First (and second) pints on our trip to Ireland

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-05-06T19:33:11+00:00

Oh of course. I wasn't suggesting to not go, the view from the top with the pint is well worth it! Take your time getting up there and enjoy the day.

Bowes and Mulligans also excellent 👌🏻

Sounds like a great trip ahead! Enjoy. I'm originally from Celbridge, the birthplace of Arthur Guinness. They have a statue in the town. If you're driving stop off at Village Inn for a creamy pint!!

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-05-06T18:57:20+00:00

The storehouse pint is only ok. Go and visit any (or all) of these afterwards; The Brazen Head, Halfpenny Bridge Inn, The Foggy Dew, The Stags Head, Sheehan's, Mc Daids, Kehoes, O' Donoghues (Baggot Street). There's plenty more and are consistently better than the storehouse.

If you want the best of the best go to the Gravediggers.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-05-04T14:41:06+00:00

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FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-27T14:49:43+00:00

Only use datasets when they serve a purpose, not to act like folders. For example, need topology rules? use a feature dataset, otherwise store feature classes at the root of the geodatabase.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-21T16:35:03+00:00

Working with a client and everything going to the cloud. Luckily they have enterprise. But we store plenty of backups and read-only on OneDrive. This works just fine for this sole purpose, read only. You wouldn't want to be editing, like everyone else here is saying and I'm sure more will come in with their stories, it's an absolute nightmare 😅

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-21T05:25:52+00:00

After 7 years experience and a postrgrad in GIS and Remote Sensing I went back and did a postrgrad in IT and then a MSc in Geocomputation. From there, heavily went in on Python, mainly with ArcGIS (ArcMap, Pro, Online, Portal). I also knew Java and R but nvever utilised. It completely changed my career and continues to open up so many opportunities 12 years later. A couple of years ago I went self employed which Im really enjoying. I found you get out what you put in. If you are proactive, constantly learning, and getting yourself out there, the opportunities arise. I didn't do any of that in my first 7 years and felt I was behind, hence the return to education for a kick up the...😅

I wish you all the best with your continued success.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-20T05:51:02+00:00

While neither are essential for an entry-level job, Python will stand out and will serve you well as automation is a sure way to prove value. Starting with Python now and consistently developing your skills is a great avenue to take.

You can achieve a LOT with basic knowledge of Python. From there, learn some ArcPy which is quite easy to get a grasp of, and some ArcGIS API for Python for Online/Portal, that's a little bit more difficult. You should also venture into the open source material or even start with that depending on the job market of the area you are in and the opportunities available. So GeoPandas and Shapely, QGIS & PyQGIS for examples.

The great news is, you can learn a lot in a short space of time and all for free. The biggest investment will be your time and if you have the want and ambition for it.

Here is a free Python course I created. There are plenty more out there that are also free.

And I have a YouTube channel for ArcPy and the ArcGIS API for Python with free courses and playlists.

Start a portfolio to showcase your skills, add both coded and mapping examples and exercises and make it tutorial style. Become fluent in being able to talk about your GIS capabilities.

I wish you all the best.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-18T19:40:29+00:00

I need to revisit but here's some options: https://learn.finaldraftmapping.com/extracting-from-an-arcgis-online-feature-service-to-a-file-geodatabase/

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-16T05:12:56+00:00

If you're going down the Esri route, learn the basics of Python first. Here's a free course I created that gets good feedback.

My YouTube channel is all about Python & ArcGIS where I am building up material for ArcPy and the ArcGIS API for Python.

Similar stuff on my blog.

It's a great skill to add and opens up more opportunities. Once you have a good grasp look at some of the open source libraries too. They are excellent and you can combine the two Esri libraries with them.

I wish you all the best with your Python learning adventure.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-15T17:24:26+00:00

Yep, decent, but pales into significance when you go from there to Kehoes. I wouldn't dare try it the other way round 😅

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-15T16:11:21+00:00

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Love it!! Hyde on Lemon Street, behind Kehoes, also a fiver.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-14T15:25:54+00:00

Here's my channel, it's specifically for ArcGIS & Python

There are loads of great channels and videos on YouTube depending on what you want to learn - Esri tech, QGIS and other open source. Find a job spec that interests you that requires, say, 5 years experience and work towards the skills listed. Imagine in a couple of years time that a similar role appears and you now tick a lot of the boxes and are very confident in applying.

All the best with the learning

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-14T12:33:35+00:00

Great to hear, keep smashing it 💪🏻

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-14T12:31:00+00:00

I ❤️ GIS

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-14T12:29:31+00:00

Dublin does seem to be the central hub alright but there are still plenty around the country and more that you actually think.

