Maintaining skills

[Veggie]

Hi All,

I am working in my curent job with standard job duties not being expanded a lot since two years. How do people get to maintain their skills if their jobs do not provide enough apportunities to use them. When I joined, I had strong background in urban design and GIS. I was also ok with writting and analystical skills. But after 6 months of employment, all I am using is my writting, communication and some analytical skills. I guess people do consulting outside along with their regular jobs to maintain their skills?

[MacheteJames]

You could always volunteer to work with a local community group to keep those skills fresh. When I worked at a CDC, a lot of the community organizing work made use of GIS maps in order to illustrate the forces at work in the neighborhood, and we were working with a landscape architect on a pro-bono basis on a design for a renovated local park. Just a thought.

[nrschmid]

I've started a few tutorials for myself for several different skills that I know I will easily forget. I know a lot more about CAD programming and lsp files now, and probably will not use it at my next job in the public sector. However, I want to keep these skills fresh when I go back to school in a couple of years. I also try to jot down as much as I can about plant material from landscape architects, so I don't have to re-learn as much either.

Now and then I do some contract work in Sketchup and Illustrator (these ware ongoing relationships I have had for a few years now separate from my current job).

Another option is to create work for yourself. I am working on a site design I created by hand a few years ago (100 acre mixed use PUD) and am cranking out site plans, landscape plans, architectural pattern books, and sketchup illustration at home in my free time (as part of a portfolio).

Did you use your GIS and design skills at the beginning of this job? Have you approached your supervisor about it?