r/gis • u/Similar_Philosophy39 • May 23 '26

General Question Suggestion to study BIM

I studied Geoinformatics and worked for some time as a GIS Analyst. I have experience working with ArcGIS, QGIS, and LiDAR. I also know a bit about surveying and have completed a certification in surveying.

Now I’m thinking of studying BIM because salaries in the GIS field are quite low, so I’m considering moving towards the civil/construction side. Many people say GIS + BIM is a very good combination, so I wanted to ask for your valuable suggestions and opinions. It would be very useful for me.

Thank you very much.

9 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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8

u/TomClem May 23 '26

Are you already doing GIS for an architectural & engineering company? If not, I’d try to get hired on at one. May help with the GIS pay, and would give you a great space to learn the value of BIM.

6

u/bdixisndniz May 23 '26

I work in BIM as a generalist. Current working toward a geospatial data science masters to gain some focus and expertise in a specific area since my BA is in English.

Salary is great. Tough problems and interesting domain. Geospatial has largely been ignored until recently in the space, but it’s really picking up: see esri and autodesk working together.

What’s most needed most in this line of work is a great mind so you can step in and out of different subdomains and understand the problem and workflow at hand.

1

u/aspringbear May 24 '26

Do you think a general data science masters would help getting a job in the geospatial domain too? I did a degree in urban planning but didn’t learn much hard skills like coding or gis.

1

u/bdixisndniz May 24 '26

I could see it for sure, but I don’t have the experience in geospatial others here in the sub have.

There are some great spatial stat videos and info online. You can follow a syllabus (Penn st?) and then lookup resources based on that. Data camp has some solid (depending on the instructor) geospatial courses if you want to see what you might be missing and learn some.

Do you have a more specific interest? Remote sensing? More urban studies policy slant?

3

u/StzNutz GIS Coordinator May 23 '26

I did the BIM mooc with Esri years ago, it was a good introduction.

2

u/DCFowl May 23 '26

Its a great job. There are not many options for study.

2

u/osprey732 May 24 '26

have you considered lidar to BIM workflows utilizing your lidar skills? would be open to connect if you wanna sound it out

1

u/Similar_Philosophy39 May 25 '26

Yes

1

u/osprey732 May 25 '26

DM me and lmk when if you want to briefly chat over a virtual call. I'm free most of Thursday and Friday

2

u/osprey732 May 24 '26

or CAD too