New Jersey GIS Positions – Supply and Demand (Take Two)
Posted by Atanas Entchev at 3/14/2008 9:03 PM and is filed under Jobs,New Jersey,GIS,General,NJGIN,NJ 
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?
...because the salary range is 30-44K. So let's take best case scenario and see what exactly they want for 44K--
a) "ArcInfo, ArcView, ArcMap, ArcCatalog" Already, we have problems--because I'm not clear if they know the difference between "ArcView" and "ArcMap".
b) "Trimble GPS equipment". Not any other brand, it seems.
c) data entry & database management. Gee, the job is really starting to sound fun: one gets to enter the data AND manage the database.
d) Map production. So, a GIS expert AND a cartographer.
e) More obsession with Trimble GPS
f) The ArcInfo/ArcMap experience wasn't enough--now they remember 3D Analyst and Spatial Analyst.
g) Let's throw in SDE, SQL Server, ArcIMS and even Adobe Illustrator AND VB Scripting.
But interestingly enough they only require 2 years of experience during which one magically soaked in all of this know-how. Or is 2 years the standard for the crap salary?
In short, reading between the lines, you see a lazy and/or inept GIS manager looking for a savior on the cheap and not at all interested in providing training.
As geospatial goes mainstream, expect to see munis and counties start whining about not being able to find qualified people as the private sector dares to offer experienced qualified professionals market-rate salaries.
Brian
Reply to this
I don't have anything to add to Brian's comment. Just complete agreement.
Trish
Reply to this
Brian - This is a classic setup for hiring a H1B candidate. We've seen this all the time in the non-GIS programming world. Fill the ad with a ton of requirements, offer a low salary, and when no local candidates take a job, fill it with an H1B visa type.
On a salary note. It is going to be very interesting to see where GIS salaries go the next few years. Right now GIS salaries lag behind other similar tech sector jobs. While I love GIS work and prefer to do it, it is difficult to pass up better paying consulting gigs in the non-GIS sector.
Reply to this
Rob, I don't think this is a H1B visa "setup", for two reasons. One, the posting in question is for a county government job -- an unlikely H1B visa sponsor. Two, in my limited experience (I am not a lawyer), H1B visa sponsors need to look at qualifications, and H1B employers need to commit (or whatever the legal term is) to pay prevailing wages to the H1B candidate.
What is the prevailing wage -- ay, there's the rub. I have to agree with Brian here and Chris in his comment to my earlier post -- the lack of clear descriptions for GIS positions make it hard to agree on, or even approach the issue of "prevailing wage." One thing is clear about the job opening in this example -- the pay it offers is below market-rate.
Reply to this
This is a classic example of a poorly written job description as well as a case of unrealistic requirements for the compensation offered (based on preceding posts). It seems they want a jack of all trades for the price of an experienced Technician. I have also seen an interesting trend with our last two job opening postings for an experienced GIS Technician to do mostly parcel related work. The replies we got were all over the board and from all over the map. I find it hard to believe that someone who has just finished working on a graduate GIS degree is really interested to moving to NJ to work for an MUA doing parcel work but yet I had at least 6 apply. I guess I might be under estimating our benefits package. I do bring this on myself by advertising on www. gjc.org but feel I will reach more qualified candidates then if I just posted on NJGIN alone.
Reply to this
I applied for the MUA tech position both times. I am guessing I was not the right candidate for the position, although I was thinking that I was a strong local candidate. The benefits package offered is indeed worth a pay cut. Another plus is the 8 hour work day, rather then the non-overtime paying 9-11 hour workday in the private industries.
Reply to this
Will, you are probably generalizing a bit too much regarding the private industries. I've been around, and can say that many private companies do pay their hourly employees overtime.
Reply to this
Agreed, I was generalizing a bit too much.
Reply to this
They put so much in their job description, hoping to pick the applicant who matches best; the problem is this turns away many applicants, hence the long wait.
Reply to this