What's your job about?
As the Esri Distributer in New Zealand and the South Pacific we sell and support the ArcGIS System. On this system, Eagle has developed a product called LocalMaps, which extends the functionality of the ArcGIS system. In my role as a graduate, my primarily focus is building features for the new version of LocalMaps. I work across the front end and back end of LocalMaps. In the front end I work with React and ArcGIS specific code, including working directly with the ArcGIS Experience Builder widgets code and with the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript. In the back end I develop in C# and a few other libraries.
A typical week for me can vary. Some weeks I spend all my time on one major feature such as Reporting. Other weeks I may juggle multiple smaller tasks such as Viewer widgets or parts of the admin interface. Then again other weeks I may spend a lot of time fixing bugs or on an upcoming release or creating a demo.
Another part of my job is presenting at conferences and webinars throughout the year. These presentations can be about LocalMaps, software development more generally in the ArcGIS system or other GIS demonstrations.
What's your background?
I grew up in Wellington and attended Onslow College. My Dad introduced me to programming from an early age. I started with Scratch games and basic static websites in primary school, and further broadened my knowledge through Digital Media (web development) and Computer Science and Programming classes throughout high school.
Whilst at Onslow College I took up rowing, which quickly became a significant part of my life. My success in rowing in high school lead me to be recruited on to the Yale Women’s Rowing Team where I was able to compete on one of the top US college rowing teams whilst completing my degree. When I began at Yale, I was cautioned that balancing the demanding Computer Science degree with the early mornings and time commitment required for rowing would be challenging. However, I was determined to make it work, and I successfully balanced both.
I wasn’t introduced to the world of ArcGIS until my final year of university, where we had a guest lecture in my Information and Data Visualisation class that talked about ArcGIS and its capabilities. This class piqued my interest, but at the time, I had to concentrate on my assignments and rowing. It wasn't until later that year, when I saw a job listing for the Eagle graduate program, that I was reminded of this class and decided to apply.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes, someone with a different background could do my job, however, having a foundation in software development would be essential. These skills could be through a Computer Science degree like myself, or through another degree or self-taught. Even with my degree, there has been a lot of programming-based skills and knowledge I’ve needed to learn on the job. Having a background in GIS and ArcGIS is not necessary. I started without any GIS knowledge and was able to learn many necessary skills through Eagle’s Geospatial Accelerated Learning Programme.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
One of the best aspects of my job is that, due to the small size of the LocalMaps team, I've been involved in various stages of development and discussions from the beginning. This exposure has allowed me to rapidly learn about numerous areas of the codebase and development processes, gaining substantial experience in tackling new and challenging aspects of development in a short period.
What are the limitations of your job?
One limitation of this role is that due to our use of Experience Builder for developing the LocalMaps Viewer, we frequently encounter issues and bugs with little to no documentation or online resources for solutions. Because of this, you have to be prepared to tackle these problems in unconventional ways.
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