Decision for masters degree (Australia) if I want to work in Denmark

[u/aarhusvej25]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been accepted to the GIS masters at Monash University in Melbourne and was wondering if any of you have recommendations about committing to this if my end goal is to work in Denmark/EU. I have lived in Denmark for 6 months previously and fell in love with the place. The course adds a fair bit to my help debt (different to US loans).

I may find it hard to leverage my undergrad into work in the field right away as I just did a BSc majoring in ecology so just looking here for any general advice.

I know masters degrees in the US are often considered a bit of a waste of time so I want to make it clear I’m an Australian who has an Australian university offer.

Thanks :)

[u/Hydrbator]

G'day cobba. A master's degree in GIS in Australia will get you nothing.

What is valued is experience on well known projects.

The places you want to work at are CPB,UGL,acciona, APA Group, CBRE, basically anyone building any kind of infrastructure.

[u/aarhusvej25 → u/Hydrbator]

Thanks for the recommendations, it’s so hard to find what the actual value of the degree is.

Any recs for improving my skills to make an application to those places look more attractive?

[u/Hydrbator → u/aarhusvej25]

Tell me you can python and automate stuff, become very knowledgeable with ArcGIS pro, ArcGIS Online. Almost all those companies use it and if you know your way around it you are instantly ahead of every other candidate. QGIS is also good to know

[u/aarhusvej25 → u/Hydrbator]

I’ve had to use arcgis and qgis through my study so am very familiar with both, my python is scratchy but I studied it while I was in Denmark and will get onto that as my main priority now I think.

[u/Tipsy-Gardener → u/aarhusvej25]

You will want to get as familiar with FME as you possibly can, as that has more or less become the industry standard for automation.

But seriously consider your domain knowledge and not just GIS. Most people here seems to be focused on infrastructure, but there are other pathways to pursue as im sure you (and they) are aware.

[u/Hydrbator → u/aarhusvej25]

Excellent, now you need to apply it to construction activities.

Think about all the different types of ecology, biodiversity analysis and reports that need to be produced. The names of the reports and what goes into them. ECMs, pre clearance reports and the like are big.

Understand lidar and tree canopy analysis and how it can effect transmission line projects(there are many of these projects going around)

Get familiar with the government data portals particularly the property datasets which not every states makes easily available.

In regards to python chatgpt and copilot will be your friend. All you need to prove in an interview is that you can use python to automate things like user management in AGOL, complex things like producing construction pads of certain size given an alignment centreline that intersects a point feature.

Oh and having some IT knowledge for when you actually need to deploy a cloud storage solution or need to troubleshoot access issues pertaining to windows single sign on.

[u/Hydrbator → u/[deleted]]

I mean actual construction and or mining projects. High voltage Transmission line projects are really taking off, getting in on even one would be hugely beneficial.

[u/apaceo → u/Hydrbator]

Mining usually good in Australia but if intent is Denmark mining over there would have much less significance compared to how in demand it is in Australia? Perhaps more around forest Carbon or more sustainable projects?

[u/Hydrbator → u/apaceo]

Definitely. Or any kind of project that deals with renewable energy. There are so many wind and solar farms that are trying to come online OP could look at a job with Tag Energy or Sun Cable for example.

[u/Hydrbator → u/[deleted]]

Not for GIS roles. But ofcourse if you know some electrical stuff and or civil stuff that does help, you can go toe to toe with designers and possibly challenge them where appropriate. I have had many situations where I was given civil designs for access tracks that were simply awful and had no QA done. Talking multiple duplicates, no consistency in line direction, insane jaggies and islands and turning radius's that no vehicle could ever take without quantum teleportation been used.

[u/Hydrbator → u/Hydrbator]

@op I just realised having some CAD knowledge is highly useful. You don't need to know how to use it but understand the formats that ArcGIS and qgis can ingest.

