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Certified GIS Professionals Making More Money?

posted by Satri on Tuesday July 31, @01:14PM   Printer-friendly   Email story  Permalink  Trackback URI  Slashdotthis  Diggthis  Del.icio.us
from the are-you-certified? dept.
The Industry Business Education
All Points Blog links to an article about certified GIS professionals making more money than the not certified ones. From the article: " "I get calls from big organizations pursuing big GIS contracts," Colby said. "But when they get it, they'll need somebody to fill these tasks." Because of a shortage of GIS-trained workers, companies often turn to their computer programmers, draftsmen or other technicians and have them learn GIS, she said. "People with GIS certification average about $12,000 more in annual salary than non-GIS-trained people doing the same type of work," Colby said." See also previous related stories.

Related Stories

Application Domains: GIS Certification Institute Update [+]
Directions Mag offer a great update on the GIS Certification Institute. From the article: "Two years later, more than 1,000 individuals have completed the certification process, which requires no testing, but rather documenting a portfolio of academic study (EDU), professional experience (EXP), and contribution to the profession (CON). They are recognized as Certified GIS Professionals and hold the designation, "GISP.""
Technology: GISCI Professional GIS Certification 1 comment [+]
Scott Grams writes "This presentation details the GISCI certification program for GIS professionals. Started on January 1, 2004, GISCI provides a recognition program for established GIS practitioners. It offers a non-examination, portfolio-based system. The process examines applicants' education, professional experience, and ways they have contributed back to the profession. Since its inception, GISCI has certified over 1,300 GIS professionals (GISPs). As the Institute grows, new initiatives are being developed to advance GIS awareness and ethical practice throughout the field. More details on the program are available at www.gisci.org."
Geo-Certification vs Mentoring 1 comment [+]
OSGeo's Tyler Mitchell discuss geo-certification vs mentoring, this is related to this previous story on GISCI certification. From the entry: "Should OSGeo seek to provide a professional certification programme for individuals? [...] The common answer is: "No, we don't want to go there, at least not yet. If we create curriculum, let institutions use it and grant their own diplomas if they want. [...] We all know that someone who is a contributing part of an active community is much more aware of issues, connected to other like-minded individuals, challenged to find new ways to solve bigger problems, etc. [...] The important part is not that you get some certificate at the end, rather, that there is no end! It would run more like a guild. Students in training (or apprentices) are trained by their seniors (journeymen) who are in turn mentored by seasoned masters.""
Technology: First Provisional Certifications Awarded by ASPRS [+]
From GISuser.com, ASPRS awards the first two provisional certifications for Mapping Scientist-GIS/LIS: The Provisional Certification Program was put in place by ASPRS in late 2006 and made available to graduating students in the spatial sciences who meet the educational and program requirements. The first of its kind, this program provides students with the opportunity to take the ASPRS certification exam as they are finishing their studies. ASPRS is working with universities that offer spatial technology education to implement this innovative program.
GIS Salary Surveys [+]
GeoChalkboard posts on the various GIS Salary surveys available on the web. Check out what you're worth...

