Geographical information systems officer : Employers and vacancy sources

With many organisations needing to relate physical information (e.g. the location of properties, quality of land, placement of utility cables) to other economic and social data (e.g. the density of population, anticipated social and healthcare needs of that population), geographical information systems (GIS) officers have the possibility of working for a range of organisations, including:

• local authorities;
• government departments, such as HM Land Registry , Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) , or the Environment Agency (EA) ;
• police authorities and emergency services, including all the motor vehicle rescue services;
• utility companies, such as gas, electricity and water;
• telecommunications companies;
• insurance companies;
• advertising agencies and market research groups;
• private healthcare companies;
• retail organisations.

GIS consultancies tend to specialise in one or more specific areas, such as natural resources and the environment, military, utilities, oil and gas, or property. They vary widely in size and scope.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Computer Weekly
• New Scientist Jobs
• Computing
• GIS Jobs
• GeoPlace
• Earthworks Jobs
• Local Government Jobs
• GEO:connexion

For management-level jobs, recruitment agencies that specialise in IT, surveying and scientific jobs may be helpful.

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