National Map Corps Volunteers Receive Recognition in National Map Gamification Effort - The USGS The National Map Corps launches a recognition program based on the number of points a volunteer contributes. Levels of recognition are displayed in the form of icons or badges of antique catalog drawings of sophisticated pieces of surveying equipment. As a volunteer attains each level, congratulations are sent and recognized via social media
GCS "Geospatial Big Data" Webinar Series - GCS has announced a new webinar series focused on developing solutions to the challenges of Geospatial Big Data by leveraging the fusion of location analytics, mobile platforms and cloud technologies. The first webinar (June 12, 2013) will feature Montana Site Selector, a cloud-based, web-enabled GIS application that GCS built for a consortium of economic development organizations.
Free Webinar! Rebuilding After Sandy: Surveying the Aftermath - Last October, the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history put our mapping and forecasting systems to the test. As it turns out, the tragic truth is that the best means of determining the accuracy of risk predicted by the Flood Insurance Rate Maps is to have a flood. In this edition of the Amerisurv webinar series, we'll cover key areas of interest to land surveyors, planners, GIS and mapping professionals.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Connect With Anglers via Colorado Fishing Atlas - Colorado Parks and Wildlife Connect With Anglers via Colorado Fishing Atlas and Social Media. Some fine civic engagement from the Parks and Wildlife service in Colorado as some new resources designed to connect with Anglers have been released to the public.
Top 10 Features in The New Google Maps - Google has reinforced that Maps are all about exploring and discovering, especially on mobile. The experience will only get better, for the developer and end user. We can all expect to enjoy new features and enhanced navigation experiences from gMaps in the near future.
AEC Firms Lose an Average 100K a Year - Architectural, engineering and environmental firms she works for easily lose $100,000 each year through inefficient and ineffective practices
Canada Post Suing Over the use of Postal Code - An interesting issue is unfolding in Canada and quite frankly its darned amazing! Imagine this, you have a website and offer some kind of product or service. You also use a map so users can search your product by Postal Code... uhoh, now you get a letter from Canada Post stating that they are suing you
Location, Location! 10 Map Services Your Business MUST Be Listed in - You have a business... perhaps a bar, a coffee shop, or maybe a consulting firm. Regardless of the business type, if you have a brick and mortar presence then you need to get your business listed in some of the popular online, location-based resources and search tools.
Editing OpenStreetMap (OSM) Just Got Easy, Really Easy! I'm sure that many (if not most) of you have often wanted to mess around with OSM and add/edit some features but were a little lazy - I'm guilty! But now we have no excuse thanks to the new OpenStreetMap in-browser map editing tools available from the iD Editor
Creative Cartography Meets Music in The Song Map - Oh yes, I love art. I also love music too, heck, who doesn't right? Well, I know you GeoGeeks and music lovers will really dig this one as we stumble onto yet another amazing cartographic product that quite simply will make you say WOW
Why is Landsat important and the Landsat Missions Timeline - Landsat has the optimal ground resolution and spectral bands to efficiently track land use and to document land change due to climate change, urbanization, drought, wildfire, biomass changes (carbon assessments), and a host of other natural and human-caused changes.
Mobile Market Trends show Apple users most loyal - Results from a recent survey indicate that Mobile Market Trendsreveal Apple users are most loyal, T-Mobile customers most likely to bail - are you still confident that your clients are loyal to your brand?
10 Must Have Gadgets and Technology for the Remote Office - Chances are good that if you happen to work in technology or you're a consultant, that you may be working remotely or from a home-based office at some time soon - or perhaps you already do
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Finding a job can be a daunting task but it doesn't have to be. Many are turning to social media, in particular Twitter, to help score a new gig. Here's some helpful social media job hunting resources, some pointers from a Twitter GeoGeek success story, and a number of personal tips. Good luck!
More and more folks seem to be relocating and scoring new jobs. Seems also many people that are employed are constantly on the look for a new (better) gig and are actively scouring the online job boards and other resources. I've observed that recently, our own GISuser career board seems to be busier than ever with numerous new positions being added every week.
So how does one land that dream job? There's no question that it's tough, perhaps tougher than ever. Competition is heated and what makes it even more difficult is that the amount of resources posting job ads seems to be growing exponentially. When a job ad hits an online resource, lets say Monster or Dice for example) the ad seems to spread like wildfire being re-copied, recycled, mashed up and regenerated in many other apps and services. I recently noticed a mobile app, JobMo, designed specifically more mobile devices (smartphones and Tablet editions) does a fantastic job of scouring the web and reposting positions. What's really cool is that the app is also location aware so a person can easily search by keyword for areas in any geographic region of interest.
To be honest though, you have to realize that by the time many job ads hit the online boards, the recruiter has already received many applications from around the World. It seems so easy for people to have on hand a number of electronic cover letters and resumes, optimized for specific job titles, and ready to submit. So really, unless you happen to be the dream candidate with an amazing work history, educational background, and a resume that jumps off the page, you'll likely simply be store to receive a dreaded what I call "FOAD" letter (I'll let you decipher that one).
So how can you get an edge? Well, I'm a good listener and observer and I can tell you that having some contacts within the hiring org and hearing about the position prior to being widely posted can give you a massive advantage. Using web resources and social media streams is a perfect tool. But what can you do?
