Category Archives: Career Advice
Special Guest Host for April’s #EsriJobChat on Twitter
We’re excited to have Christie Pleiss from our Professional Services division joining us for this month’s #EsriJobChat Thursday, April 18 at 4 p.m. Pacific.
Christie holds a bachelor’s in geography from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a master’s in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She joined Esri in 2001 as a technical specialist/developer working on what is now known as ArcGIS for Aviation: Charting. In 2004 she became a member of the “Rent-a-Tech” team, providing customers with technology transfer and custom workshops for desktop and ArcGIS Engine development.
Christie’s career further evolved in 2007, eventually leading to her current role. She began supporting the Esri Advantage Programs as a technical advisor. These programs provide technical enablement to customers and partners, giving them the “big picture” view of what they need to either discover GIS or improve their enterprise implementations. Currently there are over 250 Esri partners and customers—both domestic and international—enrolled in the program. Within a couple of years a formalized technical advisor practice developed supporting partners, customers, and international distributors. That work has evolved over the years, leading to more staff in a focused technical advisor role. As Program Manager, Christie is responsible for a team of technical and business staff, as well as staffing the program with a virtual team of about 50 employees.
When asked what about Esri sets it apart from other organizations, Christie said, “A big part is the culture and community; the common tie that bonds everybody together. People from all over the world come to work here, and they all have common love of GIS and geography. Something about Esri brings people here and a lot of us stay for a long time.”
Join Christie on April 18 and ask her about her role, working at Esri, the culture, even career advice. She’ll be ready to give you answers. Want to remain anonymous? You can DM your questions in advance to @EsriCareers; your name won’t be used during the chat.
Chat with you soon!
Three Secrets To An Influential Resumé Summary
Need a little help with writing a strong summary statement for your resumé? Here are some tips from the Glassdoor blog (March 18, 2013), along with a few of our own from Esri recruiter Chris.
Writing a resumé ‘summary of qualifications’ that stops employers cold and makes them realize you’re the right candidate can be challenging. After all, you’re good at what you do, but it can be tricky to boil down your ROI to concise statements in hopes of standing out. For most people, writing a summary of qualifications is such a major task that they look around at other resumé examples to get ideas.
Here are some insider tips to creating a summary that exemplifies your personal brand in just a few words–making employers take notice:
Esri Experts Talk Web and Mobile Development
We recently had the opportunity to participate in a Live Q&A session on Dice.com, as part of its TechTalk community. Our panel of experts included Rex Hansen, Lead Product Engineer, Microsoft Platforms; Will Crick, Lead Product Engineer, Applications Group; and Jason Otero, Staffing Manager. They shared a wealth of information about web and mobile development at Esri, the skills we look for in team members, what makes Esri different, and more. Following are the session highlights.
What’s #EsriJobChat All About?
If you follow @EsriCareers on Twitter, you’ve probably seen tweets about #EsriJobChat. Hopefully, you’ve tuned in to a session and got some good information, maybe even asked a question.
#EsriJobChat can be a valuable resource if you
- are actively seeking a new career opportunity—whether it’s GIS related or not!
- are a “passive” job seeker, just wondering what else is out there
- need some interview or resumé tips
- have specific questions about careers at Esri
- want to know more about what it’s like to work at Esri
- wonder what general skills we look for in a particular area
- are interested in summer programs for students
For IT Professionals, It’s All About the Cloud
From Software Advice, April 2, 2012
Everyone in the software development world is talking about the cloud these days, but are IT professionals prepared for the shift in technology? Derek Singleton, an ERP Analyst with Software Advice, shares his thoughts on the five skills that IT professionals will need to survive in the cloud era.
Singleton says, “For IT professionals, maintaining a job in the age of Cloud computing requires developing a new set of skills to match evolving IT roles. Through analyst interviews and discussions with IT professionals, I’ve identified five skills IT professionals need to position themselves for a career in the Cloud.”
Ready to see what skills you might be missing? Read Singleton’s blog post, Do You Have a Cloud Career Plan? You might also check out our recent blog post on careers in IT at Esri.
Meet Brent, Product Engineer, This Week on #EsriJobChat
We’ve had many requests for an Esri product engineer to host #EsriJobChat on Twitter, so we’re excited that Brent Pierce will be joining us this week. Brent has a degree in physics and obtained his master’s in GIS from Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS) in beautiful Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, Canada. He joined Esri’s Product Development Division in 2004. He manages a number of development initiatives including a small team of other product engineers.
Tune in this Thursday at 1 p.m. Pacific to ask Brent about his role, what it’s like being part of the Esri team, the general skills we look for, or even the Redlands area. He’ll have the answers! A member of our HR team will also be on hand for general Esri careers information.
You can send us your questions in advance via DM to @EsriCareers or e-mail them to careersblog@esri.com. Chat with you soon!
This Week’s #EsriJobChat: Using Social Media in Your #JobHunt
Who better to give advice on this topic than one of our own success stories! While pursuing a degree in geospatial technology, Timothy Hales, known as @GISpathway in the Twitter-sphere, used a number of social media avenues to network with GIS professionals, which he attributes to eventually joining the Esri team.
Timothy has been on board for about a year and a half, and works as a raster support analyst in our Charlotte, North Carolina, office. Tune in to this week’s chat Wednesday, April 4 at 1 p.m. Pacific to learn from Timothy’s success and have your questions answered about using social media to land your dream job.
Send your questions in advance via e-mail to careersblog@esri.com or DM @EsriCareers on Twitter.
Note: Chat is being held on Wednesday this week only. Next week we’ll go back to Thursdays.
This Week’s Host on #EsriJobChat: @mikehogan
We’re excited to have Mike Hogan from our Support Services team joining us for this week’s #EsriJobChat Thursday at 1 p.m. Pacific. Mike joined Esri in 2002 as a new grad from BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) where he obtained an Advanced Diploma of Technology in GIS. He also has a degree in Geography.
Transitioning from GIS Analyst to Business Side of GIS
One of the questions we received during our first #EsriJobChat on Twitter could be on the minds of many, so we asked Chris, a recruiter for our Professional Services Division, for his expertise.
Q: What tips do you have for getting out from a computer as a GIS tech/analyst and working on the business side of GIS services?
Try to think about things from a customer perspective and what questions they may have, for example
- What issues are they looking to solve by leveraging GIS technology?
- What types of technology infrastructures and products will they need to meet their goals?
- What issues might they have implementing GIS technology into their current infrastructure?
- How can they customize their current GIS platform/infrastructure to meet their organization-specific needs?
Helpful Career Advice Given During First #EsriJobChat
Thanks to everyone who tuned in to our first #EsriJobChat on Twitter last week. You asked a lot of great questions, and we enjoyed the opportunity to interact with you. Mark your calendar for our next chat Thursday, February 23 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific.
We didn’t have enough time to cover all the questions, so we picked some that we thought would be of general interest and have answered them below.
Chat with you soon!
Q: Do I need Esri training to work in an Esri office? I already have training with other GIS products.
A: It depends on the position you’re applying for, but it’s not always a requirement. Of course, training in and experience with Esri products is always a plus! You can learn more about Esri training at www.esri.com/training.
Q: Which positions can give me the ability to innovate and create new things in GIS using my GIS and web development experience?
A: We have many needs for people with these talents. Specific positions will depend on your background and skills, as well as what your passion is. For example, do you want to be customer facing, develop content, etc. The best thing to do is search our website for current opportunities.
