What does this occupation involve?

Study the nature and use of areas of the Earth's surface, relating and interpreting interactions of physical and cultural phenomena. Day to day that includes work like create and modify maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and map scales and gather and compile geographic data from sources such as censuses, field observations, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps.

Which skills can support a resume for this occupation?

O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Writing, Critical Thinking, Speaking, and Active Listening among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What other job titles cover this work?

O*NET records 16 titles for this occupation, including Earth Observations Scientist, GIS Coordinator, Geographic Information Systems Coordinator, and GIS Geographer. Use the relevant alternatives as search terms and check the responsibilities before deciding whether the posting describes the same work.

Which qualifications may be relevant to this occupation?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 45% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

How do I turn this occupation's duties into resume bullets?

Start with a task you actually did, such as create and modify maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and map scales. Then answer four questions: what did you personally do, who or what depended on it, which tool or constraint mattered, and what changed or proves the work happened. Write the line from those answers rather than copying the occupation description.

Resume evidence worksheet for Geographers

For the occupation "Geographers", a strong resume should make the core work easy to see: study the nature and use of areas of the Earth's surface, relating and interpreting interactions of physical and cultural phenomena.

Start with work you have actually done:

Create and modify maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and map scales.
Gather and compile geographic data from sources such as censuses, field observations, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps.

Then build each line from your evidence. For each line, name what you did, who or what depended on it, the relevant tool or scope, and what proves the work happened.

How do you turn this occupation's work into resume evidence?

Choose one task you actually did. Answer the four questions in plain language before trying to make the sentence sound polished.

Evidence prompt 1
Teach geography
Evidence prompt 2
Write and present reports of research findings
Evidence prompt 3
Provide geographical information systems support to the private and public sectors

Ask these four questions about the task you chose

What did you personally do, rather than what the team or job was responsible for?
Who or what depended on the work?
What tool, system, process, or constraint shaped the work?
What changed, finished, became easier, or proves the work happened?

Build the line: [what you did] + [who or what it served] + [tool, process, or scope] + [what changed or proves it]. Use only the parts your own experience supports.

What should the top third make easy to find?

Do not turn this into a long summary. Use it as a priority check before a reader reaches the rest of the page.

Target: [Use the posting's exact job title]
Show one relevant example: One result, artifact, decision, or responsibility from your own history that answers a worksheet prompt below.

Which knowledge areas should you prove rather than list?

O*NET highlights Geography, English Language, and Computers and Electronics for this occupation. Do not paste those labels into a Skills section. Choose one only if you used it, then name the decision, explanation, artifact, or result that proves it.

Where did you use Geography, and what decision, explanation, or artifact can you point to?
What did you explain, produce, or change that required English Language?
Which example from your history demonstrates Computers and Electronics without relying on a bare label?

How can you place those answers in a resume?

This is a fillable worksheet, not a finished resume. The role material comes from O*NET; brackets mark the facts and evidence you still need to supply.

Rendered in the Standard template by the same engine that exports your PDF. See all 5 templates, or start this resume free.

What else is this job called?

Use relevant alternatives as search terms, then compare the responsibilities before deciding whether a posting describes the same work.

Earth Observations Scientist
GIS Coordinator
Geographic Information Systems Coordinator
GIS Geographer
Geographic Information Systems Geographer
GIS Physical Scientist
Scientist
Biogeographer

O*NET records 16 titles for this occupation in total. The eight above are a starting point, not a keyword list to paste into a resume.

What do people in this job call themselves?

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

Geographer
GIS Coordinator (Geographic Information Systems Coordinator)
GIS Geographer (Geographic Information Systems Geographer)
GIS Physical Scientist (Geographic Information Systems Physical Scientist)

Common questions

What does this occupation involve?: Study the nature and use of areas of the Earth's surface, relating and interpreting interactions of physical and cultural phenomena. Day to day that includes work like create and modify maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and map scales and gather and compile geographic data from sources such as censuses, field observations, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps.
Which skills can support a resume for this occupation?: O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Writing, Critical Thinking, Speaking, and Active Listening among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What other job titles cover this work?: O*NET records 16 titles for this occupation, including Earth Observations Scientist, GIS Coordinator, Geographic Information Systems Coordinator, and GIS Geographer. Use the relevant alternatives as search terms and check the responsibilities before deciding whether the posting describes the same work.
Which qualifications may be relevant to this occupation?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 45% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
How do I turn this occupation's duties into resume bullets?: Start with a task you actually did, such as create and modify maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and map scales. Then answer four questions: what did you personally do, who or what depended on it, which tool or constraint mattered, and what changed or proves the work happened. Write the line from those answers rather than copying the occupation description.

What jobs are closest to this one?

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

Source and use notes

O*NET describes the occupation. It does not know your experience or set the requirements for a specific employer.
Use only the tasks, skills, tools, and qualifications that your own history supports and the posting actually calls for.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.