URISA Salary Survey for Geospatial Professionals [+]
GIS Monitor offers a summary of URISA's salary survey for IT/GIS professionals, which provide information on more than just salaries. From the summary: "In addition to salaries, this exhaustive, 499-page survey reports and cross-tabulates data on job title/position, type of employer, location of employment, staff size, departments served, years of professional experience, education, computer skills, other job requirements, and demographic characteristics. [...] As for proficiency with GIS software, ESRI products were most popular: * ArcGIS, 91.2 percent * SDE/GeoDatabase, 47.9 percent * ESRI Extensions (Network Analyst, 3D Analyst, Spatial Analyst), 46.2 percent * ArcIMS, 37.9 percent [...] As for salaries, on average survey respondents earned $60,050 in 2006, an increase of 13.8 percent over the 2003 average of $52,750." See also related stories below.
Technology: GIS is for Professionals? 2 comments [+]
All Points Blog links to an article on the recurring debate this summer about the democratization of GIS and whether GIS professionals will still be as much valuable as they are now. From the article: "With the arrival of online mapping services such as Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth, geographic information systems (GIS) are now at the fingertips of every Tom, Dick and Mary with an Internet connection. This strikes Vint Cerf as good news. The chief Internet evangelist at Google Inc., and one of the founding fathers of the Internet, says he’d like to see a geographic equivalent of Wikipedia — “Geopedia,” he dubs it — where anyone could add to the world’s geographic know-how. Jack Dangerman is skeptical. He’s the president of Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc., a leading GIS software vendor in Redlands, Calif., known as ESRI. He worries that even the best-intentioned amateur could provide inaccurate data that could lead to a disaster. “Who wants to dig a hole and run into a pipe?” Dangerman asks. [...] “Let’s not just democratize GIS data usage; let’s democratize data creation,” he says. Ron Lake, CEO of GIS software vendor Galdos Systems Inc. in Vancouver, says there is a place for “crowd-sourcing data,” and GIS professionals need to be willing to work with it. However, he adds, “there is such a thing as expert interpretation of information.”" See also related stories.
Slashgeo: New Poll on Who Gets the Geospatial Work Done at Your Office [+]
The previous poll asked our users if they would contribute to Slashgeo probably gave unreliable results. Out of 46 people, 17% said they're all in, which makes sense because the poll followed the call for collaborators, 17% said they'll submit stories from time to time, 17% said they'll contribute through comments, 32% may eventually contribute while 14% just don't have the time or the will. The new poll asks you about who is doing geospatial work at your office. This poll is directly related to this story about certified geoprofessionals and the problem of low availability of geospatial professionals.
GIS Professional Certification 1 comment [+]
GIS Monitor offers an article on GIS Professional Certification. From the article's introduction: "A few years ago, at the request of GIS practitioners, URISA—later joined by AAG, NSGIC, and UCGIS—developed benchmarks and a process to certify GIS professionals (GISPs) and it set up an organization to administer the program—the GIS Certification Institute* (GISCI), whose mission is "To maintain the high standards and integrity of the GIS profession and promote ethical conduct within it." Since the GISCI program went "live" at the beginning of 2004, the number of GISPs has grown rapidly and has now reached about 1,450." See related stories below.
Application Domains: California Adopts GISCI 1 comment [+]
The California GIS Council (CGC), the primary geographic information systems coordinating council for the state, has formally endorsed the GIS Certification Institute's (GISCI) certification program for GIS professionals.

You can read the full announcement at Directions Magazine.
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  • Apparently I'm not qualified...

    (Score:3, Interesting)
    by redgeographics (145) <hansNO@SPAMredgeographics.com> on Tuesday July 31, @03:14PM (#1614)
    ( http://www.redgeographics.com/ )
    Hmmm...

    It appears I'm not qualified :) I earned a B.Sc in Geo-Informatics in 1999 and have been working in the GIS/Cartography ever since, the last 3 years running my own business. According to the form you need 30 education points, I only got 22.8, because I haven't done that many additional training after getting the B.Sc (I've been *giving* training, but apparently that doesn't count).

    Anybody here succesfully qualify? I'm not being disgruntled here, just curious...

    --
    Hans van der Maarel

    • Re:Apparently I'm not qualified...

      (Score:3, Interesting)
      by Anonymous Voxel on Tuesday July 31, @05:33PM (#1615)
      I don't think the article merits attention. It doesn't really make clear the difference between someone who has GIS training (a degree/significant coursework in geography) and someone who is certified (like joining a modern guild). obviously, those who have training are going to seek out GIS jobs, and those have higher starting salaries. Those who are trained in something else are going to have lower salaries because they weren't hired to do GIS, and are learning on the job.
      [ Parent ]

  • grandfathering

    (Score:3, Informative)
    by GISdude (1250) on Wednesday August 01, @10:01AM (#1616)
    Hey Red, I have not bothered with the process of getting the GISP either. I found despite my extensive experience, they weight their application VERY heavily towards education. What you have done in the field is not worth nearly as much as advanced degrees. But have you looked into the "grandfathering" clause. I think it required 8yrs exp... might be worth a view

    • Re:grandfathering

      (Score:3, Interesting)
      by redgeographics (145) <hansNO@SPAMredgeographics.com> on Friday August 03, @06:48AM (#1623)
      ( http://www.redgeographics.com/ )
      Yes, I noticed that. Since it's a little over 8 years ago that I graduated (my, how time flies) I guess I could qualify that way. Having said that, I'm still not convinced of the benefit of certification in my specific case.
      --
      Hans van der Maarel
      [ Parent ]

      • Re:grandfathering

        (Score:3, Interesting)
        by GISdude (1250) on Friday August 03, @08:08AM (#1624)
        Yeah I agree I haven't seen any real purpose. The only reason I consider it, is I worked in the IT field and have seen less qualified certified people get jobs over more qualified non certified people. The reason for this is lets face it HR people often don't know much about technical positions and assume the certification means something.
        [ Parent ]

  • GISCI now recognizes geospatial training services

    (Score:2)
    by Satri (3) on Thursday August 16, @01:46PM (#1648)
    ( http://alexandreleroux.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Friday March 17, @05:07PM )
    Learn more right here [wordpress.com].