My original post
New Jersey GIS Positions – Supply and Demand generated a lot of insightful responses and comments. To summarize: Readers agreed with my observation that, as
Cool Hand Luke puts it, "What we've got here is failure to communicate." Indeed, there is no other way to explain the seemingly paradoxical situation where a large pool of GIS job hunters coexists in space and time with a large list of GIS job openings.
Could it be that the job postings are written in a way that discourages qualified applicants? Or are the expectations merely unrealistic? A glimpse into the situation may be offered by
Cyril Northcote Parkinson in his
“Parkinson’s Law”, published in 1957. Writes Parkinson in the essay “The Short List”:
“Only a little thought is needed to convince us that the perfect advertisement would attract only one reply and that from the right man. Let us begin with an extreme example.
Wanted – Acrobat capable of crossing a slack wire 200 feet above raging furnace. Twice nightly, three times on Saturday. Salary offered £25 (or $70 U.S.) per week. No pension and no compensation in the event of injury. Apply in person at Wildcat Circus between the hours of 9 A. M. and 10 A. M.
[…]The skill of the advertiser consists of adjusting the salary to the danger. […]If there is more than one applicant, the figure has been placed a trifle too high.”
Compare this with a
GIS job opening that has been sitting on NJGIN for over four months:
“REQUIREMENTS: ABILITIES Extensive knowledge of and experience with ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) products ArcInfo, ArcView, ArcMAP, ArcCatalog as well as Trimble GPS equipment. Knowledge of and experience in computerized data entry and formatting, data base management, and data base utilization. Ability to maintain your focus on long-term work assignments. Knowledge of all phases of computer map preparation including digitization, data transmission, data reformatting, and map production. Experience with Trimble GPS products and software including data dictionary development, GPS data collection, correction and export. Knowledge of and experience in Metadata creation. Knowledge of ESRI products Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst, ArcIMS and ArcSDE, Visual Basic Scripting as well as Microsoft SQL Server and Adobe Illustrator a plus.”
Why is this position still open after four and a half months? Is it asking too much, or offering too little?