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Old 03-05-2014, 04:13 PM
 
Location: Maui County, HI
4,131 posts, read 7,406,693 times
Reputation: 3391

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This is a bad idea.

You're going to be living in the ghetto with that budget. For a decent place close to downtown you'd have to spend $1000 for a room.

I do GIS and I worked in the Houston oil & gas industry for 4 years, and I can tell you there's no guarantee you'll get a job. There's PLENTY of competition. Texas is full of universities cranking out geography degrees.
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Old 03-05-2014, 05:54 PM
 
Location: Denver, CO
2,816 posts, read 2,113,482 times
Reputation: 2970
Exactly. Listen to this guy. I also have some knowledge of the GIS job market and my opinion is that if you have programming experience (JavaScript, HTML, Python) along with a GIS degree then you're golden, but if your skillset is basically that of an ESRI power user then you will face stiffer competition, sometimes from people with experience. Most oil and gas companies also don't hire entry level people off the web. They tend to have campus recruiting programs.

I'm not saying this is a good field to get into now and moving to Houston is a bad idea, but you need to think longer term. Definitely save more before coming here, plan on working in an unrelated job for a year and spend your free time doing stuff with the technology or volunteer so you have a body of work to show a potential employer. Houston has a good ESRI meetup group and I would start networking there. Of course, the more information you can provide about your GIS background the better we can assist you.

Quote:
Originally Posted by winkosmosis View Post
This is a bad idea.

You're going to be living in the ghetto with that budget. For a decent place close to downtown you'd have to spend $1000 for a room.

I do GIS and I worked in the Houston oil & gas industry for 4 years, and I can tell you there's no guarantee you'll get a job. There's PLENTY of competition. Texas is full of universities cranking out geography degrees.
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Old 03-05-2014, 06:13 PM
 
693 posts, read 1,099,942 times
Reputation: 1764
Unless you're actively recruited to come work in Houston, you need to be independently wealthy to move here with no job. Houston is not the fabled dream city with money growing on trees that the media wants you to think it is.
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Old 03-05-2014, 07:13 PM
 
Location: Maui County, HI
4,131 posts, read 7,406,693 times
Reputation: 3391
BTW another thing is the oil companies tend to hire based on who you know. The only interviews I got were for jobs that someone referred me for
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Old 03-05-2014, 09:41 PM
 
31 posts, read 42,563 times
Reputation: 17
keep applying for jobs... minimum 10 jobs a day...

indeed.com
twitter.com and search for houston jobs or houston gis
https://twitter.com/search?q=houston...entry&src=typd

check linkedin.. GIS Analyst I at Williams GIS Analyst I at Williams in HOUSTON, TX - Job | LinkedIn

check craigslist jobs


you need to keep applying, schedule some phone/skype interviews

how do you know your california address is keeping you from getting an interview? perhaps something else on your resume is?
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Old 03-05-2014, 09:44 PM
 
31 posts, read 42,563 times
Reputation: 17
OH... also apply to all the seismic companies...
CGG, TGC, ION, Global geophysical, sei seismicexchange.com, etc etc etc
maybe you can get an entry seismic processing job or a field QA job..


good luck!
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Old 03-05-2014, 11:20 PM
 
Location: Mo City, TX
1,728 posts, read 3,424,502 times
Reputation: 2070
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbrom View Post
keep applying for jobs... minimum 10 jobs a day...

indeed.com
twitter.com and search for houston jobs or houston gis
https://twitter.com/search?q=houston...entry&src=typd

check linkedin.. GIS Analyst I at Williams GIS Analyst I at Williams in HOUSTON, TX - Job | LinkedIn

check craigslist jobs


you need to keep applying, schedule some phone/skype interviews

how do you know your california address is keeping you from getting an interview? perhaps something else on your resume is?


Sometimes it's just you not your address.
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Old 03-06-2014, 01:33 AM
 
15 posts, read 39,430 times
Reputation: 17
I like your idea of the ESRI meet up , where can I find more information about it? I've tried to look for GIS related groups at meetup.com, but there seems to be none in the Houston area.

Btw, I live in San Jose (Silicon Valley). Unfortunately, most GIS jobs in here require tons of experience (5+ years) and lots of programming skills. The entry-level ones are very competitive and there are people with Masters applying to them too. The only ones I can get are unpaid internships, but I've done that for a year and I'm ready to take a real paid job. I've tried Redlands, seems entry-level jobs there are summer internships, I still applied to them and have my fingers crossed for an opportunity.

Regarding my GIS background, last January I just completed an unpaid internship doing a mapping project for a botanical garden. It lasted for about a year, so I can say I have at least 1 year of GIS experience under my belt in addition to my BA degree that I got last summer . I took an introductory Python course during my last semester that taught me the basics of using it for geo-processing data, but I still have a lot to learn. As of right now, I am teaching myself HTML, CSS, and JavaScript from online sources and I already know the basics of ArcGIS API to make simple webmaps. I am definitely planning on learning more about Python though but I want to finish learning JavaScript first. With that being said, at least I should have an advantage over a typical fresh out of college.

Last edited by lloyd_hugo; 03-06-2014 at 02:03 AM.. Reason: To answer one more question from a member
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Old 03-06-2014, 01:46 AM
 
15 posts, read 39,430 times
Reputation: 17
Good question. I don't think it's my resume content because I've been getting some interviews in my current area. And besides, I usually send cover letters and customize them according to the job description, I even state my willingness to pay for my own relocation. But I don't blame them, hiring someone who still lives out of state would be risky for them, and all things being equal they would pick someone local because it's just more convenient and safe.
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Old 03-06-2014, 08:30 AM
 
Location: Houston, TX (Bellaire)
4,900 posts, read 13,671,788 times
Reputation: 4186
You can get a Houston address from a UPS store box. If you dont plan to ask for relocation expenses I don't see that as dishonest. Also address can matter for jobs for example company I work with in ten Energy corridor won't hire people from The Woodlands because even though people will make the commute they are usually so worn down by it they just don't have the productivity of closer in employees.
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