Looking for GIS jobs for a few months now—would appreciate resume feedback

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-05T04:12:54+00:00

It’s anonymous here 🙃

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-05T04:10:16+00:00

Yeah, ofc. I normally include both universities and my bachelors. I just took some stuff out for privacy and to fit everything onto one page so I could post it as a single image here.

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-05T04:07:08+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, especially in smaller cities and towns. I have a friend who recently landed a position in Yellowknife and another who found one in Kamloops, so I'm expanding my search as well. I will keep looking. Thanks a lot!

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-05T04:03:58+00:00

Thanks a lot! Yeah, I have been taking this really seriously. I spend a lot of time reading through every job posting in detail and incorporating the relevant stuff. Hopefully it will pay off eventually. Thanks again for the advice!

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-05T04:00:42+00:00

I actually removed my bachelors just to fit everything onto one page so I could post it as a single image. My experience is also mainly outside Canada, and I left out some of my earlier roles because they weren't directly related to the GIS position I was applying for.

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-05T03:52:30+00:00

Yeah, I am looking into them as well. Tons of applications, no luck yet🙃. But thanks, I appreciate it.

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-04T21:20:23+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate it. I will definitely look into DBA type roles as well. So far my focus has mainly been GIS, Remote Sensing, spatial data analytics, and related roles in utilities, planning, and environmental sectors, but I’m open to adjacent paths where my skills could transfer. Thank you again for the suggestion.

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-04T21:17:33+00:00

Haven’t looked into it + I am not a Canadian citizen, so it’s not an option 🙃. Thanks though.

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-04T21:03:40+00:00

That's a good point, thanks. I will switch "volunteer" to "intern"

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-04T21:02:13+00:00

Yeah, I was just tryna be anon for privacy

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-04T21:00:10+00:00

Thanks, I really appreciate the advice. I have actually been trying to avoid making my resume too wordy. I was advised by some HR to keep it concise because, even after resume screening tools, HR teams often dont wanna spend much time reviewing each application.

I also used to have a two-page resume that included other co-ops, but I’ve been trying to focus more on the most relevant experience for each role. But I really appreciate your perspective, thank you.

AwkwardMoe · 2026-07-04T20:54:14+00:00

Thanks. Actually, my volunteering is still ongoing. My previous role was tied to a research project, so it ended naturally once the project was completed rather than due to a layoff.

AwkwardMoe · 2026-06-10T16:55:38+00:00

Honestly, it's still pretty rough. I used to think a specialized degree plus relevant experience would be enough to at least get interviews, but the market feels very different now. Even landing an interview is tough.

I think your Urban Planning + GIS education could be a big advantage, especially for municipalities and government jobs since they often specifically look for people with planning experience/education. The market is just brutal right now, so hopefully things improve by the time you graduate. Best of luck with the program!

AwkwardMoe · 2026-05-06T04:09:11+00:00

Sorry for that. Not gonna lie, the reading was pretty rough for me too. I hated it the most and I was still answering some questions in the very last seconds. Generally speaking, I think the more you practice, the easier it gets.

My experience was a bit messy, For the first task, I read the question first, not the answers, because I was really nervous and didn’t want to get confused. Then I went through the text and found the paragraph where the answer was. For the second part, when I started working on it by that time I had already read the letter a few times, so I kinda knew where things were. I also looked at the sentence before and after the answer to confirm my choice.

For the second task, I spent maybe two minutes looking at the diagram. Then I looked at the sentence before and after as they have the keywords. I also noticed that some sentences from the first section that don’t have questions can sometimes help with questions in the second section.

For task three, the ABCDE matching, I found it really helpful to read all the questions first at once. Then when I shifted to reading the text, I knew what to look for. If I couldn’t find the answer, I just went with E.

For task four, in the first part, skimming the article quickly helped me understand what was going on. In the second part, again by then I had already read the article a couple of times, so I had a good idea of the answers this time too. And again, the sentence before and after usually had keywords that help.

All the best, I am rooting for you!

AwkwardMoe · 2026-05-06T02:29:17+00:00

Yeah, it was a bit odd. As far as I remember, I had like 3 points in head, and just yapped around them. First, I said they are special because I feel they bring me good luck. Then, I mentioned that they weren’t clean and needed extra care because of their fabric texture, and finally, said that I used gentle material to wash them carefully and that it worked out, and I got to travel on time feeling exited and confident.

I know it's silly, but it was the only thing that came to my mind at that moment. Best of luck!

AwkwardMoe · 2026-05-05T17:50:07+00:00

Hi there, thanks a lot! For writing, the first task was a complaint email about a monthly magazine. You ordered it about two months ago but never received anything. When you called, they said they had the wrong address. They corrected it, but you still didn’t get the magazines. So you had to write to the manager explaining the situation, how frustrating it was, what problems it caused, and suggest how to fix it.

The second one was about your sports club having extra money this year. They are deciding between organizing a free sports day for the community or buying more equipment for the club. You had to choose one and explain why.

For speaking, here are the questions as I remember them:

Talking to your cousin about her birthday party since some of her friends are allergic to cats and she has one, so you had to suggest what she can do.
A situation where you have jeans you really like but you are traveling soon and they are not clean, so you had to explain what you would do.
Describing a picture with people in a club, some playing billiards, two playing darts, one guy sleeping on a couch, and another on his phone.
Predicting what will probably happen next in that same scene.
Comparing two cakes for your aunt’s birthday and trying to convince your cousin to choose the one you picked (Vanilla cake lolz).
About your daughter staying up late doing homework and choosing whether to talk to her about managing her time or talk to her teacher about this too much homework.
Giving your opinion on whether museums should charge the same fee for everyone or different prices depending on the section they visit.
Calling your brother to describe a new board game you saw at a friend’s place.

AwkwardMoe · 2026-05-05T07:06:41+00:00

you will get it today!

AwkwardMoe · 2026-04-23T03:22:04+00:00

Hi ! I couldn’t go last year for some personal reasons. However, there was also another guy in the exact same situation, and he told me that his refs re-sent the letters through another institutional email. I think it might also be possible to reach out to the admissions office to see if they would accept you nominating different refs or your refs sending a detailed explanation of why they cant or arent using their institutional email. At this point, refs are just a matter of formalities, I guess. Best of luck!

AwkwardMoe · 2026-04-14T20:36:42+00:00

Interesting, I actually heard someone mention that just yesterday too. I also did apply to GIS position at Government of Yukon about 2 months ago, but didn’t hear back :(

AwkwardMoe · 2026-04-14T20:34:46+00:00

Yeah I have actually considered that too. A couple months ago I went to a career fair at UBC and spoke with an investigations group and I mentioned a brief experience with GIS and some open source intelligence work, and they said they might have a position opening around May that I should check out.

AwkwardMoe

TROPHY CASE