Local and State Government Search | GovScan.com

Renewable energy- local government grants and more

Eric — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:02:06 +0000

With the current state of fossil fuels and high energy prices, more and more local governments are offering incentives and grants for those using renewable energy sources. For those government officials or citizens interested in seeing what local governments are offering in terms of renewable energy, we recommend searching using the following terms. (be sure to use quotation marks to better target your search, also you may include a state or city outside the quotation marks to target a specific geography).

“renewable energy incentive”
“renewable energy grant”
“renewable energy policy”

(copy a phrase above and paste into the all US states search)

Using file extensions in your searches to uncover government databases

Eric — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:46:04 +0000

If you are searching for government data that can be imported into your database of choice consider using file extensions along with a keyword in your web searches. The following is a list of common file extensions with common uses in government.

.xls .dbf .txt .csv .tab (common database files used for everything from school lists to new businesses
.shp (GIS files in ESRI format)

Searching for sign code regulations? GovScan can help.

Eric — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 04:35:38 +0000

If you are a business owner or government official and are in need of detailed information on sign code regulations for multiple local jurisdictions let GovScan lend a hand. Instead of going from government website to website, hunting for often difficult to find sign code information, try doing a state specific search and type in terms such as “sign codes”, “sign regulations”, “banners”… (quotes often work best). For searching across the entire US use the search all local governments link.

Often government sites will have their sign code information in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files, thus if you have yet to get Acrobat on your computer, consider downloading it.

Now search all United States local government websites at one time

Eric — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 05:39:40 +0000

Looking to find local government trends across the entire United States? We have now added the ability to search all local government websites at one time. Please try it out and let us know how you like it.

Search all local United State local government webites

Top ways to find local government GIS jobs (ESRI and beyond)

Eric — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 04:30:02 +0000

The GIS job search… it can be a time consuming and frustrating task. You have probably been to the major job search sites and have checked out the different GIS portals. While you should check these on a regular basis, often times many of the local government jobs do not show up on these services. This is where GovScan can come to the rescue. Using the GovScan local government search engine, one can search by location and find those “nuggets” of potential jobs that others may not ever see. As stated in an earlier post, there are definitely some tricks to sifting through the data to find the “real” GIS jobs. Below are our top tips in finding your next GIS job.

Using the GovScan search, choose the state of your choice and enter in the following phrases, one at a time (GIS job, GIS position, GIS analyst, GIS opening, GIS openings)
Consider contacting a local government with limited GIS operations and ask if they would be interested in using your services. Often they have budget available for small contract projects, or if not, a short internship may lead to a full-time job down the road.
Don’t think that local governments only use GIS in planning and engineering. GIS is cropping up everywhere and is being used in places never before thought of. Don’t be afraid to speak to other city or county departments such as economic development, fire, or police. Use the GovScan search tool to find interesting projects in your area.
Let technology do the job seeking for you. If you are not yet familiar with RSS and setting up web alerts you are missing out. Consider a Bloglines or Google reader account to view RSS subscriptions or set up Google web or Indeed job search alerts for GIS job search terms.
Join and participate on LinkedIn, the professional social networking site. LinkedIn gives you the ability to build a network of contacts that allow you to seek and be seen when looking for a GIS job.
Contact the GIS software provider of your choice (ESRI, MapInfo…) and tap their knowledge of the GIS job market. Many of the GIS providers host open houses and events for the GIS community- a great way to market your GIS skills.

Have a tip of your own? Post it in the comments.

Using GovScan for finding government job openings

Eric — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 05:46:54 +0000

One of the great things about GovScan’s targeted local government search is its ability to get information direct from the source. One area this information can be helpful is in looking for jobs in the government sector. Often times government entities will not publish openings on secondary job sites, thus here are some useful tips on finding local government job openings with GovScan.

Use the following keywords after the title of desired employment: job, position, opening

Example searches: GIS job, GIS position, or GIS opening; Planner job, Planner position, Planner opening; (for job titles with more than one word use quotations around the title) “part time librarian” job, “part time librarian” position, “part time librarian” opening.

A quick reference guide to searching with Google

Eric — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 03:01:50 +0000

For an excellent reference guide to searching Google, including many “tricks” you may not be aware of visit this Google Guide Quick Reference.