Image Credit: River by Andreas Riedelmeier. Image via Pixabay.
Nearly a decade after graduating as a Geographer, I took a career break. However, this pause became a turning point in my GIS career transition. The critical economic and social situation in Venezuela at the time made it more costly to work outside than to create opportunities from home.
When I returned to the workforce in 2019 after three years away, I applied for a GIS Analyst position. Moreover, during the hiring process, I encountered a Human Resources professional who carefully reviewed my résumé. She asked me a few questions before moving forward with the technical assessments—familiar steps in a process I had gone through before.
But then, something unexpected happened.
She noticed that I had held several roles throughout my career and, out of habit, I overexplained—almost apologetically, as if frequent changes were a disadvantage. She smiled and told me otherwise. From her perspective, spending about two and a half years in each role wasn’t instability; it was within industry standards.
As a result, that simple shift in viewpoint led me to a realization: experience is my power.
Looking at experience with fresh eyes
I revisited my résumé with a new lens, disregarding the duration of each role and instead asking myself:
- What type of industry was each institution part of?
- How similar or different were they in terms of institutional goals?
- Was there a pattern in the tasks I had performed or the responsibilities I had held?
Moreover, I soon saw the breadth of my professional experience: I had worked across private companies, public administration, and academia—each with different structures, workflows, and organizational cultures.
My work often revolved around investigation, data analysis, and cartography, regardless of the sector.
A new recognition
Years later, during the pandemic, remote work transformed how I saw professional opportunities.
Consequently, in one online meeting with external clients in the renewable energy industry, I was introduced as a Senior GIS Analyst. I realized how far my GIS career transition had evolved. It was in that moment that I fully recognized my comparative advantage.
I wasn’t just someone with 15 years of GIS expertise. I had been a witness to the evolution of geospatial technology, advocating for its expanding capabilities and applications.
My edge wasn’t only technical knowledge — maturity in the field had become my superpower.
This led me to reflect on crucial questions:
- What does it mean to have worked with desktop GIS licenses and physical dongles, and now with cloud-based services and online servers?
- In what ways have I adapted to technological shifts and new methodologies?
- How has my decision-making process evolved over time?
Experience is perspective
Being experienced in a field doesn’t necessarily mean being the fastest, the most technically skilled, or the most knowledgeable.
When you are early in your career, you may excel at speed and agility. However, after repeating the same processes over time, you begin to see beyond the immediate task.
As you gain experience, you anticipate, you prevent, you reconsider before it’s too late.
Ultimately, the difference between a beginner and a seasoned professional is not just technical ability—it’s the wisdom to foresee what comes next.
Never leave gaps unexplored
When I think back to that HR conversation, I remember how I once excluded parts of my timeline—the years I wasn’t formally employed in GIS. I dismissed my entrepreneurial period, yet it was a key stage of my GIS career transition. Now, I ask myself:
- What soft skills did I develop while working for myself?
- What lessons did I learn from being outside a corporate environment?
- What self-motivation and time management strategies did I gain while working independently and remotely?
From My Lens
Every experience contributes to our professional identity. It’s not about the job title—it’s about the skills, adaptability, and insights gained along the way.
Now, as I take my next step, I do so with confidence, knowing that my greatest asset is not just what I’ve done—but the perspective I’ve built along the way.
Experience is more than a timeline. It’s the lens that allows us to adapt, to anticipate, and to transform GIS from a technical service into a strategic capability.
If you’re exploring how your own experience can translate into clarity and new career directions, you can book a GIS Clarity Session.
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