I'm going to enter a GIS (geographic information systems) certificate program. I'll be pursuing a Master's in Urban Planning at the same time. Does anyone know about these career options or is anyone currently involved with GIS?

I am back in college after taking it on the chin from the aviation industry. I am studying Geography with hopefully a focus on cartography and a certificate. I was thinking about GIS but I enjoy map making and would like to maybe one day work for NACO as either a cartographer or a pilot.

US Department of Labor or whatever says it's the third largest emerging industry. Everyone is using GIS for various things especially when it comes to city planning and even law enforcement are getting in on it. Map making is pretty much based around ArcGIS by ESRI these days. And yes a lot of concepts will seem familiar to you if you're an FS nerd. :) If you're good with stats, and math in general you can make good use out of it but you do need some kind of other career focus that's outside of GIS. It's more of communication and analysis tool than anything else.

Thanks for the info. I have a political science undergrad degree so I was going to do a Master's in Urban Planning as the main career track. Urban Planning is sort of an academic degree and I really wanted to have a specific skill to back it up. That is where the GIS certificate comes in. The department head for geography and GIS said that he has been able to find internships for people with 1-2 classes under their belts - most internships leading to jobs because so few people know ESRI software.I'm not great with math - not because I can't handle it, I just don't find it interesting. I only went up to pre-calc in undergrad which was the bare minimum to graduate. Of course, with a poly sci degree you have to take statistics. I got an A in that.Ok, a little TMI here so read with cautionIn two previous jobs I worked on a couple projects that I really enjoyed and I feel they have some relation to GIS.First, I working in DC for a political organization. One project involved compiling voting records for certain zip codes that had a certain demographic foot print. The end result was to determine what candidate that demographic voted for in 2004 and compare it to 2000 and 2002. The purpose was to verify the effectiveness of the organization's campaign that was targeted at that demographic. GIS would have been really helpful with illustrating the findings.Second, I worked for a non-profit organization doing event logistics - securing permits, mapping event routes for Bike events and various event management duties. One thing we were wondering where our event participants and donors lived. We had the raw zip code date but it needed to be consolidated in to a understandable format. Using MS Map Point, I was able to import it so we could see if our events were positioned in the correct areas around the state.I enjoyed working on these projects.Anyway, does anyone know of another tech related skill that I can learn without a programming background that could enhance my chances for employment in GIS? The goal is to get the GIS certificate as fast as possible to get a job. Once employed, I will continue with the master's program on a part time basis. Looking for a job right now is pretty pointless in Michigan and I don't want to work in fundraising or politics anymore.

My friend works in the city planners office as an engineer. He doesn't use the ESRI software himself but he says a few people in the office do. So it's definitely going to give you a leg up on your resume, and in the future it's going to be used more often as more data is gathered. I would say it's something you should take as a course since geography and GIS isn't something you just pick up there is a lot of technical details when it comes to data handling and interpretation and understanding what the software is doing. Most of the math I would say is precalc stuff though obviously the more you know the easier it is to understand what's going on, and usually what your communicating on the maps is the "statistics". If you want you can fill out a form on ESRI site and get a demo disc from them or take a browse through the "online resources". I know they offer enrolled students a free license, but I think the demo is limited to 60 days, you maybe able to get it extended. And off the top of my head Visual Basic might come in useful, if you have no programming skills yet, it might be good to get some general knowledge working with data and their computer representation.

Thanks for the info. I have a political science undergrad degree so I was going to do a Master's in Urban Planning as the main career track. Urban Planning is sort of an academic degree and I really wanted to have a specific skill to back it up. That is where the GIS certificate comes in. The department head for geography and GIS said that he has been able to find internships for people with 1-2 classes under their belts - most internships leading to jobs because so few people know ESRI software.I'm not great with math - not because I can't handle it, I just don't find it interesting. I only went up to pre-calc in undergrad which was the bare minimum to graduate. Of course, with a poly sci degree you have to take statistics. I got an A in that.Ok, a little TMI here so read with cautionIn two previous jobs I worked on a couple projects that I really enjoyed and I feel they have some relation to GIS.First, I working in DC for a political organization. One project involved compiling voting records for certain zip codes that had a certain demographic foot print. The end result was to determine what candidate that demographic voted for in 2004 and compare it to 2000 and 2002. The purpose was to verify the effectiveness of the organization's campaign that was targeted at that demographic. GIS would have been really helpful with illustrating the findings.Second, I worked for a non-profit organization doing event logistics - securing permits, mapping event routes for Bike events and various event management duties. One thing we were wondering where our event participants and donors lived. We had the raw zip code date but it needed to be consolidated in to a understandable format. Using MS Map Point, I was able to import it so we could see if our events were positioned in the correct areas around the state.I enjoyed working on these projects.Anyway, does anyone know of another tech related skill that I can learn without a programming background that could enhance my chances for employment in GIS? The goal is to get the GIS certificate as fast as possible to get a job. Once employed, I will continue with the master's program on a part time basis. Looking for a job right now is pretty pointless in Michigan and I don't want to work in fundraising or politics anymore.

You will find many GIS opportunities with various government agencies - particularly if you are able to get a security clearance.DJ

Thanks.