Career Development
The knowledge and skills gained by majoring in Geography position graduates for a wide range of careers.
Many of our alumni become geospatial analysts, planners, researchers, and consultants (check out the old Where Are They Now? map and look at Alumni Profiles to see what some alumni end up doing). They work for a range of federal agencies, local and state governments, non-profit and service organizations. In addition, many alumni have excelled in top graduate programs.
How might you decide what path to follow? Some ideas to start with:
- Talk to your adviser about what you enjoy, and the range of options available
- Take a look at the Alumni Profiles page to learn about different paths taken by Geography and GIS alumni
- Attend any speaker events hosted by the department (posted here)
- Join the Mary Washington Geography Group on Linked In!
Some good career resources include:
- Center for Career and Professional Development (which you can still visit after you have graduated)
- American Association of Geographers careers page
- URISA: a multi-disciplinary geospatial organization that provides professional education and training, a vibrant and connected community, advocacy for geospatial challenges and issues, and essential resources
- Royal Geographical Society
- What Can I do with This Major?
- Indeed Geography
- 1000 Applications & Uses of GIS
Also
- Attend career information sessions
- Attend internship fairs
- Apply for jobs and internships
- Apply for scholarships
- Ask about independent research that you can do alone, or team projects that you might become involved in.
- Consider giving a presentation at the spring Geography Symposium or an academic conference
- Read about what other UMW students are doing
To move ahead, you will need a letter of recommendation, and it needs to be good! How does a professor know enough about you to be able to write such a letter? Your grades or transcripts only tell part of the story… we also need to know you based on participation in department and university activities like those listed! Most professors also want at least two weeks notice.
Specific information on Internships and Graduate School is available.