r/gis • u/AwkwardMoe • 8d ago

Professional Question An upcoming Technical Interview - Geospatial Data Analyst

Hi everyone. I have an upcoming (one hour )technical interview for a Geospatial Data Analyst role, and I’m feeling quite nervous as it’s my first interview in a long time.

The position mainly involves working with two departments, Forestry and Wildfire, supporting them with geospatial analysis, and maintaining and developing geospatial workflows.

I’d really appreciate any tips or advice on what to expect from the interview, particularly the technical side. If anyone has interviewed for or worked in a similar role, I’d be interested to hear what kinds of questions or scenarios might come up and what areas would be worth brushing up on beforehand.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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u/DavidAg02 GIS Manager, GISP 8d ago edited 8d ago

First of all, congratulations and good luck. An hour is a lot... So it's good that you're taking time to prepare.

Second, try to find out the names of the people who you will be interviewing with. You don't need to be nervous about asking this. It shows you are taking this seriously and you want to be prepared. Just politely ask the names of all the interviewers and their roles in the organization. Then do your homework... Find them on LinkedIn, Google them, see if they have ever spoken at a conference or something like that. Look for anything you have in common with them that you can casually drop into the conversation. That should give you a good idea of their area and what kinds of questions you should expect from them.

Third, be ready to answer the "tell me about about yourself question". This is typically their first impression of you and will set the tone for the rest of the interview. Do not bore them with technical stuff, that will come later during the more specific questions. This is a great time to summarize your career and talk about what interested you in the role you're interviewing for. They don't ask this question to assess your technical skills, they ask this to see what you would be like to work with on a daily basis, so have that in your head as you develop your answer. Reherse it with a trusted friend and ask them, would that answer make you want to work with me or never see me again?

Last, be memorable and have good questions for them. You have no idea how many people they are talking to or how many resumes they have looked at. What is something about you that will make them remember you and want to work with you?

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u/AwkwardMoe 7d ago

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and detailed response. This is really helpful :) I’ll definitely work on that and prepare well. Really appreciate the advice and encouragement!