Home Cartographer Resume template
Cartographer resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what cartographers actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most cartographers should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Cartographer with a strong grounding in spatial data compilation, GIS analysis and map design for land planning, resource and emergency applications. Comfortable moving between survey records, satellite imagery and legacy map sources to produce accurate products for print and digital delivery. Known for careful checking of scale, projection and metadata before anything leaves the team.
Key skills
- Spatial data compilation and digitising from survey, satellite and legacy sources
- Map design, colour and symbol systems for print and digital products
- GIS analysis, querying and visualisation
- Accuracy, scale and projection checking against source data and standards
- Spatial database, metadata and version management
- Survey and satellite imagery interpretation
- Statistical modelling and data analysis
- ArcGIS Pro
- QGIS
- MapInfo Pro
- Adobe Illustrator
- Python with GeoPandas
- Attention to detail
- Written communication
Experience: example bullet points
- Compiled and digitised spatial data from survey plans, satellite imagery and existing map sources, producing clean layers that reduced rework during map production.
- Designed map layouts, symbol sets and colour schemes for print and web delivery, keeping every product consistent with the organisation's mapping style guide.
- Ran GIS queries and spatial analysis in ArcGIS Pro and QGIS to support land use planning, environmental assessment and emergency response briefings.
- Checked map accuracy, scale and projection against source records and GDA2020 requirements, catching errors before maps were released to field crews.
- Maintained spatial databases, metadata records and version logs so several teams worked from one current and traceable dataset.
- Automated repetitive data preparation tasks with Python and GeoPandas, cutting turnaround on routine mapping jobs from a full day to a few hours.
Education
Bachelor degree in geospatial science, surveying, geography or a related field, or a Diploma of Surveying or Advanced Diploma of Spatial Information Services, with postgraduate study in GIS or spatial science common for senior cartographic roles.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- GIS
- geospatial
- cartography
- spatial data
- spatial analysis
- ArcGIS Pro
- QGIS
- MapInfo Pro
- Python
- GeoPandas
- Adobe Illustrator
- metadata
- GDA2020
- coordinate reference system
- map projection
- cadastral
- topographic mapping
- land use planning
- remote sensing
- Geoscience Australia
- ICSM
- ANZLIC
- digital cadastral database
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.