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| GeoCommunity Mailing List |
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| Mailing List Archives |
| Subject: | RE: GISList: Geography Masters Student |
| Date: |
01/03/2002 02:37:27 PM |
| From: |
Anthony Quartararo |
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Dear Derek,
Do you want to have a career as a code warrior? If not, it may still be
useful to learn some basic VB, C++ or Java, but don't spend much time on it
if it is not core to your goals. It will not take long to figure out for
yourself whether your really want to be a developer or not.
The AAG is a great place, if you want to teach or learn more. GITA
(www.gita.org) is one, if not the biggest, international trade show in the
industry, and where the bleeding edge work gets done. This year its in
sunny Tampa in March. Might be worth a few shekels to attend some year.
URISA (www.urisa.org) is also a good show, although pretty lean in the last
few years, and focuses mostly on state,local and municipal GIS applications.
There are some others, but these two have links to other resources to
research.
Job prospects, well, what can we say about that these days. You will
probably have to jump on in and put your time in and work up, but you will
learn quickly that in most companies, if you stay on for years, you will
only inch up toward higher compensation, responsibility, etc. and you will
likely have to jump around a bit to achieve your goals, assuming that some
of them focus on $$. Jumping around is not that bad either, helps to
provide a different perspective about different products, company's,
cultures, products, services and business in general.
Good luck. Take business courses that have nothing to do with GIS. Also, my
advice is to stay away from courses that deal with "Deconstructionist
Geographic Theory blah blah blah". Requisite courses aside, these do little
except spend your money and as Steve Martin once said, you'll "...learn just
enough to screw you up for the rest of your life".
Anthony
-----Original Message-----
From: Derek Link [mailto:dereklink@yahoo.com\
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 3:16 PM
To: gislist@geocomm.com
Subject: GISList: Geography Masters Student
Greeting GISListers:
I've been a list lurker with a purpose for the past 8
months or so. This month I begin a masters degree
program in geography at the City University of New
York (www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu). My goal with it is to
learn how to develop, maintain and use a GIS, with
sufficient training in geography so I can apply these
skills wisely.
Reading the posts on this list has helped me get a
sense of the field. The reason I am posting now is
because I would appreciate any advice you may have for
a beginning graduate student in two areas:
1. Computer programming is, obviously, a very large
part of a GIS. My computer nerd friends recommend
learning as many as possible. My coursework will
reflect this, at least as time allows. I know Java
moderately well already, and I plan to learn C++,
Avenue, and Visual Basic. Does this sound about right
to you? What are the essential languages you need/use
in your work?
2. Job prospects for a newbie who wants to break into
the field, what are they? I'm taking the plunge,
going into debt to pay for all this, so I can focus on
school full-time. After some training, I hope to pick
up some paying gigs in the field while still in
school. (I am an "older" student -- 33 -- and I have
already had a 10 year career in
journalism/policy/government.) I can't do anything
yet, but hopefully I will be able to do something of
value to a GIS firm after a semester or two. What are
the prospects for paid work in and around NYC for
someone like me? I am planning to attend the AAG
meeting in LA during Spring break to scout out
employers, etc. Any other meetings you think are
valuable?
I appreciate any input you might provide. Derek Link
www.dereklink.com
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