[OSGeo Africa] 1: 500 000 hydrogeological maps of south africa

Fri Feb 24 05:13:38 EST 2012

Thanks Marshall

This is the guidlines which honestly the jobseeker is looking for. In addition to field knowledge, he/she must also look for behavioral interview guidlines e.g the STAR tech/proceedure, to "give structured and complete responses to questions asked". You can google this. 

________________________________
 From: Marshall Mdoka <marshall.mdoka at monash.edu>
To: Africa local chapter discussions <africa at lists.osgeo.org> 
Cc: Shiluvana Nhlamulo <ShiluvanaN at dwa.gov.za> 
Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 9:29 PM
Subject: Re: [OSGeo Africa] 1: 500 000 hydrogeological maps of south africa

Hi All,

Interesting emails have been circulated but did not assist much on
    "how to prepare for a GIS interview". I think the best way to
    prepare for an interview is you must know about  the work
    environment. You should know their policies, objectives,
    products/outputs etc. As for the particular job you applied for, be
    wary of the job description and what is expected of you etc. You
    should be fully prepared for questions that relate to GIS packages
    they have or any other software that was highlighted in the advert.
    If you are not knowledgeable in any of those packages be honest but
    show your confidence and expose your exceptional skills that will
    convince them you can either teach yourself or be able to learn
    fast. Its not everyday, that employers come across job seekers that
    satisfy all their requirements. Myself, I have confidence in that I
    can spend a better part of the day finding about those packages they
    have if time permitting to such an extent that I would be able to
    answer back or fiddle around in the advertised job software. So it
    then boils down to knowing for instance the basics of GIS not a
    particular GIS tool. This is the advantage of FOSS and mastering GIS
    skills. They are available and lets fully utilise them to address
    problems that commercial packages are addressing too. At the end of
    the day, an interview is all about how you present yourself. Show
    them you are smart, confident, willing to learn, team player, open
    minded etc. then you will do right.

I hope some of this info will assist an OSGeo  Africa colleague
    prepare for a GIS interview. The key is preparation and use the
    internet to learn from expects on interviews.

Good luck!

Marshall

On 2/23/2012 11:21 AM, Shiluvana Nhlamulo wrote: 
I agree with you Rossouw, as GIS users we are forever trying to keep up with new software updates so that we remain assets in prospective employers and current employers. 
>     
>  
>From:africa-bounces at lists.osgeo.org [mailto:africa-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Chlodwik Rossouw
>Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 11:05 AM
>To: Africa local chapter discussions
>Subject: Re: [OSGeo Africa] 1: 500 000 hydrogeological maps of south africa 
>  
>This specific or original discussion was not about opensource vs proprietary software, it started off as advice to assist someone with preparing for an interview. If you go to an interview and the spec asks for skills or experience in specific software, does not matter if it is OS or proprietary, you must be prepared to answer questions with regards to the specific technology in use. 
>On 23 February 2012 10:40, Zibusiso Ncube <ncubezedm at gmail.com>
wrote: 
>Open Source VS Closed-source Software and proprietary argument, this
>can get ugly.for the record, i would love all software to be
            open
>source. In terms of the case in point, (and in SA in
            general) most GVT
>"organisations " use proprietary software, sad but real
            fact. you
            have
>to be clued up on it when you go into an interview or you
            wont get
>hired. However for the sake of advancement of OS and not to
            take sides
>people might have to take on Gavin's advice/plea.
>
>On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 10:29 AM, Paul Scott <pscott209 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> On 23/02/2012 10:13, Chlodwik Rossouw wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Therefore, I can not see how any interview process
            or even job spec
>>> can not contain or ask for skills or knowledge with
            regards to
>>> specific software.
>>>
>>
>> Would you rather hire a person that can use MS Word, or
            someone that
>> can do word processing?
>>
>> That is the real question here. If I hire someone that
            is
            "qualified"
>> in operating MS Word 2000 as an example, and I upgrade
            to the next
>> version, that person is redundant until trained. If,
            however, I find
>> someone that can do word processing (i.e. not attached
            to any specific
>> package), and they can remain agile since they know the
            fundamentals
>> of word processing, they will never be redundant and
            will forever be
>> an asset to my organisation. Same thing applies to
            other pieces of
>> software. I would rather have people that can think for
            themselves
>> than drones created from training courses where any
            deviation from the
>> norm will have them floundering.
>>
>> Training institutions, colleges and Universities need
            to take this
>> lesson to heart as well, else we will never overcome
            the barriers to
>> true excellence.
>>
>> - --
>> - -- Paul http://www.paulscott.za.net http://www.chisimba.com
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>> _______________________________________________
>> Africa mailing list
>> Africa at lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/africa
>
>
>
>--
>Regards
>
>Zibusiso M Ncube
>
>181 Camlyn Gardens
>Theron Street
>Clarina
>0118
>
>0824806346
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>
>
>
>  
>-- 
>-----------------------------------------
>Chlodwik Rossouw
>email: chlodwik at gmail.com
>tel: +27 (0)766978543
>skype: chlodwik 
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