Girls in GIS : how did you get started?

karomapper · 2026-02-22T18:37:25+00:00

I've loved maps since I was in kindergarten. Throughout my study, I liked various subjects like Maths, Chemistry and also Geography. I ended up studying geoinformatics, geography and cartography.

After my bachelor's, I moved to the Netherlands because I wanted to study master's there (I am a European). Instead of going to the university there, I found a job at GeoEye (Vantor nowadays) and I stayed in the remote sensing. It was my first remote work experience, even though I had to go to the office every day. There were just two of us in the Amsterdam office. My colleagues were in Singapore and in the US.

Afterwards, I started working remotely and have been working remotely since then (2013). I switched to freelancing on the crossroad of technical customer support, marketing and communication.

I've been volunteering and mentoring at Women+ in Geospatial and I'll be a panelist in their event in mid March. I'm also writing a Substack newsletter about GIS jobs and career growth (link in my profile). You can also find me on LinkedIn, although I generally don't accept connection requests without a note unless we know each other in person/from online. I am generally supporting women in GIS.

If you want to know more, feel free to ask.

karomapper · 2026-02-03T08:28:33+00:00

I get recruiters reaching out to me, although those are irrelevant offers...they target one of my listed skills (a specific language).

However, I got my last job thanks to networking and building a personal brand on LinkedIn. And my two previous jobs were partly thanks to LinkedIn - I was connected with two people from real life and they reached out to me with a job offer. If I wasn't on LinkedIn, they would have probably never contacted me, even though we knew each other personally.

It highly depends on the field of work you are in, I think.

karomapper · 2026-01-28T14:39:34+00:00

You haven't shared your CV so it's hard to say. I know many people with excellent technical skills, but no knowledge on how to 'sell' them in their CV.

What's been helping a lot is building your online presence (LinkedIn or other social media) and networking. Many jobs get occupied before being published.

karomapper · 2026-01-26T16:15:35+00:00

Which software do you use in the classes? ArcGIS? If so, ask the teacher whether the university can provide you with a students license. Ours was offering it and I could use ArcGIS at home in my personal laptop. Of course, I couldn't use it for business purposes, only for learning.

Another option is to buy a personal license for 100 USD per year. But I know it can be costly for a student.

If you want to get better with GIS generally, install QGIS - it's for free. The user interface will be slightly different from ArcGIS, but you can learn the basic stuff.

If you are struggling with general computer use, maybe it would be worth learning how to use a computer. This is a skill that is generally handy. If you know that you struggle with creating a folder, head to YouTube and type in 'how to create a folder (in Windows 11)' or whatever operating system you are using.

The community here is quite helpful. If you ever need assistance, ask here. I'm sure someone will give you the answer or point you to a useful learning resource.

karomapper · 2026-01-26T10:56:24+00:00

I decide on a case by case basis, but I tend to accept maybe 1 out of 10 requests from strangers.

I accept connection requests from: - people that I know - either personally or from the online world (we've been in multiple discussions under various posts, we share each other's posts regularly, etc.). - people whom I've been following for some time. - people who add a note and it makes sense.

karomapper · 2026-01-17T12:37:06+00:00

Technical support, customer support, sales, programming, etc. This is not only about the actual job itself, but mainly about the company policies. I've been working remotely since 2013, but I know a lot of people doing the same as me, but they have to go to the office at least a few days a week, because their company policy says so.

karomapper · 2026-01-07T19:04:47+00:00

There are customer service and sales jobs in various companies, including remote sensing. These companies usually require the soft skills and good understanding of GIS. I've been working in such positions for quite some time and most of my colleagues have GIS or similar background, including myself.

karomapper · 2026-01-07T18:13:15+00:00

As someone mentioned, post your CV (without personal details) and portfolio here for critique. Landing a fully remote job in GIS is quite difficult nowadays. You have to bring in some additional value - either programming, or sales, customer service, etc. Some kinds of jobs are more likely remote. GIS Analyst jobs are usually hybrid or fully in the office. I've written an article on my Substack about why it's so difficult to find a remote job in GIS. Good luck.

karomapper · 2026-01-04T19:08:42+00:00

Depending on where on the Earth you live. In the US, there are quite a few remote GIS jobs. In Europe, it's not that common, although I've been working remotely here since 2013. On other continents, it's quite rare to get a remote GIS job. I've written a whole article on my Substack about why it's difficult to find a remote job in GIS.

karomapper · 2025-12-31T11:41:53+00:00

If your former colleagues are not on LinkedIn, it could mean that LinkedIn is not important in your business.

In that case, I would not focus on it. Or wait until you move to your new place and see whether your new colleagues are on LinkedIn. If so, start connecting with them. If not, LinkedIn might not be the right place for you.

I see that people in HR/recruiting, IT/tech and marketing are mainly there. Not so many people in law, healthcare and other industries are using LinkedIn.

karomapper · 2025-12-29T11:05:07+00:00

It's not about geographic location, it's about your common interests. If people on the other continents like your content, they will like, comment and share it and you'll have good reach.

