GIS Certification Survey Results

I wanted to pass this along, since GIS Certification is slowly gaining ground, and I thought the survey results were interesting to share.  I received this as an email through the California GIS Council, from Tripp Corbin of eGIS Associates.

Respondents: 757 Total
Countries:
• 508 United States
• 43 Canada
• 11 India
• 8 United Kingdom
• 7 Australia
• 7 Portugal
• 45 Other Countries (4 or less responses: Angola, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Italy, Germany, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Thailand, Trinidad),
• 128 Not Provided
Organization:
• City Government - 18%
• County Government – 15%
• State Government – 13%
• Federal Government – 7%
• Private Company – 32%
• Non-Profit – 4%
• Other – 10% (Mostly Education)
• Not Provided – 1%
GIS Primary Job:
• Yes – 85%
• No – 15%
Certification
What GIS or Photogrametry related certifications have you heard of?
• GISP – 39%
• Esri Technical Certifications – 37%
• CMS (ASPRS) – 5%
• CP (ASPRS) – 4%
• Certified GIS/LIS Technologist (ASPRS) – 9%
• None – 4%
• Other – 3% (AICP, PE, LS, GIS Graduate Certificate, GIS Degree)
Do you or your organization require GISP certification for teams or companies responding to RFPs for GIS services?
• Yes – 4%
• No – 78%
• Not Sure – 10%
• N/A – 8%
Does your organization encourage GISPs be included in teams for GIS services if they are not required?
• Yes – 17%
• No – 59%
• Not Sure – 14%
• N/A – 10%
Does your organization encourage Esri Certified personnel to be included in teams for GIS Services?
• Yes – 13%
• No – 68%
• Not Sure – 11%
• N/A – 8%
Does your organization require a GIS Certification (GISP, CMP, Esri, or other) for any job positions?
• Yes – 8%
• No – 85%
• Not Sure – 6%
If your organization does require certification of a job position, what Certifications do you require and for what positions. (Note: many of those that said no above did indicate Certifications were a plus or being considered)
• We don’t but it is considered a plus – All GIS positions (24) – this includes those that indicated it was desired, a plus, preferred, if not certified experience could be used, a bonus, helped land position and so on
• AICP – Senior Planning Positions (5)
• PE – Engineer (8)
• EIT – Junior Engineer
• RLS – Surveyor (2)
• Esri Certifications – Analyst, Solutions Engineers, Trainers and Support Specialist (14)
• GISP  - GIS Analyst, Specialist & Managers (19)
• CPA - Financial Positions
• 4 year Degree or higher in GIS/Remote Sensing  or related fields – GIS Techs, Analyst and Specialist (19)
• GIS Certificate from Institution of Higher Learning – GIS Tech or Analyst (3)
• CET – Engineering Tech
• Currently considering adding GIS Certification requirement for positions – (5)
• CFM – Floodplain Management
• Spatial Information Certifications – positions not identified
• PMP – GIS and other Managers (3)
• Certification Required but exact certification not identified – GIS Technician and Analyst
• NC State Mapper Certification – Parcel Mapping
• CMS – GIS Analyst
• FEMA ICS – Emergency Management
• Object Oriented Programming (Java or C#) – GIS Analyst
• Experience Only – no position identified (4)
• Some College GIS Course work – No position identified
• Certifications from any official reputable GIS Professional Organizations – All GIS positions
• IT Certifications – Software Engineer, Systems Engineer, Techs (2)
• Geologist – No position indentified (1)
• CST – All CAD, GIS and Field Positions
Does your organization offer a bonus or pay raise of you get a GIS Certification?
• Yes – 8%
• No – 65%
• No but they do pay for certification & recertification – 18%
• Not Sure – 9%
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