There are many resources available now that can assist you in your job search. We have compiled a list of some job search websites on this page to help you get started. Some search terms you can use include: GIS, urban planning/planner, environmental planning/planner, location analyst, geographer, demographer, import/export, transportation planning/planner, public health, census data, SPSS, NGO. These search terms will vary depending on your person interests and passions. Remember that finding a job is more than a keyword search!
UW Career Resources
- UW Career & Internship Center
- Find Your Community
- Career Guide PDF - highly recommend reviewing the full guide!
- Conscious Job Seeking PDF: Assessing an Employer's Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Handshake
- UWAA Husky Landing
Resources from the Career & Internship Center
Resumes
- Resume Writing Guide (PDF)
- Resume Writing Basics (video)
- All Resume Resources from the Career & Internship Center
Cover Letters
- Cover Letters: Getting Started (PDF)
- How to Write a Cover Letter (video)
- All Cover Letter Resources from the Career & Internship Center
- Informational Interviews & Networking (PDF)
- LinkedIn: Steps to Set Up your Profile (video)
- Department of Geography Private LinkedIn Group: Connect with alumni and find job & internship opportunities.
Job Posting Websites
- Indeed
- Trovit
- CareerJet
- Craigslist
- Geography Jobs
- GIS Jobs Clearinghouse
- GISJobs.com
- Handshake.com
- Monster
- MyGISJobs
- GISJobs.com
Other Job Resources
- UCLA’s resources for jobs and internships in international development: An excellent source for current jobs, internships and career paths in development studies & governmental and non-governmental organizations.
- Idealist: An outstanding source for current jobs and internships in nonprofits, social service providers, community organizations, etc.
- Visit CareerOneStop for an interactive model of Geospatial Technology Competencies.
Geography Skills
As a geography graduate, you will develop a number of unique skills that make you an ideal candidate for many different careers. Our best advice is to pursue your studies with passion and engagement, hone some technical skills, work on some complex projects you can use as an example of your work, and network (via jobs or internships) with people working in your chosen field. By doing so you will gain a wide range of skills. You will also need to know how to promote yourself to a potential employer, so it is useful to reflect on the skills that you have developed.
Communication Skills
- communicate effectively by writing and speaking clearly and directly
- summarize information
- visual presentation skills
- apply an interdisciplinary perspective
- apply a diversity perspective
Critical Thinking & Information Synthesis Skills
- display and present arguments and information
- expertise in integrating, analyzing, and synthesizing information from a range of sources
- locate sources and differentiate them by reliability
- think analytically, appreciate context and contingency, problem-solve
- synthesize and interpret information with knowledge of social structures and change processes
Research Skills
- conduct academic research by planning and completing multifaceted projects
- sample, gather, analyze and organize data
- create and use spreadsheets and spatial databases
- project and time management
- access and work with US Census data and other large data sets
Data & Spatial Analysis
- create and use maps, graphs, charts and tables
- use geospatial technologies and geovisualization techniques & tools
- employ spatial statistics
- think spatially: understand spatial shapes, patterns, proximity, adjacency, and their effects
- understand orientation and direction; clustering and dispersal; spatial change and spread; scale transformations
Detailed Understanding of Social, Economic, & Political Processes
- understand geopolitical shifts globally and locally
- understand globalization: the interconnection between the movement of goods and people
- awareness of sustainability issues
- understand social theory
- recognize diversity and differences between places