The Value and Future of

GIS Professional Certification

Rebecca Somers
Somers-St.Claire
GIS Management Consultants
Fairfax, Virginia

February 2015
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 Overview

• GISP® and other GIS certifications

• Why obtain certification?
• Future directions in GIS certification
• What it means now

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 GIS Certifications

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 GISP® Certification
• GIS Professional Certification
• Issued by GISCI
– AAG, GITA, GLIS, NSGIC, UCGIS, URISA
– Since 2004
• Certification of GIS achievement, competency,
and professionalism:
– Experience
– Education
– Contributions
• Portfolio; exam to be added in 2015
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 Other GIS Certifications

• ASPRS—suite of certifications including:

– Certified photogrammetrist (1975)
– Certified mapping scientist (GIS/LIS, RS) (1991)
– Certified GIS/LIS technologist
• Esri Technical Certifications
– Since 2010

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 Other Credentials

• Certificates
– Completion of an education program
• Badges and “micro-credentials”
– Indicate accomplishments
• Licensure
– Legal requirement

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 Why Obtain Certification?

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 Why Get Certified?

• Document GIS professional achievement

• Professional recognition
• Greater earning and advancement potential
• Credentials used to prescreen
• Credential creep (DiBiase, 2014)
• Growing preference for GIS certification
• Grow the GIS profession

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 2014 GIS Certification Survey

• 878 Responses (88% GIS was primary job)

• 62% had over 10 years GIS experience
• Employer Type
– 32% Private Companies
– 17% City Government
– 17% County Government
– 5% Federal Government
– 5% Education
– 4% Non-profit
– 6% Other (mostly utilities)
• Largely US (87%)
Tripp Corbin, 2014

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 Most Well-known GIS Related
Certifications
Certification 2014 2013
GISP 89% 81%
Esri Technical 82% 76%
Certified GIS/LIS Technologist 25% 18%
(ASPRS)
CMS (ASPRS) 11% 9%
CP (ASPRS) 10% 8%
Other 7% 7%
Never heard of one 5% 8%

Tripp Corbin, 2014

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 GIS Certification Survey
• Do you believe certification benefits GIS
Professionals and users?
– 44% say Yes
– 22% say No
– 34% Not sure

Tripp Corbin, 2014

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 GIS Certification Survey
• When hiring new GIS staff, does your
organization consider having a GIS related
certification as a plus over those that don't?
– Yes: 30%
– No: 38%
– Not Sure: 32%

Tripp Corbin, 2014

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 Growing Preference for
GISP® Certification
• More than 100 recent (Oct-Nov 2014) job
listings included a preference for GISP®
Certification
• Public & private sectors
• All types of jobs, including:
– GIS manager
– Geospatial analyst
– GIS coordinator
– GIS technician
– Project planner
– Department director
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 Growing Recognition of
GISP® Certification
• States are endorsing the GISP® Certification,
including:
– North Carolina
– New Jersey
– Ohio
– Oregon
– California
– Montana

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 Earning Potential

• 41% with GISP® certification earn more than

$70,000 per year compared to 20% without.
• Average salary for GISP® is $69,000.
• Average salary without GISP® is $56,000.

Tripp Corbin, 2014

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 Future Directions in
GIS Certification

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 GISP® Certification
Development and Status
1990s 1997 2001 2004 2015

Feasibility & URISA GISCI More than

Discussion Certification 7000 GISPs
Committee
Dev. of GISP®
Certification
Process

Current GISP® Certification Process: Portfolio—experience,

education, contributions

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 Professional Certification
Development
1990s 1997 2001 2004 2011-12 2015

GISCI GISP® Certification

Feasibility Comm. GISP® Cert. GISCI Start accred. 7000 GISPs

& exam

1989 2002 ~2005 2009 2013

NCCA/ICE (Nat. Commission for Certifying Agencies/Institute for Credentialing Excellence)

NCCA/NOCA Certification Standards ICE Update

2003 2012
ANSI/ISO
ANSI/ISO 17024: Personnel Certification Update

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 Professional Certification
Standards
• NCCA and ANSI set professional certification
standards
• NCCA and ANSI accredit certifying organizations
• GISCI plans to meet these standards and
achieve accreditation for the GISP® Certification
and any other certifications it may develop

Certification is for protection of the public, not

just advancement of the profession.
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 Professional Certification
Standards
• Validated by a Job Analysis
– The tasks job incumbents perform
– The knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to
perform them
• Independent
• Accreditation
– Assessment instrument—process & result
– Certifying organization’s operations
– Certifying organization’s governance

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 Job Analysis and Certification
Development
Job Definition &
Certification Purpose

Job Analysis

Tasks KSAs

Linkage & Validity

Certification/Assess-
ment Specification

Resources: Lit.,
Psychometric Assessment
References, BoK,
Validation/review Instrument
Best Practices

