How can you gain Geographic Information Systems (GIS) experience without a job?

You can train yourself using online resources available at no cost. A couple of really good resources are listed below: 1. Outreach programs offered by IIRS, ISRO covering various applications of GIS. They even award you with a Certificate. 2. NASA's ARSET program.

No one living on Earth can escape from GIS. Everyone interacts with GIS daily, often without realizing it—from social media to travel, health, and everyday routines. Gaining GIS experience without formal employment is achievable with a strategic approach. Start with open-source platforms like QGIS, offering abundant resources and practical applications. Enroll in online courses, webinars, and workshops to build essential skills. Join community mapping projects or volunteer with NGOs to apply GIS in real-world scenarios. Explore open data repositories for hands-on practice. Engage in GIS forums and networking groups to stay updated and connect with experts, enhancing your GIS skills for future opportunities.

Before starting learning GIS, I recommend learning the basic principles of cartography. It's similar to learning Excel - it's also good to understand at least basic concepts of maths before starting using Excel. Learn about datums and coordinate systems, differences between vector and raster, basic spatial analysis vector functions like buffer, intersection, etc. For learning GIS, a good starting point is QGIS as it is free. You can find many useful tutorials on YouTube for free or on Udemy for a good price. These usually come with sample data that you can use for your learning. Follow them step by step DOING what you SEE (learn actively, not passively) and you'll start understanding how GIS works and how to use it.

First of all, there are many resources available for free that a beginner can use. I highly recommend courses in Ed-X and Coursera if you can afford them. They offer a profound insight into GIS regarding vector and raster analysis. Another important point is self-learning. We need to understand that there are many challenges/tasks in GIS that need to be streamlined and automated. Coding to solve these challenges can help you hone your GIS/programming skills. Do not forget to upload your code to GitHub to show potential employers what you are capable of doing.

Gaining Geographic Information Systems (GIS) experience without a job can be achieved through self-directed learning, online resources, and practical projects. by taking GPS points in the field bringing them to a computer adding them to GIS, and applying different techniques to build maps or analyzing them. downloading different shape files from different resources using different sites and practicing on it for making maps.

Many great suggestions here. What I would add is be sure to build up a sharable portfolio! I love the idea of working on personal projects and volunteering. As much as you can, be sure that your work is "showable". There are free options - put things into Esri's Storymaps (there's a free tier and a low-cost paid tier). Open source tools are great too - you can do deep analysis in Q-GIS and share work with free public ArcGIS Online account. Or, look into the Esri personal-use option. If you're on the developer/API side of things, there's a free developer account from Esri that let's you use both Esri and Open Source APIs. You can include links to live apps and work you did. At resume time, it says "I can hit the ground running!"

Another way to simulate this this too is to be your own client. Set up the parameters of client request, scope, schedule, and deliverables your client (yourself) wants as the end product. You should definitely take your own passions/interests regardless of what you do; this approach provides additional skill building in GIS project management as well as how you would want to interact with a potential client.

Start by brainstorming ideas. Spend 10 or 15 minutes writing it all down. Don't judge anything as a good or bad idea, just write everything down. Maybe there are some current events that you could map that would help people understand the situation(s).

If you want to get the word out about your skills, then try working on something you're passionate about with people others listen to. For example, Beaumont, CA, has 2 yard sales a year using paper maps. When I have spare time, I want to create a routing map with locations and symbology for toys, tools, gardens, and furniture that stack on top of each other in different sizes, and we could even add advertisement opportunities. This has an excellent feature for the community, and those ladies at the chamber will sing your praises to owners of companies. This is a quick way to market yourself. You are the only one who knows what GIS can do outside of our LinkedIn community. ??

Another idea to gain some experience would be to volunteer your time to your town or city. A lot of municipalities are stretched too thin and could use some help with many GIS projects: mapping trails, inventorying assets (hydrants, trees, public furniture etc), maybe even launching some out-of-the box GIS apps for gathering feedback from the community…I think this is a good way to learn and contribute.

URISA's GIS Corps missions are an excellent way to learn through doing. This volunteer organization matches people with projects that make our world better. Many missions only need basic skills, and some do require experts so be selective in what you apply for. Focus on those that make sense given your understanding and interest. For missions you are not qualified for, looking at the technical needs you can focus your personal learning journey to get those skills and be ready for future missions with similar requirements.

While at University ask your professors if there are internships available to students. I found that my local county needed analytics support to contribute to the National Wetlands Inventory. I worked for free but received a Letter of Recommendation, which was like gold when later applying for jobs. It's well worth your time to get real world experience while still in school.

