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My job title is "research analyst". I googled that and apparently it's got something to do with finance. That's not at all what I do. At its core, I basically QA and add to a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) database of electric power infrastructure (power plants, substations, transmission lines). I find information however I need to to do this, via news releases, project fact sheets, FERC forms, and Google Maps/Earth imagery. Previously, I also combed through articles written by our in-house "intelligence service" for additional data, however that department of the company was shut down. At its worst, my job is straight up data entry. At its best, the job fulfills its title, i.e. research analysis. I collect evidence, compare it, add previous knowledge and intuition, and make a determination on what data is "correct". This aspect of the job is more interesting and more challenging, and I'd like to focus on it as a career path. However, doing job searches and the like, it seems my job might be a weird fluke. It's hard to know what to look for. When I got it, I was looking for GIS Analyst positions, which I have somewhat written off as a career path because I'm just not that interested in coding or database management. Obviously, there are other jobs where data is collected and analyzed - Scientist, Engineer, Actuary, Police Detective, and Lawyer, to name a few. But I don't have the qualifications to do those things, just some GIS skills and an interest in the natural sciences and conservation. Any recommendations on what career path/jobs to pursue from here?
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May 30, 2017 21:18
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 07:02 |
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Is anyone here a GIS Analyst or ever has been one? In particular, did you transition to more of a developer role at some point to make more money? I like my easy GIS job, but there's nowhere to go and the best I can probably hope for are the 1% or 2% raises I get every two years or so. I know some python, and enjoy it, and maybe could use that as a starting point to jumping to a developer career, but it's everything else that is a bit of a mystery. I've been told "learn AWS", "learn Javascript", "learn .NET" and I could cobble together this and that together from online resources or community college courses, but what's the priority of these and what do they add up to? Would definitely like to see what a successful path from GIS to developer looks like.
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Feb 5, 2024 21:22
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Thank you for the really thorough advice! That’s the clearest explanation of a developer career path I’ve read yet. One thing I have seen elsewhere though, is that the backend focus (or is it devOps? Either way, more so than front end) requires more python. Do you think that’s true? Also, do you know if a “cloud developer” is similar to what you describe as a backend position? There’s a bunch of AWS courses Ive been thinking of taking, and I wonder how they all fit into this developer categorization.
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Feb 6, 2024 00:28
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Awesome! I think so too. Thanks again for all the help!
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Feb 6, 2024 00:51
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