Certification
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21
 Professional Certification
is Based On
• Job Analysis
– Essential method for determining the content of a
certification assessment
– Must adhere to accepted methodology
– Must demonstrate and document job-relatedness
– Unambiguously required by psychometric standards
• Not directly derived from
– Competency model or skills list (GISCI used the GTCM
Tier 4, core technical competencies, as a guideline)
– General BoK (GISCI used GIS&T BoK used as reference)
– Best practices
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 GISP® Certification Update

• Addition of an exam to strengthen the GISP®

certification
• Align with Job Analysis
• Prepare for accreditation

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 Job Analysis
• First direct job analysis for GIS professionals
• Several focus groups of job incumbents
spanning all sectors, job types, and levels of
experience (more than 50)
• Validation survey--more than 350 individuals
spanning all sectors, job types, and experience
levels
• Results vary somewhat from GIS&T BoK and
GTCM—mostly in emphasis

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 Exam Development

Job Analysis

Exam Blueprint

Exam Content

Pilot

Cut Score

Final Exam

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 Alignment of Portfolio
Requirements

• Validate (with respect to Job Analysis results)

• Adjust (to Job Analysis results)

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 Preparation for Accreditation

• Exam (to supplement portfolio)

• Process validation and documentation
• Operational adjustments
• Governance adjustments

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 Moving Forward
• Not only validate GISP® certification through
accreditation…
• GISP® certification will serve as foundation for
other certifications
– New GIS certifications
– Linkage to related certification

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 Additional/Specialty GIS
Certifications
• Sponsoring organization or interest group
discuss with GISCI—define job/certification
• Determine relationship to GISP® certification
• GISCI follow standard certification development
process (job analysis, validation, etc.)
• SMEs, job incumbents, and resources from
across industry
• Certification granted and operated by GISCI
• Business driver—membership/activity for
sponsoring organization
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 Additional/Specialty GIS Certifications
GISCI “Sponsor”
Job Definition & Job
Relationship to GISP ®
Certification Purpose Description/Scope

Industry-wide Job
Job Analysis
Incumbents & SMEs

Tasks KSAs

Linkage & Validity

Certification/Assess-
ment Specification

Psychometric Assessment Guidance on

Validation/review Instrument Resources

Membership/
Certification
Services
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 Additional GIS Professional
Certifications Based On
• Job Analysis
– Essential method for determining the content of a
certification assessment
– Must adhere to accepted methodology
– Must demonstrate and document job-relatedness
• Not based on
– Competency model or skill list, BoK, or best practices
– These are references
• Certifying organizations follow Professional
Certification standards, practices, and guidelines
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 What it Means Now

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 What to Expect

• Two-part GISP® certification process: Portfolio

and Exam
• Begin application process at any time with
either component
• 6 years to complete application

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 GISCI Geospatial Core Technical
Knowledge Exam® Blueprint

Knowledge Area Weight

Conceptual Foundations 12%

Cartography and Visualization 14%
GIS Design Aspects and Data Modeling 29%
GIS Analytical Methods 17%
Data Manipulation 15%
Geospatial Data 13%

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 What to Expect: Exam

• Exam pilot winter 2015

• GISCI Geospatial Core Technical Knowledge Exam® mid
2015
• All GISP® certification applicants will be required to take
the exam once it starts
• Initially, the exam will be offered at testing centers on
specific dates
• Exam availability will increase shortly thereafter

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 What to Expect: GISP
Certification

• Minimal change in the portfolio component

• Recertify without exam
• Process changes coming in July 2015

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 What to Expect: GISP
Certification Changes
• July 1, 2015: Changes take effect
– 3 year certification and recertification periods
– Every new applicant must take exam
– New fee structure
• Certification application fee: $100
• Certification exam fee: $250
• Certification portfolio review fee: $100
• Annual renewal fee: $95
• Recertification: every 3 years; no fee—covered by renewal fees
• Until July 1, 2015: Current process remains
– 5 year certification and recertification (“renewal”) periods
– Current certification and recertification fees

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 What to Expect: GISP
Certification Changes
• July 1, 2015: Changes take effect

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 GISCI Directions

• More than just an exam…

• Accreditation:
– Alignment of GISP® certification and GISCI with
accepted professional certification development
standards and practice
– Validation of GISP® certification
• Stronger foundation for additional/related GIS
certifications
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 What To Think About

• Which certifications are right for you?

• GISP® certification:
– Get certified for what you already have achieved
– Certification can help advance your career
– Help grow the GIS profession

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 For More Information

• Rebecca Somers, GISCI Exam Development

Project Manager:
rsomers@somers-stclaire.com
• www.gisci.org
• Bill Hodge, GISCI Executive Director:
bhodge@gisci.org

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 For More Information

• Rebecca Somers, “GISCI’s GISP® Certification,

Evolution, and Future Directions”, URISA GIS Pro
2014 Proceedings. Also available at gisci.org.
• Tripp Corbin. “GIS Certification: To Certify or Not
Certify”, URISA GIS Pro Proceedings 2014.
• David DiBiase, “Credential Creep in the GIS Field—
For Good or for Ill?”, Esri blog 2014. (http://blogs.esri.com/esri/esri-
insider/2014/11/14/credential-creep-in-the-gis-field-for-good-or-for-ill/)

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