After the changes done in the education system of India since the departure of the Britishers, our Education system got divided into mainly three streams i.e. Science, Commerce and Arts. But, most of the students usually don’t select the streams on the basis of their interests, they just see which job can provide them a high value income. Many students have not explored all the options in a selective field and they are completely unknown to the career options of that particular field.

Let’s say, a degree in the field of Geography from a country like India where students only prefer Government jobs like IAS, IPS, etc. or becoming university professors due to the reason of lack of knowledge in this field. For a person, who has a true interest in Geography, has many diverse career options to try in this field. Geography is the scientific study of places and the relationships between people and their environments, and concerned with climate changes, natural disasters, overpopulation, human geography, urabn expansion, etc.

Before knowing about the career opportunities in this field, one must learn about the basic qualifications needed for the particular career option. Mostly Careers just require a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in geography, but some other prestigious and high-paying jobs related to Geography would require a Master’s degree or even sometimes a Doctorate in this field.

Now, here is the list of the top 5 career options in Geography :-

1. Cartographer:

(Earning Potential: Rs. 7,60,000 to Rs. 13,27,000 per annum)

Finding a career in Cartography isn’t an easy task as it’s a less known job in our Indian society, but if the person has a passion to work in developing and producing different types of maps, charts, diagrams, etc. , then this field is calling you. Cartographers have to work within a variety of areas including mapping, publishing, surveying and conservation. Sometimes, it also includes the restoration of old maps and historical documents.

Cartographers could either work under private company or under government. Information provided by the cartographers is useful for the people in their daily lives such as tourist maps, road networks, Ordinance Survey Maps, etc. The main job of a cartographer is to develop and produce maps using scientific and technological aspects. The information provided by them is in the form of charts, diagrams, spreadsheets, etc. Today, many advanced technologies such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are commonly used by the cartographers for digital mapping of an area.

2. Town Planner:

(Earning Potential: Rs. 4,00,000 to Rs. 10,00,000 per annum)

Person who has a keen interest in the management and planning of a town, city or village and rural areas must surely enter in this field, as this would be the most encouraging field for the person. A lot of analytical skills and knowledge of infrastructure development, environment and government rules and regulations regarding the town planning would be required.

Only an Undergraduate degree in the field of Geography could be required to persue this field. The basic work of a town planner is to develop and design a given area like a town or a city while making use of every space in that area.  

3. Geopolitical Analysts:

(Earning Potential: Rs. 10,50,000 to Rs. 18,20,000 per annum)

For being a Geopolitical Analyst, one must have to research, review and interpret the political systems of various geographical regions. Collection and Analyzing of the data of different areas is the primary responsibilities of the Geopolitical Analyst. These are the scholars of the political systems, movements, national trends and events of different areas. They are most required in the political development of the area, and they offer advices and consults to government officials, diplomats, agencies and politicians.

Students who have interests in politics, geography or international relations must surely go into this field as this is one of the highest paying jobs in the field of geography. Also, this tends to develop political connections and good network as the person has to involve with many government officials, politicians and agencies.

4. Landscape Architects:

(Earning Potential: Rs. 5,40,000 to Rs. 14,80,000 per annum)

If a person has a creative side and likes to design and manage Landscape spaces, in a soothing manner that gives an aesthetically pleasant environment. The person who has interest in this field must understand the geographical structure of the land and how humans would connect and interact with the outdoor space. The work of a landscape architect also requires a great knowledge of design, including the use of computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) software.

For being a Landscape architect, one must need a minor degree in geography with bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture or double degree in both the subjects. This is the most growing field in the upcoming time and can be life changer for many students because of its high value income.

5. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Officer:

(Earning Potential: Rs. 8,40,000 to Rs. 18,20,000 per annum)

GIS Officers are experts who are responsible for creating and organizing the system database for thematic maps. They analyze a wide range of fields including health, geology, transportation, city government, environment, etc. They analyze the data from various different fields and design digital maps using geospatial data and analyze spatial and non-spatial information.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Specialists develop and implement systems and databases to access and store geospatial data. This is a growing and undoubtedly strong field, which will be in great demand in the future, but would evolve faster than other career options with new techniques and gain interest of large no. of youth. For being a GIS Officer, one must know computer science, a great academic track in GIS, Geography as a major degree program, computer cartography, internet mapping and database analysis.