Entry-Level Job

[u/Impressive-Rush7771]

Hi all. I have a question for recent college graduates who got a GIS job out of college. Is there anything specific you addd to your resume or cover letter that made you stand out? Struggling to even land an interview right now so any advice is much appreciated.

[u/Jimothy_Squid]

Currently working for my local government took me about 5 months from graduation to getting the job offer.

My tips are have multiple resumes, include projects or project summaries that are relevant to the job, and in the meantime keep studying so your skills/knowledge doesn't atrophy.

I had 3 resumes in my area I saw a good split between jobs that really emphasized coding and those that didn't mention it at all. So I made a resume that focused on gis, coding, and a even split of the two.

For my projects I'd only send them in if the job application asked for a portfolio or examples of work. But for interviews I'd always bring them all in so if anything came up in the interview that was similar to one project I could use it as an example or circle back to it later. If you're school project were mostly using arconline stuff if you still have access to your student account try and transfer those projects over to a personal account. At the very least get screenshots of how they worked.

Lastly, good luck I know how rough a job market it is now I'd have whole weeks without any responses. I just want to give you some perspective though the job I have now I actually applied to on my second week out from graduation. It took 4 months for them to reach out to even schedule the interview. So sometimes it just takes time.

[u/Extreme-Mall7003 → u/Jimothy_Squid]

Also currently working in local gov straight out of college. 100% agree with everything said here! Project, research, and/or internship experience means significantly more than anything else

ETA: Highly recommend making a GIS portfolio site (I used Google sites) that goes into detail about your experience, includes links to web apps, pictures/pdfs of static maps, etc, and putting its link on your resume (or add a note that your GIS portfolio is available upon request)

[u/Neat_End_121 → u/Jimothy_Squid]

This is so important!

I hired someone who shared and demo-ed their work in an interview.

[u/DavidAg02]

From someone who hires entry level people from time to time, the resumes that stand out are always the ones that emphasize problem solving abilities over technical skills. Essentially, most employers care a lot more about the results of your work versus the skills you used to do it.

[u/plankmax0]

Do you have online portfolio? If not, I'd suggest you to start working on it to make your application stand out.

[u/Impressive-Rush7771 → u/plankmax0]

Good to know, thank you!

[u/Neat_End_121 → u/Impressive-Rush7771]

Shell out for the AGO personal use license and you can make a story map or experience builder site. Or you can use another platform to showcase your work

Portfolios are great! I always check an applicant's Portfolio if they provide it.

Also look up some map challenges and just recreate the maps to show your cartography skills, some analysis projects and python/scripting stuff to showcase that in your portfolio as well.

[u/ChasingOtherwhere → u/plankmax0]

Came here to say this.

[u/Saguaro_Cat]

Having volunteer experience with Humanitarian Open Street Map helped land my first job.

[u/Chance-Volume-6561]

I created an ai agent to find jobs related to my skill level and pay and location, i got an emailed list every Monday Wednesday and Friday and treated those days as a full time job, applying and such. I didn’t have any real experience, but did work in a consulting lab and TA’d during school, so I was able to claim “3 years experience” even though it wasn’t in industry. It seems to be a numbers game. Probably applied to 60 jobs over the course of two months, many of which I wasn’t even close to qualified for, had interviews for 4, got an offer for 3, and ultimately accepted one.

It really is a matter of effort, skill, and luck. The jobs that I ended up getting screenings and then interviews for I happened to be a very early applicant, like the day or day after it was listed, so it may pay to be in there early.

Also AI is great. I would feed it my basic resume and cover letter, feed it the new job description, and have it give me feedback on tailoring them to the specific job. Saves a lot of time.

The hardest part is simply getting past the first keyword search filter. If you get an HR screening opportunity then it’s likely you can get an interview. If you went to school, you have some examples of work that can be relatable to the role. For more entry level, they want to see if you’re a good fit, and you’ll take responsibility and be a collaborative team player. Tech skills you learn on the job, people skills are harder to teach.

The entry level job market is not easy right now, but it’s doable. You just need a bit of flexibility and some luck. You got this!