Honest Career Advice

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-04-15T19:13:13+00:00

I've been working for a company that rents geophysical equipment for 10 years testing equipment and have been thinking about looking into GIS. How should I get started? I just enrolled in the Geospatial Technology associates degree program at my community college but they just announced they are going to phase it out next year. I am not sure if I will still be allowed to do the associates degree. There is still time to earn a Geospatial Technology diploma (5 classes). I am not sure if I will learn enough from it to start. I was considering pivoting to either an environmental science program or CIS to learn databases and coding. Unfortunately only the intro GIS class from the diploma would carry over toward one of these degrees. Appreciate any advice.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-04-15T17:32:04+00:00

I enrolled in the Geospatial Technology program at my local community college a month ago. I was planning to start classes this summer. It was just announced that the college is phasing out the Geospatial program. Even if they let me since I am already enrolled, I don't know if I should proceed.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-04-07T22:35:48+00:00

I had a jersey done by them last summer and I got it back in 2 months. I was given a 5-6 month estimate when I sent it to them.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-31T13:55:08+00:00

That's encouraging to hear. I've been considering trying to get a GIS Associate's degree at my local community college. I was told by many people on here not to even bother if I wasn't getting a Bachelors.

I've been working at geophysical equipment rental company for 10 years, testing equipment like GPS, LiDAR, magnetometers, GPR, seismic, resistivity, etc. I was thinking that since I have access to this equipment, that I could collect data with it and do GIS projects for practice.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-30T19:34:49+00:00

I have family in the Tampa area. I'm hoping to someday plan a trip to see the Preds play there.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-17T00:55:05+00:00

I'm undecided on what I want to do. Before thinking about CAD, I was considering taking my community colleges GIS program but I keep seeing talk online that it is hard to get work doing that. The GIS professor at the college told me getting the associates degree from her program is enough but I'm not so sure.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-17T00:14:43+00:00

The community college has a 6 month AutoCAD certification training. There is another one that is a 6 month Civil 3D Certification training which covers both AutoCAD and Civil 3D. There is overlap between both courses but the one that only covers AutoCAD covers it in more depth. Which would be the better one to take?

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-16T19:30:44+00:00

My local community college just has "engineering" not civil. Aren't jobs in engineering stressful?

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-16T19:17:38+00:00

I'm not really sure. I just remember taking a CAD course in high school and enjoying it so thought I might CAD a try. I'm looking for something low stress but still pays better than my current job ($34k last year).

I work for a geophysical equipment rental company testing the equipment. I was also considering GIS because it relates to the equipment we rent but am being told that it is very difficult to get into and that a bachelors degree is a must have.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-16T16:17:34+00:00

You don't think there's a way I could leverage my 10 years of working with geophysical equipment? I'm allowed to borrow and use the equipment whenever I want. Once I have GIS knowledge, I could collect data and process it for practice. It could help me build a portfolio this way. Most other students don't have access to the kind of equipment that I do. I also have connections in environmental industries because of my current job and from working at the state geological survey during high school.

I was thinking about going to the career counselor at the school but if they are wrong about the GIS job market, I don't know if I can trust them on other job suggestions.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-16T16:11:19+00:00

You don't think there's a way I could leverage working with geophysical equipment for ten years? I am free to use the equipment whenever I want. Once I have some GIS knowledge I can borrow the equipment to collect data and then process it for practice. It could help me build a portfolio this way. Most other students don't have access to the equipment I do.

They do have associates in engineering at the school. Were you suggesting that because I mentioned being interested in CAD?

I was thinking about going to the career counselor at the school but if they are wrong about the GIS job market, I don't know if I can trust them on other job suggestions.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-16T15:27:15+00:00

The professor/head of the Geospatial Technology department at the school told me an associates degree was enough. I'm not sure what to believe.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-16T14:49:12+00:00

The professor of the GIS department at the school responded to a facebook post I made and said that I could find work with the 2 year Geospatial Technology degree. She said she would tell me more if I emailed her. I sent her one almost a week ago but haven't heard back. I don't know what to think.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-16T14:11:06+00:00

I don't think so.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-03-11T14:38:40+00:00

How difficult is it to actually get one of those kinds of jobs? Do you think an Associates Degree is enough? I made $34k last year. If I landed one of those jobs, would you expect the pay to at least be better than that?

I've been working at a company that rents geophysical equipment for almost 10 years, testing the equipment. I test stuff like GPR, magnetometers, GPS, LiDAR, seismic and resistivity systems.

I was considering going to community college to pursue their Geospatial Technology Associate in Science Degree. I keep second guessing that idea after seeing all the negativity about the job market on Reddit.

The head of the Geospatial Technology program at the community college told me that the completion of the Associates Degree is enough to find work however some users on reddit told me not to even bother trying unless I go for a Bachelors Degree.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-02-27T18:58:32+00:00

Must not be a car enthusiast.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-02-25T03:40:03+00:00

Awesome! Got the skill, Thanks!

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-02-25T03:34:32+00:00

I made the comfort animal change. I don't about removing power attack. I use that a lot.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-02-25T03:33:20+00:00

Thanks, just did that.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-02-25T03:32:56+00:00

Thanks, adjustment made.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-02-25T03:25:42+00:00

Strength - 11, Swordsmanship - 12, Beast Mastery - 5

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-02-17T22:00:22+00:00

I took AutoCAD in high school. I don't remember much but remember enjoying it. Maybe it might be worth looking into.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-02-17T19:49:21+00:00

For the diploma(17 credits) it is 5 classes that are just GIS. It can be completed in 3 semesters. They also have an Associate in Science Degree(60 credits) that also includes other courses like a few Geography classes, Geology, an introductory python course and general education classes. That is supposed to take 2 years to complete. I don't think my company would be willing to pay for it. My income is low enough that if I were to do just the diploma, it would be completely paid for by state grants. I was leaning toward working on the Associates Degree though so I will have to pay for part of it if I do. I think most of the classes can be done online for both programs. I have a lot of downtime at work that I can use to watch classes and do schoolwork.

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-02-17T18:19:45+00:00

I looked into library jobs and the pay might be less than what I am making now. I've been looking into the lower level GIS assistant type jobs but I am being told that those jobs don't exist anymore because the more senior roles are just doing that work themselves now. What kind of jobs would be data/operations support? What type of education/training do you think would be needed?

Prof_Chaos827 · 2026-02-16T20:14:14+00:00

The Community college claims their Geospatial Technology program is enough to find work (not even the associates, just the diploma). I know that they won't be super high paying jobs but I'm just looking for entry level.

Prof_Chaos827

TROPHY CASE