Follow Them - Many companies have career or HR twitter accounts. Follow and/or list these accounts to stay informed of opportunities - often companies will tweet a job opp before its even posted on a public job board. Try to also do daily twitter searches for hot buzzwords or hash tags like "jobs" " twitjobs" etc... and if there's companies that interest you follow some of their employees on twitter. You may also find some interesting Twitter lists that you can follow, for example, I have one called Geo Companies - see https://twitter.com/#!/gletham/giscompanies/members
RSS - If at all possible, add company job board RSS feeds to your reader. This can help you look for helpful articles from companies that you're interested in. For example, if Esri is on your radar you might be interested in an article they authored called "Resumé and Cover Letter Tips" - obviously these are helpful things here if you'll be applying for a spot with Esri - By the way, they have a TON of openings. http://www.esri.com/careers/process/resume-tips.html
Use LinkedIn - On LinkedIn you can follow companies that interest you (engage with key staffers so they can get to know you). LinkedIn also has a fine job search tool and will also send you weekly updates of jobs that mach your area of interest. This is also a great resource to find groups and share your interest in finding a job or secure yourself as an expert on a topic if you happen to be one!
Note: Our GISuser LinkedIn board (monitored by yours truly) boasts more than 18,000 members and is a fantastic resource!
Network - You may think you don't have the time (sorry but I just don't buy that excuse) but make time to get out and network. Attend industry relevant social and community events. If there's a LUG, whereCamp, hackday, Ignite, TweetUp or other social meetup taking place then get to it. Even more important, consider presenting at an event.. getting on stage is scary but the rewards are amazing and there's no better way to get "out there".
A Geo Gig Success Story
For a useful read about how one Geo professional, Leslie Zolman, found a dream job on Twitter check out what @317537leslie said in her blog post http://lesliezolman.com/blog/?p=44 Leslie started out with some hard-core networking (we've met in person at esriuc and are connected socially) and was doing all the right things then decided to turn to social media. She got active on twitter, used the fun social tool visualize.me to create an interactive resume (I personally think slideshare could also be a valuable tool for presenting your work, particularly visual works like maps and other graphics). Leslie stayed professional online and connected with professionals in the industry in order to stay in the know. She started following Twitter accounts that were specifically tweeting Geo jobs. Eventually she saw a tweet about a dream job and the rest is history! Kudos to Leslie and congrats on her new gig as a GIS Coordinator in Montana!
I think the huge thing about Leslie's story is how a newbie on Twitter managed to quickly learn to leverage the resource to her advantage, she was professional, and did all the right things. For many of us that are old-timers on social media and looking at hunting for a job it may be an idea to reinvent yourself on twitter and look at your history and historical data.
Using Social Media and Twitter To Land The Perfect Job - Tips, Tricks, Trends and a Happy Ending bit.ly/wypb6x
Keep your resume and cover letter templates up to date
Create multiple resume versions and cover letters tailored for a specific type of job
Create a good LinkedIn profile - many if not most hiring agents use LinkedIn
Keep your social media profiles and accounts clean and professional - HR people will search you!
If you see jobs posted in discussion boards on LinkedIn then reply Privately to the posting person
If it doesn't jeopardize you in some way be open! Share on your social streams that you are searching for a new job and briefly tout your expertise.
Don't surf the web and apply for jobs while at work
If you know people at companies that interest you then come right out and ask if anything is available or perhaps coming available soon... be aggressive!
You may think business cards are "oild school" but don't fool yourself, carry one with you ALWAYS - get custom "ME" cards made at MOO.com
Provide logical, clear, professional contact information on your resume - don't use some lame email address like
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and be sure to also include a phone number. If you have to, secure a free Google Voice number, very handy!
Use niche job boards - Monster and Dice are great for job ads from big companies, however, if you're interested in smaller companies you'll want to hit the industry specific boards. For Geo tech brows the GJC.org, GeoSearch, GISlounge, GISjobs.com and our own GISuser job board.
For geeky, hard-core developer jobs (for example, companies like Ubisense, Geocommons, WeoGeo, Zekiah etc...) be sure to monitor their blogs. Quite often these companies will rely mainly on their social networks and blog to reach people that they know already believe in them and are fans!
Are you sure you are willing to relocate? Before you apply for a job that's 3,000 miles away make sure and don't waste everyone's time.
Will you hire foreign workers or will you move to another country? Believe me, I've been through this and there's MANY issues to deal with and its no cake walk, particularly for the worker on a visa.
Google yourself and double-check ALL your social media streams... it's amazing what you'll find!
Be genuine, don't lie on your resume and don't suck up {too much} - and don't call yourself an "expert" unless you can back up that statement!
Did you land a job or find an employee using social media? Do you have a hard-to-fill position? Please contact me (
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or @gletham) and tell me about it.
MORE ARTICLES- Check out all the GISuser articles in the archive, stored by category
Featured Events
HxGN Live - The Hexagon Global Network - Learn about surveying, mapping, laser scanning and geospatial solutions from Leica Geosystems. June 3-6, 2013, Las Vegas, Nevada
Join us at GIS for Government 2013 taking place June 24-26, 2013 in the Washington, DC Metro Area to find out everything you need to know about GIS. Click here for more information
To register for the first GCS Geospatial Big Data webinar, visit the new GCS website at www.YourDataSmarter.com. The one-hour free webinar will be broadcast live at 3 pm EDT Wed, June 12, 2013
National Map Corps Volunteers Receive Recognition in National Map Gamification Effort
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This is a section devoted to providing our valued contributors with a corner to do whatever they like with and discuss Geo/Tech topics that are near and dear to them! Be sure to check out ALL of our experts for commentary, editorial, links, and advice! Interested in becoming a contributing expert? 
