It's all about mapping, and maps are perhaps one of the most important items any society can claim. First of all, people use maps to find out where certain structures and landmarks happen to be. In addition to that, they use them to find routes for their travels.
There are other uses for these maps as well, and one is for the mapping of earthquake prone areas, as well as seismicity. This is all information that can be very useful to both travelers and scientists alike. There is also the question of map quantities, which is another very important aspect of mapping.
Map quantities tend to show amounts, such as the amount of people or children in an area. In addition to that it could show what facilities or landmarks are in a given area. This obviously goes above and beyond mapping, but it is entirely necessary.
Contour mapping is another important part of GIS jobs. Contours are intended to show the height of a given area, letting you know whether or not an area is passable by car or foot. This is also very important information, but as you probably know, there are even more important things that need to be mapped.
The geography of the world is always going to change. Mountains may move, continents could shift. It is the job of GIS workers to make sure these events are recorded, charted, and released to the public. The question that you might have at this point is where you would go to apply for such a job. GIS jobs will require an education of course, and once you find yourself with a good education, it would be best to look up a GIS clearing house. clearing house jobs are much more detailed and more available than those you would find on a regular job website.
When you were growing up you probably mentioned a lot of things that you might want to be when you grow up. You might have said fireman, or astronaut, but chances are you never wanted to be a GIS worker. Things changed, and our desires become different over time. In spite of that, you will not find many GIS jobs on Monster.com or other job related websites.
The best part about going to a clearing house is that you will be shown information on jobs all over the world. You could join a team in Germany, or you could be located in the United States. The possibilities are quite endless as the entire world needs GIS services at some point or another.
You will need to become familiar with the various pieces of GIS software out there. They can be very complicated, and you might want to find out if your local college or university provides courses on using this software. Like any other job, it will indeed require a fair amount of training, and you will need to stick with it as best you can.
GIS may in fact be used by your local community. It could be used fro the mapping of local areas, or it could be used for keeping track of the entire state. When you go through a clearing house to get such an occupation you will find that many people look to you as an expert on mapping and many decisions will be left up to you.
Are you ready for a job that commands responsibility and teaches you vital information about our ever-changing world? Do you believe you have what it takes to document the changes and oddities of our planet? Do you think you can master the software used in such endeavors? This is without a doubt, one very huge undertaking. You need to be fully committed to it, and if you are, then you will without a doubt find yourself in a great job with great benefits, serving your community, state, or even the entire world in some cases. So get ready, and start mapping.