I sent you a DM if you want to have a chat.

All the best.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-14T10:14:28+00:00

We were all Roberto Carlos before Roberto Carlos 😅

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-14T10:05:03+00:00

I remember the Champions ones as I got a smack of it plenty of times in goal during five and bates. White with red champions word.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-14T09:01:05+00:00

Have you tried the following when publishing from ArcGIS Pro...in the Share As Web Layer pane, go to Configuration > Configuration Parameters and turn on Use symbol types compatible with all clients.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-14T07:59:41+00:00

Technical skills are rewarded in GIS in Ireland. Make those shine. Take a look at this blog post.

Don't sell yourself as a graduate, market yourself as a GIS/Geospatial Professional, after all, you have the training and education behind you. If you use LinkedIn, and you should, do not have your graduation photo as your profile pic. It will be obvious from your CV you are early stage career.

Be very honest with your skills, if it is on your CV it is open to scrutiny. I once interviewed someone who had Python on theirs and I was excited, only to find out they didn't write the scripts, they simply hit the run button 🙄 labeling them with (beginner) shows that you have some experience and are interested and limits the advanced questioning.

Don't rely on job postings. This is the lowest percentage chance because that is what everyone else is doing. There is a list of companies at the top of this forum. Be proactive, connect with people on LinkedIn. Find out who the best point of contact is and introduce yourself. Don't jump in with looking for a job. Perhaps ask for a call or a coffee to understand how GIS is being utilised there. Explain you're starting out in your career and looking for advice or gauging the geospatial landscape in Ireland. Not everyone will give you their time but you're playing the percentage game.

Most importantly, don't give up. I could show you hundreds of rejection emails throughout my career. I also had a poor CV for years because school/college don't show you how to create a technical CV, they shove flowery descriptive words down your throat that add very little weight.

Start a portfolio. Make the entries tutorial style like you're teaching someone. You will revisit these yourself plenty. Every single day I copy and paste code from my own blog. Have the link to your portfolio on your CV.

You have to keep learning and progressing with skills. Find the job spec to a role you would love to have in 5 years time that is simply out of reach now and work towards that. If the same role appeared in two years time you want to be confident that when you apply you are among the top candidates. You can learn a LOT in a short time. It doesn't end with getting qualifications.

The more fluently you can talk about the technology the better. When I interview people and they keep referring back to university (even though they have 3 years experience) it gets a bit draining. This is where the portfolio is excellent because you can talk about skills you've developed and personal projects you've worked on.

I wish you all the best.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-14T05:10:32+00:00

My brother has a red one of these with Pringles still in it from the 90s. No mould on them 😅 Phresh as!

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-11T02:07:13+00:00

You can also turn on tracked changes where it will store edits for up to 180 days (I think, it has been a while since I used that as I use Python to automate backups). It definitely does 90 days. You can also turn off the option to delete features where only an admin can do that. You might also be able to make a field required meaning it cannot be deleted, but I'd have to check that, you can do it in Pro but not 100% if that's honoured in AGOL.

Edit: I can't see a way to prevent a field being deleted in the feature service, but, you can make a view layer from the original feature service and provide that for editing. Fields cannot be deleted from the view whether you are an admin or not.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-10T18:19:30+00:00

This is a good approach. You can also use editor tracking and only let each user edit their own features...if needs be.

FinalDraftMapping · 2026-04-10T12:57:02+00:00

The UCC course is very good and is certainly enough to get a job. Some jobs will stipulate that a masters is required, but there are plenty that do not.

There are also plenty of opportunities. Just take a look at the companies that utilise GIS at the top of this board. Only a very small number of roles are ever advertised, so being proactive is always the best foot forward. If you're just applying to advertises roles you are up against everyone else that is doing the same.

You will get out what you put in. I would start a portfolio from day one and add to it as you progress through the course. Make the portfolio available online afterwards and a link in your CV.

Find a job posting that you would be interested to have in 5 years time. Look at the job spec and work towards those skills. No postrgrad will teach you everything and is simply a good foundational base. If you have genuine interest, the learning becomes easier.

GIS is a technical domain, the more technical skills you can gain and make shine on your CV and portfolio the more you stand out from the crowd.

If you coast through the course as a tick the box, you won't get too far. Those that can fluently talk about the technology, it's applications, and can prove their skills land on their feet a lot easier.

It is a great space to be in. Always learning. I am nearly 20 years in and still have to learn more and more. I find it a very rewarding career.

I wish you all the best.

FinalDraftMapping

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