GIS Certification Survey Results

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%