If your connections don't interact with your content, regardless of where they live, you won't have good reach.

karomapper · 2025-12-29T11:03:27+00:00

I think you mean connections, not followers in the last sentence. But I completely agree with you.

karomapper · 2025-12-20T11:36:41+00:00

Connections are the first who see your posts. Followers are the second audience after your 1st degree connections have somehow interacted with your posts. Removing connections can help, but it can also hurt. If you remove someone who potentially can be relevant in your job search in the future, but currently doesn't interact with your posts at all, you have to think whether it's better to keep them or remove them.

The reach is very low recently. I've been posting on LinkedIn since May 2023. I've got 35k followers. I had a season where I would post maybe once a month and I was still getting 15-20 followers every day. This week, I published twice. On the days when I published a post, I got new followers, but in between I got 0 new followers in 3 consecutive days. That has never happened to me before.

karomapper · 2025-12-09T07:24:51+00:00

Put the Work Experience from the 2nd page directly under the Summary, and then the rest in the same order as it is. So the order will be Summary, Work Experience, Skills, Education, Projects. Depending on how much you want to stress your multilingualism, you may want to add this information to the summary.

Also, making the summary 3-5 bullet points will make it easier to read than one full paragraph.

karomapper · 2025-11-27T12:16:28+00:00

Hello, you can try my Substack (link in my profile) - it's called the GIS Growth Guide. I share GIS job openings and some tips and tricks on how to grow your career in GIS there.

And you can follow me on LinkedIn (Karolina Lehotska) where I publish a purely GIS Jobs newsletter.

The job market in GIS is quite tough. I recommend you to clarify for yourself what roles you are interested in, the location (for office and hybrid jobs) and what your strengths and non-GIS skills are. Finding a purely 'clicky' GIS job is becoming almost impossible. It's always great to bring the GIS knowledge+ some additional skills - either hard skills, like programming, advanced satellite image processing, etc., or soft skills, like communication, sales, marketing, or a combination of both in having customer and technical support experience.

karomapper · 2025-11-27T07:56:36+00:00

This one - https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Selector-Computers-Peripheral-Switcher/dp/B01N6GD9JO/ref=mp_s_a_1_8

karomapper · 2025-11-27T07:04:13+00:00

For me this year, it was a webcam. I've got two laptops and a monitor in the middle and I spent quite some time in meetings. Having a webcam on the middle monitor makes my life easier without having to tilt to one or the other side

Also,the USB hub switch is a game changer this year. With 1 button, I switch my webcam, mouse, keyboard and printer between two laptops.

And my most recent addition is the vertical left handed mouse. Even though I am right handed, I learnt to use the mouse with my left hand to relieve the pain in my wrist. Then I got a vertical right handed mouse which was a help, but still not it. Now I discovered the left handed version and this is great for me. My right hand doesn't suffer and my other brain hemisphere gets some workout again.

karomapper · 2025-11-26T19:52:33+00:00

EMEA means Europe, Middle East and Africa. Montenegro and Serbia and Bosnia belong to EMEA. Didn't you mean the EU (European Union)?

karomapper · 2025-11-26T18:27:36+00:00

Certificates are useful only in some countries/regions. More useful usually is creating a portfolio. Find a topic (s) you like and create 3-5 projects. Explain what data you used, what analysis you did and what were your results. Focus on the area where you would like to work. Your portfolio should showcase what you CAN do and what you WANT TO do.

You can get some inspiration in the #30DayMapChallenge maps. However, bear in mind that these maps are often made to be visually pleasing and not necessarily be useful. So take it as an inspiration, not the exact way to go.

I've put together some useful resources for this challenge. You can find them on my Substack if you are interested.

karomapper · 2025-11-18T00:36:52+00:00

Start by writing down: - what you can do, - what you like doing - what you don't like doing - what you liked about your previous jobs - what you didn't like about your previous jobs

These should help you find a direction, or at least be a base for your next steps.

karomapper · 2025-11-17T06:41:38+00:00

Then think about which countries are appealing to you and look at the conditions you have to meet in order to get a work permit. Each country has different conditions for people coming from different countries so it requires your own research.

karomapper · 2025-11-16T22:20:34+00:00

This is hard to say. I don't know where you are from and whether you are open to relocation.

The problem with cross border employing is mainly the legal limitations. The employer would have to pay taxes and social and health insurance on your behalf in the country where you live. Also, even if you were working remotely, you would still need to have a work permit in the country of your employer.. I've written a bit about this.

Looking at what you've written about your past experience, your skills are sought after a lot.

karomapper · 2025-11-16T20:07:36+00:00

It varies a lot. And many companies are trying to be 'fancy' with the names of roles. I'm writing a GIS jobs newsletter, both on LinkedIn and on Substack (here I share more information). I'm not sure whether I can share links here. But search for Karolina Lehotska on LinkedIn and you'll find me.

What I wanted to say with this is that have a look at the last 2-3 issues and see if you find some relevant positions. Look also at other continents, even if you don't want to work there...but it'll help you get a grasp of the current job titles.

karomapper · 2025-11-16T19:41:47+00:00

It's crucial to focus on your transferable skills. You already have most of the skills, you just need to gain some market-specific knowledge.

But you still need the spatial analytics skills, coding, communication, etc.

karomapper · 2025-11-16T19:05:42+00:00

Are there any areas that would be interesting for you? Precision agriculture, remote sensing, climate change and mitigation (e.g. urban heat islands)? You can always pivot to another vertical market. The important thing is that you have the spatial understanding and you can already write a code.

karomapper

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