Activity: Job adverts and salary bands

• Several job adverts with salaries, desired skills and roles and responsibilities (for info only)
• Could be used to support activities focused on skills needed to work in GIS and how GIS is used in the ‘real world’.

Timings: For information only

Advice on getting a job in GIS
Developing your skills in using GIS technologies is key. It’s increasingly important to be able to use multiple platforms (commercial and open source) and to be able to code  – so you should think about developing your skills with R, Python, Javascript and other. Courses in your geography degree that include GIS use can be very useful for teaching you skills in a structured way. There are also lots of online training courses, many for free.

An alternative option to start a geospatial career is a geospatial apprenticeship, where you will gain experience in work while earning money. There are apprenticeships available as a Geospatial Survey Technician, or the degree-level Geospatial Mapping and Science Degree apprenticeship.

It is important to demonstrate to employers how you can apply your skills and what functions and tasks you can do. Volunteering is one way to do this. For example  you can contribute to development/humanitarian mapping via organisations like Missing Maps, GIS Corps, Humanitarian Open Street Map or MapAction, or contribute to open GIS via organisations like OpenStreetMap or Geo-Wiki. You never know which organisations could use some GIS support, so consider whether you could offer to use your skills in a placement or some part-time work with a company, local council or non-profit.

Example job adverts

• Assistant GIS Consultant, WSP
• Data analyst HS2
• Geospatial Information Specialist, Ministry of Defense
• GIS Manager, Milton Keynes Council
• Senior GIS Analyst - Offshore Wind

These job adverts (the contents of which are taken from real jobs advertised online) can be used to give students a flavour of the types of jobs available in the GIS sector, and students should be encouraged to explore the wording within the adverts that relate to geographical skills and the other skills listed that are specific to the sector.

Salary bands
The salaries in the example job adverts range from £25K – £33K for an Assistant GIS Consultant, reaching 50K+ for a Technician. A data Analyst can expect to earn up to the £42K mark, and a Geospatial Information Specialist up to £35K. A GIS Manager for a Council could earn up to £48K and a Senior GIS Analyst could expect a salary of up to £120K.

Apprenticeship training course: Geospatial survey technician (level 3)

Apprenticeship training course: Geospatial mapping and science specialist (degree) (level 6)

Geospatial technician

Land surveyor

Cartographer