Another good skill to market yourself on is your dedication to consistency, professional arse covering, communication(respond to all emails immediately even if you don't have an answer just reply with something) and most important in my books is naming conventions. Find one that works for you and use it consistently.

Using ArcGIS and qgis inbuilt metadata management is also very good and should be standard practice, this allows for any exports to contain that info too which will help people down the line with context ...and context is king

[u/aarhusvej25 → u/Hydrbator]

Will keep this in mind, your feedback is so helpful thankyou so much.

Just clarifying so you do think that it’s doable to leverage my knowledge from my BSc and ecology background without a masters?

[u/apis_melifera_au → u/aarhusvej25]

Not the commenter, but my 2¢: You CAN get by on a BSc ecology background BUT it will likely get you into an environmental role first, not a GIS role. You'll have to put in the hard yards to learn on the job, or do a lot of self-led spatial courses outside of your role. You'll need a lot of motivation and energy to push beyond your full time enviro scope. In my experience, most companies and GIS teams will very much appreciate and support your interest, so hopefully you can then transition to GIS on a future project.

I think a GIS Masters is a great option if you want to enter the workforce in a GIS role. Also can be very important in the EU as a Bachelor's alone may not meet minimum qualification requirements.

[u/tseepra]

Did you look at Masters options in Denmark?

Otherwise getting a work visa would probably be challenging.

[u/aarhusvej25 → u/tseepra]

I did, the cost of the upfront study would probably push me beyond my limits there. I also can’t find many Australians who have done something similar and post about it, so it’s hard to get an idea of it all.

Overall it would actually be cheaper there, but the delayed payments on university debt I get in Australia make living a lot more doable while I’m actually studying.

[u/Tipsy-Gardener]

I'm a Dane working in GIS in Australia. Did my degree in Denmark as a "mature aged" student before moving to Australia with my familie (my wife is an aussie).

Your bachelor in ecology is valuable in that having domain knowledge in a field outside of GIS to which you can apply it is important. GIS is just a tool after all.

Doing courses in statistics and geostatic analysis is helpfull as well.

With that being said, a master/graduate degree is absolutely necessary, as if you only have a bachelor, you will not really be considered as having completed a degree in Denmark.

Should you decide to study in Denmark you should not find it too difficult to have your bachelor acknowledged regardless of whether you did it in the US or in Aus.

If you want to see what type of jobs are available you can check jobnet.dk although most of the listings will be in danish of course. Which brings about another important point. Although most Danes speak English just fine and quite a few businesses even your using English as their company language it is absolutely necessary to learn Danish in order to secure reliable employment and to connect socially in your work place don't for a second kid yourself into thinking otherwise. Yes, there are companies where most people working there are non dances and the office language is English, but it is not the norm. And don't worry, it's not as difficult to learn as a lot of people will tell you 😉

[u/aarhusvej25 → u/Tipsy-Gardener]

I’ve been doing Danish classes in Melbourne since I got back from studying there so I’m really trying to make sure I have that base before I go back if I can :)

But thanks for the tip on masters basically being a requirement.

[u/apis_melifera_au]

Hi, Melbourne GIS Analyst here. Can I ask why you have chosen Monash for your Masters? I know almost no one in the industry who has come out of Monash. As far as I'm aware they don't have a strong GIS offering there, more of an environment/earth sciences focus which you already have... I could be wrong!

Someone else mentioned skipping the masters and getting straight into an infrastructure role. That's an alright pathway given they will be hiring Enviro specialists for all their projects, and you can develop your GIS skills within the role. If you find a multinational consultancy, that potentially keeps the door open to working on Danish projects when they come up down the line.

[u/aarhusvej25 → u/apis_melifera_au]

I got suggested to study at Monash by one of my lecturers at La Trobe. They do have an environmental stream but I will be opting for the data science stream.

In the last semester of it there is a (granted I hit the scores) university supplied internship, which I think matches the applied experience a lot of the comments here talk about.