September 05, 2006

GIS Interns needed at $11 hour??? Come on, get real!

I had to laugh.. well actually, its kinda sad... I just ran into an ad for a GIS intern (proficeint with ArcGIS 9.x, geodatabse knowledge etc...) and the hiring county is actually offering up a whopping $11 hour for the lucky candidate. I have no idea how someone is supposed to live in Ann Arbor Michigan on $11 hr let alone cover EDU costs etc... but really, $11.. is that what an inntern is worth? Geesh... I made more (much more) babysitting a plotter on one of my first internships way back when. Of note, the job ad I saw was just posted and has a closing date of Sept 11 (that's in several days) so obviously the interest hasn't been that great.. for obvious reasons. I think the people at Washtenaw County need to open their wallets a bit wider anad maybe take this a bit more seriously. Are any of you working for $11 hr for a countyas a skilled GIS Analyst... I sure hope not!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know. My first GIS internship was unpaid for the City of Mesa. I survived and went on to better things.

Anonymous said...

I think the going rate around here is 11-12 bucks/hour for interns, which is probably attractive to BS grads who still live in their collegiate apartments. You're not likely to get anyone with progamming experience at that wage, though.

Anonymous said...

Well I wouldn't go so far as to say 'skilled,' but I am a somewhat knowledgeable GIS analyst. I make a whopping $10 an hour.

Anonymous said...

That's about what I made when I was intern, and it's about what we paid our intern this summer. $11 an hour is not reasonable for a GIS Analyst who is a college graduate seeking an entry-level position. But it is reasonable for an intern. Some interns don't get paid at all.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more with the posting. If people are forced into taking yet another GIS job at this rate, why don't we just send all our work to Mars, where they are about to supplant India and China as the future outsourcing competitors. Those little green men can really pump it out.

Anonymous said...

My first GIS intership was unpaid with a Texas state agency... And I walked 10 miles in the snow every day to get there!

Ken H. said...

I think an internship like the one mentioned will teach you a lot about working with a GIS Database for a large, high-tech County.

You'll learn more during this internship then you did in school about actually applying GIS to everyday tasks. Invaluable experience.

I know Generation Y wants everything immediately and on the spot, but they will have to pay their "dues" at $11/hr for a semester to get there.