Participating in volunteer projects is key for applying theoretical knowledge in practice, getting familiar with GIS tools and platforms, and learning how to organize geographic data. Additionally, these experiences enhance soft skills such as communication and teamwork, adding significant value to the resume and demonstrating commitment and adaptability to potential employers.

Start with a project that you are interested in and that you think would be a good fit for GIS. It can be a project from your local neighborhood, school, or non-profit org. You can start with a simple spreadsheet that contains location data such as addresses that you can put on a map. Then you can overlay this data with other relevant data. To explore GIS data, check ArcGIS Living Atlas. Share the result of your project to capture interest, get feedbacks and networking.

Volunteering is low cost and low risks. It is also a good way that provides practical experience with technical systems and stakeholders!

Joining a competition or a challenge may seem hard at first, but this is about your learning journey, not about making a perfect map when you are starting (actually, what is a perfect map anyway?). I love challenges on social media - you can choose just topics you like and you can follow fellow mappers and learn from them just by watching and analysing their works. The most popular is #30DayMapChallenge that takes place each year in November. You can follow this hashtag on Twitter/X and LinkedIn. Another one is weekly #MapPromptMonday which is running all year round. It's mainly active on Twitter/X. You can find it on LinkedIn under #52WeekMapChallenge. We started a new monthly challenge #MonthlyMapChallenge on LinkedIn. Give it a try!

Yes. This is the best. Look for a problem and then use GIS for its solution. Any problem which is linked to location(s) can be solved using GIS. When you're creating or finding the solution you are learning in the best way!

Gain GIS experience sans a job through online courses (Coursera, Udemy, Esri), volunteer work with local organizations, personal mapping projects (QGIS, open data), short-term internships or freelance gigs, networking in the field, and attending GIS meetups or conferences. These methods collectively help build a robust GIS portfolio and practical expertise even without a formal job.

Humanitarian open street map Isa great way to gain his experience, these project help humanitarian projects globally and only requires qgis being a free software. Many projects to work on.

Excellence in GIS comes from thinking spatially. Finding solutions to different problems and challenges. Yes expertise in tools is a must. But that can’t give you that much edge over a problem solving person. So a beginner must have edge in spatial thinking and that comes from small projects and working exclusively

If you can, take advantage of the ArcGIS for Personal Use licensing, its only $100 and provides ArcGIS Pro with all extensions and an AGOL Named user account with 100 credits. Once you have this you can leverage all the free training from ESRI Academy. It's critically important to have experience using the GIS software that is used by the vast majority of potential employers.

I began learning GIS using QGIS because it’s free and open-source. It has a large online community, offering numerous resources, including YouTube videos. Then, I chose to pursue a structured approach by taking the ‘Learning QGIS’ course on LinkedIn Learning. This course covers all the essential basics for getting started in GIS. With the integration of AI, you can now perform advanced tasks in QGIS with minimal programming knowledge.

There is an abundance of online resources available that facilitate progress in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). To get started, I recommend focusing on the following three key aspects: 1. Use of Open Source Software: Take advantage of open-source GIS programs such as QGIS, which offers advanced functionalities without the cost of licensing. 2. Free Online Tutorials and Courses: Utilize free educational resources available on platforms like YouTube, Coursera, and edX to learn about GIS. 3. Attend Workshops and Seminars: Participate in free workshops, seminars, and webinars about GIS to learn from experts and expand your professional network.

ESRI offers free workshops and courses online- check out their LinkedIn. They periodically will post opportunities for short courses. Sometimes free, other times at a discounted rate.

I'm constantly amazed by the amount of GIS resources available to the public. Whether it's data, webinars or Open Educational Resources (OERs). Esri's ArcGIS for Personal Use license is affordable and provides numerous resources for just $100/year.

For me, the integration between GIS and BIM has been a fascinating area of focus. I embarked on a journey to learn GIS with the specific goal of integrating it with BIM models. This integration plays a pivotal role in introducing BIM models into GIS databases, allowing clients and stakeholders to make them informed decisions based on comprehensive data. It has been an enlightening experience.

You can attend Management Development Program (MDP) at any of the teaching institute to gain insight of GIS. You can sit with your friend who knows about GIS and can share it with you.

At university I completed a piece of coursework in which I created a GIS index to categorise geology in the peak district based on a digital terrain model. Try to choose an area of GIS which excites you and interests you when you first start out as this will make it easier to motivate yourself!

You can gain GIS experience by working on personal projects, volunteering for community mapping initiatives, participating in online GIS forums, and completing GIS courses or certifications. Additionally, explore open-source GIS tools and contribute to relevant projects.

Work in a GIS company but in roles and positions that are your strengths, gain understanding, and support GIS specialists in collaborative ways! Later, steer your career in a direction that interests you.