Should I hire an external GIS training provider?

Claire Birnie
Feb 4
5 min read

So, you work in the ecology sector but don’t use a digital data system yet?

Breathe. You’re not alone. After all, it’s not that simple to switch to digital processes overnight. And if you’re thinking about it or need to do it, I bet two questions are going through your mind:

Should I do it myself?
Is it better to hire an external GIS training provider?

You’ll find the answer to these by the end of this article.

Why you haven’t switched to GIS yet?

Until recently, GIS has been seen a full-time job within a specific sector, with the responsibility left to either a specialist or a few interested people. But with the increased accessibility of GIS software, data, and industry requirements, more people need to use it in their jobs.

The problem?

It’s hard and time-consuming to learn a new industry well enough to make it worthwhile.

By not learning GIS or embedding data in geospatial formats, freelancers and small ecological consultancies are leaving themselves open to delivery, compliance and reputational risks.

So, what do you need to think about if you know you need to switch?

Four options to consider when switching to GIS

If you need to go digital, there are four options open to you:

1. The ‘free’ option

Ah, yes, the budget-friendly option. All you need to do is:

Watch YouTube videos
Read Stack Exchange
Ask AI to tell you
Join ecology groups and hope someone helps you

Easy, right?

Yes, this option is free, but consider the time and energy spent determining whether the processes and steps are correct or useful. You’ll also use generic workflows designed for multiple sectors and since they’re free, they’re often outdated.

2. The generic option

You can take an online QGIS course that covers how to use the software and provides a solid foundation for those new to geospatial technology.

But, there are issues with this, including:

Large class sizes or webinars with little individual attention
Working on a cloud system throughout training, which isn’t the set-up you’ll use yourself
Not sector-specific, so you need to translate the data and methods taught to your specialism
Uses data that’s not relevant to your work, making it harder to translate the learning to your needs post-course

Generic training has its place as an introduction when you’re new to the technology. It’ll get you started, but it lacks the nuance of how your industry works.

3. The in-house option

If you’re a small consultancy with someone interested and good at the GIS side of things, doing it in-house is tempting, especially when they say they’re happy to train the rest of the team afterwards.

But by doing it in-house, you risk:

Taking time away from income-generating work while they develop and deliver training
Errors in training due to a lack of experience
Stagnation of content, if the internal trainer doesn’t have time to research and refresh content, it’ll become less relevant

In-house training is always tempting, and if you’ve got the scope to dedicate someone to it, that’s a great positive. But if they’ve been hired for a specific role in your business, their time and energy are best spent there.

4. Hiring an external GIS training provider

Hiring an external GIS training provider means you get a tailored course that drills down into your specific needs to assess better and build skills effectively.

Hiring an experienced GIS trainer means you get lots of benefits, including:

Small class sizes limited to 4-5, so everyone has time to ask questions and receive a high level of individual attention
Relevant datasets in the course
Up-to-date lists of open data you can use in your work
Post-course time for help as you embed your learning
Regularly updated course content to account for both changes in the software, industry and new features
Current best practice through professional development and networking to apply knowledge that’s needed in your industry
Research & development done for you, saving your staff valuable time
Sector experience & GIS expertise to find efficient, repeatable workflows based on your needs

You get everything delivered to your business, not a generic template that includes irrelevant content and practices.

Which GIS training is right for you?

One of these four options will be right for your business, but when it comes down to something so complex that’s important for your business, your best choice is to outsource your GIS training to an external provider.

Want to work with an external GIS trainer?

If you're a small ecological consultancy or freelancer, why not choose Maptastic training?

As an experienced geospatial analyst who’s worked with the ecology and environment sector for a decade, I understand that GIS is part of your job and your time is at a premium, so training needs to be accurate and efficient (especially during survey seasons).

Work with me and I can offer several off-the-shelf options:

One-day beginner's course:

My Applied GIS for Absolute Beginners course is a 1-day course where you'll learn the fundamentals of geospatial data & QGIS so you can:

Create your own data (points, lines, polygons) and create a simple data collection form to reduce manual data entry
Styling your data to show different categories and make the reader of your data understand better what they’re seeing
Querying and delving into your data using filtering, expressions and selection tools
Storing and sharing your data and best practices
Sourcing and importing different vector and raster data types from open-source data
Creating jpeg & pdf map outputs for your reports

Two-day in-depth course:

The Applied GIS for Ecology & Conservation course brings together the Applied GIS for Absolute Beginners course for day one, then on day two, you learn more advanced techniques to incorporate into your work.

These include:

Using tools to create grids and import species records from local records centres.
Import DXF data from clients (and how to fix if it goes wrong) and georeference PDFs into your workspace
Modify the Biodiversity Net Gain Template to insert data automatically for you and go through a workflow methodology from start to finish, so you can create accurate plans to export into the metrics

Incorporate field data collection (2 days):

By utilising field data collection methods, you reduce the time spent digitising your paper records post-survey, as well as preserving your observations, so you’re not misremembering or losing your notes at report-writing time.

My QGIS & QFIELD for Biodiversity Net Gain course brings together the Applied GIS for Absolute Beginners course on day one, then on day two, you learn to create a project in the Biodiversity Net Gain QGIS Template and use QFIELD to digitise your habitats, right through to exporting the data to the metrics.

If you want something different from these off-the-shelf offers, I can create a tailored or fully bespoke course for you and your team.

Still unsure?

I also design and develop tailored & bespoke options to get straight to your exact needs, check out the details of those here.

Then check out my client training case studies:

Or book a free consultation to see if my GIS training courses are right for your business.

Wait, there's another option too!

You can also take the pain out of developing your own workflow template by using one (or all) of the Ecologists Data Collection Toolkit.

There are five templates for different surveys you’ll do in your work:

Habitat (UKHab & BNG) surveys
Bat emergence surveys and Potential Roost Assessments
Breeding bird surveys
Badger surveys
Reptile surveys

I’ve done all the research and development, so you can open the QGIS template and get straight to digitising your data. It’s pre-styled with easy-to-use drop-down forms so your data is consistent.

From there, you export the customised templates and reports with your branding and visual preferences.

Check them out here and book in a no-obligation demo to see them in action!

Catch you next time,

Claire