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A day in the life of an Geographical Information Systems Officer

Anna Cloke

My name is Anna Cloke. I am a GIS Officer and work in the ICT department at East Devon District Council. I have worked for the Council in this role for 2 years 6 months.

When I commenced with EDDC I required some varying qualifications. These were:

  • A broad range of GCSEs at grades A-C.
  • A degree in relevant GIS related subject e.g. Geography or Geology.

I have undertaken several different training courses to develop my skills whilst at EDDC. These have been training courses relating to learning the technical skill to produce electronic maps and personal skills like giving formal presentations.

A typical day would consist of:

  • Training colleagues to use the mapping systems available to Council employees.
  • Improving our datasets such as our address database.
  • Producing maps and plans for colleagues.
  • Plotting new properties and developments on our mapping systems.
  • Occasionally I get to go out in my car and complete site visits to resolve issues on a particular site.

What I most enjoy about my job is using our 3D modelling software to produce plans for use by colleagues at the Council. I also enjoy talking to members of the public who phone in to the office to register new properties with us and to change the name of properties.

What I least enjoy about my job is that sometimes their may be errors in our datasets (such as our address data) and it can be a very monotonous task to correct these.

If I was not a GIS Officer I would consider being a teacher. This is because I enjoy training colleagues at the Council and like working with different people. If I had studied GIS further at University I could have possibly taught geography in schools or lectured at my university.

My proudest achievement is obtaining a 1st degree honours for my final year dissertation at University.

I chose to work in Local Government because I was keen to work in the South West where I grew up, and I wanted to be in a role which would encourage me to develop my skills in GIS and IT which I gained at University.

Good Luck in your chosen career!!

Page last updated on 24 May 2012