.aspx?ver=16&val65=2255&val=2&val1=2255
- 3.
For statistical purposes, mapping and related technologists and technicians are classified with four other occupations under the umbrella title “Technical Occupations In Architecture, Drafting, Surveying And Mapping” by the Canadian Occupation Projection System.
- 4.
Jobs Future Quebec: http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/qc/job_futures/job_futures.shtml
- 5.
The AAG publication includes institutions who voluntarily submit their information. Thus, the information may not be a complete reflection of all existing geospatial programs.
- 6.
Government of Canada’s Career Tool provides broad employment data of university graduates in geography: https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/studentdashboard/FOS20705/LOS07
- 7.
- 8.
American Association of Geographers, Jobs and Career Center: http://www.aag.org/careers
- 9.
Canadian Association of Geographers, Profiles of Professional Geographers:
- 10.
Royal Geographical Society, Careers resources:
https://www.rgs.org/geography/studying-geography-and-careers/careers/
- 11.
GIS Lounge: GIS Industry Trends and Outlook, http://www.gislounge.com/gis-industry-trends/
- 12.
- 13.
See “When Harper Killed the Census He Robbed Canadians”: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/murtaza-haider/harper-long-form-census_b_5614355.html
- 14.
See review by Travis Lupick: http://www.straight.com/life/501106/new-book-chris-turner-lays-bare-stephen-harpers-stifling-war-science
- 15.
- 16.
CBC produced a documentary in 2015 on unemployment among university graduates, ‘Generation jobless’
- 17.
- 18.
The current DOLETA GTCM can be found at http://www.careeronestop.org/competencymodel/competency-models/geospatial-technology.aspx
- 19.
This contribution is from a verified source who prefers not to be identified.
- 20.
This criteria list is a merge of two job postings found on GoGeomatics Canada on November 8, 2018 (http://www.gogeomatics.ca). It is highly recommended that Canadian geospatial science students visit this and other job boards regularly during their undergraduate careers to ensure that their knowledge is relevant based on the current needs of employers in the geospatial sector. This provides an excellent instructional direction for course selection and for the development of both hard and soft skills.
- 21.
- 22.
http://hed.esri.ca/resourcefinder and use the keyword “javascript”
- 23.
- 24.
UR Guarantee Program: http://www.uregina.ca/urguarantee/about/policy.html
- 25.
For example, Concordia University offers a large selection of professional development workshops for undergraduate (FutureReady) and graduate (GradProSkills) students.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to colleagues who shared their personal job search stories and advice. We also acknowledge the assistance of Ms. Katie Morehead of URISA, who provided access to the salary surveys, and Ms. Lisa Lin of Career Planning Service at McGill University for suggesting Canadian Government resources.
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Huynh, N.T., Hall, G.B. (2019). Navigating Employment Prospects for New Graduates in the Geospatial Sciences. In: Balram, S., Boxall, J. (eds) GIScience Teaching and Learning Perspectives. Advances in Geographic Information Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06058-9_9
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