How can you display your GIS skills and projects professionally?

One of the most important ways to show your GIS skills, in my opinion, is a portfolio. Think of your CV/resume as "telling" and your portfolio as "showing". Telling a potential employer that you have GIS skills from XYZ job/internship/course is useful, but showing them how you are capable of using those skills is what's most valuable. Even better, especially if you are new(er) to the field, make sure to show *and* tell in your portfolio by pairing your maps with a bit of information (e.g. what software/tools you used, what analysis you conducted, why you made certain design decisions).

A portfolio website for GIS projects is more than a digital display; it's a dynamic narrative of growth and passion. It showcases not only technical skills but the journey within spatial analysis. It's an immersive experience, merging proficiency with creativity, turning data into insights. Beyond personal branding, it's a platform for knowledge sharing and a virtual handshake with potential collaborators, reflecting enthusiasm, commitment, and adaptability.

In my experience, I have found a data visualisation alternative - the github of data visualisations - where you can post work relevant to maps and there are many GIS engineers and experts sharing tutorials called Observable. On that same platform, one can fork other GIS experts' examples or get feedback via comments once they have developed an Observable notebook.

Top tip I give to students (on this topic) before they graduate is to sign up for a few of the professional organizations they're most interested in (with the student discount!) so they have a chance to try them out and decide which may be the most valuable before they invest full-price post-graduating. My favorite is the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS), I highly recommend it for all cartographers! If you're in the conservation space, the Society for Conservation Geographers (SCGIS) is another great choice.

The best tip I can give here from my experience is keep it simple, focus your presentation on just the key points you want to make and make sure those are really clear on your presentation material. When presenting there is nothing worse than slides full of clutter and tiny detail. Keep the word count down and the image size up.

The word that is key here is ‘diverse’. Keep in mind that your audience may not have both feet in the geospatial camp but they will benefit from your geo-perspective. Use GIS to present your viewpoint on something newsworthy, seasonal, school or music related – basically things that may appeal to wide audience. Everything happens somewhere and insights from location can provide new talking points win you new followers.

When submitting for jobs make sure you include links of your work within your covering letter as it's a fantastic way to stand out from the competition. Whether it be a website, a blog or a webinar you spoke at, make sure you include it within your submission. It's an easy way to show the reader what you're capable of and gives an extra dynamic outside of the formal CL and CV remit, which especially within GIS, doesn't always do a candidate justice.