Identifying Skill Requirements for GIS Positions: A Content Analysis of Job Advertisements

This study identifies the skill requirements for geographic information system (GIS) positions, including GIS analysts, programmers/developers/engineers, specialists, and technicians, through a content analysis of 946 GIS job advertisements from 2007–2014. The results indicated that GIS job applicants need to possess high levels of GIS analysis and modeling skills (e.g., database development) and personal and social skills (e.g., communication) to obtain employment, although specific skill requirements differed significantly depending on job title. The findings from this study may be useful for improving GIS majors’ employability.

[1]  Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic,et al.  A Content Analysis of Australian IS Early Career Job Advertisements , 2009, Australas. J. Inf. Syst..

[2]  T. Stockdale,et al.  Population estimates. , 2004, Health statistics quarterly.

[3]  H. Russell Bernard,et al.  Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches , 2000 .

[4]  Cyndi H. Gaudet,et al.  Building the Geospatial Workforce , 2003 .

[5]  Danuta Piróg.  Do geography degree programmes facilitate a smooth transition to the job market? Reflections of working and job-seeking graduates in Poland , 2014 .

[6]  W. Neuman,et al.  Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches , 2002 .

[7]  Krystyna Brown.  Employability of Geography Graduates in the GIS and GI-related Fields , 2004 .

[8]  From ad-man to digital manager Professionalization through Swedish job advertisements 1960-2010 , 2014 .

[9]  Eric Pawson,et al.  Student Employability and its Implications for Geography Curricula and Learning Practices , 2011 .

[10]  Choong Kwon Lee,et al.  Analysis of Skills Requirement for Entry-Level Programmer/Analyst in Fortune 500 Corporations , 2008, J. Inf. Syst. Educ..

[11]  Annemarie S. Palincsar,et al.  Motivating Project-Based Learning: Sustaining the Doing, Supporting the Learning , 1991 .

[12]  Melissa L. Gold,et al.  Do Job Advertisements Reflect ACRL's Standards for Proficiencies for Instruction Librarians and Coordinators?: A Content Analysis , 2013 .

[13]  Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic,et al.  IS Knowledge and Skills Sought by Employers: A Content Analysis of Australian IS Early Career Online Job Advertisements , 2008 .

[14]  E. Rasmussen,et al.  What Qualifications and Skills Are Important for Digital Librarian Positions in Academic Libraries? A Job Advertisement Analysis. , 2009 .

[15]  James D. McKeen,et al.  The Evolution of IS Job Skills: A Content Analysis of IS Job Advertisements from 1970 to 1990 , 1995, MIS Q..

[16]  J. Hillage.  Employability: developing a framework for policy analysis , 1998 .

[17]  Karen K. Kemp,et al.  Introducing the First Edition of Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge , 2007 .

[18]  Linda Shields,et al.  Content Analysis , 2015 .

[19]  Cy Smith,et al.  The New Geospatial Technology Competency Model: Bringing Workforce Needs into Focus , 2010 .

[20]  John Johnson.  What GIS Technicians Do: A Synthesis of DACUM Job Analyses , 2010 .

[21]  Mary K. Van Ullen,et al.  Librarian for Latin American and Caribbean Studies in U.S. Academic and Research Libraries: A Content Analysis of Position Announcements, 1970-2007 , 2009 .

[22]  Ingo Liefner,et al.  Employability of German Geography Graduates: The Mismatch between Knowledge Acquired and Competences Required , 2010 .

[23]  Michael Solem,et al.  Skills in Professional Geography: An Assessment of Workforce Needs and Expectations , 2008 .

[24]  Afrodite Malliari,et al.  Skills in the market: an analysis of skills and qualifications for American librarians , 2015 .

[25]  Beverly P. Lynch,et al.  The Changing Nature of Work in Academic Libraries , 2001 .

[26]  Ed Zintel,et al.  Resources , 1998, IT Prof..

[27]  Roger Bennett,et al.  Employers' Demands for Personal Transferable Skills in Graduates: a content analysis of 1000 job advertisements and an associated empirical study , 2002 .

[28]  M. S. Sodhi,et al.  Content analysis of OR job advertisements to infer required skills , 2010, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[29]  Pauline Kneale,et al.  Variations in International Understandings of Employability for Geography , 2006 .

[30]  J. Hardy.  Stratification of environmental education and education for sustainable development in Australia: an analysis of positions vacant advertisements , 2008 .

[31]  Talaibek D Osmonbekov,et al.  Rethinking assessment of marketing research skills and knowledge: a new approach , 2009 .

[32]  Blake E. Ashforth,et al.  Employability: A psycho-social construct, its dimensions, and applications , 2004 .