Glen Bambrick

    GIS Consultant
    Final Draft Mapping Ltd
    Remote
    IT and telecoms
    Faculty of Social Sciences, Geography
    BA Single Honours Geography
    Higher Diploma Applied Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Sytems, Higher Diploma Information Technology. MSc Geocomputation
    2015

    GIS

    The MSc in Geocomputation will make you think differently about GIS, it opens up a different way of thinking about GIS and solving geospatial problems.

    Can you tell us of any career highlight to date?

    Working in various countries, Canada, Australia, UK and Ireland.

    What does your current role involve?

    • Develop and implement geospatial data standards across desktop and web-based GIS.
    • Automate workflows and processes enabled by implementing such standards.
    • Automation developed through Python mainly with arcgis API (for online) and arcpy (for Desktop).
    • Develop custom scripts/tools/ArcTools utilised for data processing, data extraction, qa/qc, maintaining standards across WebMaps (such as popups, symbology, extent, filters, search capabilities), generating template geodatabases/shapefiles, and data cleansing.
    • Documentation of standards, protocols, workflows, and custom developed tools.
    • Maintain custom ArcTools and develop based on evolving workflows and feedback from users.
    • Publish WebMaps and maintain the integrity of the data in ArcGIS Online
    • Manage user interaction with ArcGIS Online through custom User Roles.
    • Develop and maintain a common data environment (CDE) for GIS.

    What do you find most interesting/challenging about your job?

    Every day is different and different challenges need to be overcome. Some can be fixed in minutes while others take a lot of collaboration and effort to come up with innovative ways of solving.

    What advice would you give to Maynooth University students entering the job market, either generally speaking or in regard to your specific career sector?

    Be realistic and honest with your CV and yourself.  I see so many over-embelished CVs and when it comes to interviews theyre caught out by simple technical questions. A little humility goes a long way, the willingness to learn and advance is a great trait to have.  I wasn't an expert leaving college and I still wouldn't put myself under that classification, so it's important to constantly learn and evolve with each and every year.  In saying that, it is important that the company you work for promotes this. Take stock every couple of years and ask yourself; am I improving my skills or have I stagnated? The answer will define whether to move on or not. Job hopping is important early in a GIS Career, 5 x 2years in different companies will really open your eyes to the variety of ways GIS is implemented, both the bad and the good.