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GIS Analyst Fall 2021 Internship (Paid/Remote)
Washington, DC
Job/Internship Description
Ballotpedia is a collaborative team of fast learners and creative problem solvers who are eager to work hard to make the world a better place. We believe the world will be a better place if every citizen has access to information to make informed decisions about their vote in every election in which they are eligible to vote primary, general, and special elections; federal, state, and local offices.
We work diligently to present the available information about elections, candidates, judges, ballot measures, policies, and more in a way that enables our readers to vote with confidence and to act as engaged citizens outside of the polling booth.
Ballotpedia readers, like Ballotpedia staff, are special people.
When we launched in 2007, we did not go out of our way to seek new readers. Starting with our small team of visionary idealists, nerds, and aspiring political journalists, we just wrote the best unbiased online articles we could, especially about ballot measures. Readers found those articles in droves. It turns out there was an unclaimed audience out there-people who wanted straightforward facts about political issues, and were willing to read at length instead of just scanning the headlines.
"If you build it, they will come '' our readers came to our neutral oasis in growing numbers; we've had many millions of lifetime pageviews, we reached nearly half of all voters in 2020, and, in the month surrounding the November 2020 election, we were the 77th most-visited website in the U.S.
We've come to realize that we need to meet our readers where they are. In doing so, over the past five years, we've grown our email newsletter program from infancy to include more than 1,000,000 opt-in subscribers with more than a dozen newsletters to choose from. We scarcely had an email list before 2016. We are working in numerous ways to help put our neutral information in front of people at the times when they most need it, including on mobile phones while you're standing in the voting booth. We firmly believe that our readers, and the mindset we help them cultivate, are essential to the preservation of our great civilization in a world where too many others are fighting to get us all addicted to sensational posts and the irrational decisions they foster.
If this is a mission you'd be willing to work hard to achieve, and if this is a team you'd be willing to work hard with-JOIN US.
Intern Testimonials
"Working as a tech intern at Ballotpedia is one of the highlights of my year. It's challenging, but I've been afforded the opportunity to work with some of the most professional and courteous staff members I've ever met. It's an excellent opportunity to learn about database structure and management, web design and even digital map drawing. The experience to be gained from working at Ballotpedia is invaluable for a multitude of careers ranging from IT and software development to database administration." - Eric Huang, 2019 Fall/2020 Spring/Summer 2020 Intern
"Interns at Ballotpedia have the rare opportunity to be engaged in politics in a fascinating behind-the-scenes way, working to build the Encyclopedia of American Politics- breaking news and documenting history- while maintaining complete neutrality. At BP, you'll gain experience with a multitude of tasks to prepare you for any avenue you decide to take in the crazy, fun world of politics and news." - Jackie Mitchell, 2018 Spring Intern and current Ballotpedia Staff Writer
Program Description
As an intern, you will go through a similar onboarding experience to full-time Ballotpedia employees. You will learn how to code the Ballotpedia website, be oriented to Ballotpedia's style guide, learn about what we do to prevent and detect bias in our resources, and much more. Following orientation, you will work closely with the Tech Team. You will meet one-on-one weekly with a member of the team to coordinate your tasks. Additionally, there will be some other specific training calls as necessary depending on which projects you work on.
In addition to your onboarding experience, and the experience you will develop working in your assigned area, you will also have the opportunity to attend topical meetings or webinars.
As a Ballotpedia Tech Team GIS Analyst intern, your primary job is to research and format shapefiles for political boundaries. Ballotpedia's sample ballot lookup app allows voters to see upcoming elections for their address. This and other functionality will be powered by your work.
This will involve
Desirable experience for GIS Analyst intern
Ballotpedia is happy to facilitate credit for your internship experience if that is available to you. If you will be seeking credit for your internship, and if there is anything that Ballotpedia will need to do to assist you, please include that information in the same file as your cover letter.
Environment
Ballotpedia interns will work remotely, as all Ballotpedia staff work remotely. To join Ballotpedia, you must have a well-functioning computer with Internet access. Ballotpedia uses Google Applications (Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive and more) to accomplish our goals. Some familiarity with Google Applications is helpful.
Compensation
Interns will be compensated at $12.00 per hour.
Please note If the minimum wage in your area is more than $12.00 per hour, you will be compensated in accordance with your area's minimum wage.
To Apply
To apply, click on "Apply for this job" below and fill out the form. Please attach the following in PDF format
We work diligently to present the available information about elections, candidates, judges, ballot measures, policies, and more in a way that enables our readers to vote with confidence and to act as engaged citizens outside of the polling booth.
Ballotpedia readers, like Ballotpedia staff, are special people.
When we launched in 2007, we did not go out of our way to seek new readers. Starting with our small team of visionary idealists, nerds, and aspiring political journalists, we just wrote the best unbiased online articles we could, especially about ballot measures. Readers found those articles in droves. It turns out there was an unclaimed audience out there-people who wanted straightforward facts about political issues, and were willing to read at length instead of just scanning the headlines.
"If you build it, they will come '' our readers came to our neutral oasis in growing numbers; we've had many millions of lifetime pageviews, we reached nearly half of all voters in 2020, and, in the month surrounding the November 2020 election, we were the 77th most-visited website in the U.S.
We've come to realize that we need to meet our readers where they are. In doing so, over the past five years, we've grown our email newsletter program from infancy to include more than 1,000,000 opt-in subscribers with more than a dozen newsletters to choose from. We scarcely had an email list before 2016. We are working in numerous ways to help put our neutral information in front of people at the times when they most need it, including on mobile phones while you're standing in the voting booth. We firmly believe that our readers, and the mindset we help them cultivate, are essential to the preservation of our great civilization in a world where too many others are fighting to get us all addicted to sensational posts and the irrational decisions they foster.
If this is a mission you'd be willing to work hard to achieve, and if this is a team you'd be willing to work hard with-JOIN US.
Intern Testimonials
"Working as a tech intern at Ballotpedia is one of the highlights of my year. It's challenging, but I've been afforded the opportunity to work with some of the most professional and courteous staff members I've ever met. It's an excellent opportunity to learn about database structure and management, web design and even digital map drawing. The experience to be gained from working at Ballotpedia is invaluable for a multitude of careers ranging from IT and software development to database administration." - Eric Huang, 2019 Fall/2020 Spring/Summer 2020 Intern
"Interns at Ballotpedia have the rare opportunity to be engaged in politics in a fascinating behind-the-scenes way, working to build the Encyclopedia of American Politics- breaking news and documenting history- while maintaining complete neutrality. At BP, you'll gain experience with a multitude of tasks to prepare you for any avenue you decide to take in the crazy, fun world of politics and news." - Jackie Mitchell, 2018 Spring Intern and current Ballotpedia Staff Writer
Program Description
As an intern, you will go through a similar onboarding experience to full-time Ballotpedia employees. You will learn how to code the Ballotpedia website, be oriented to Ballotpedia's style guide, learn about what we do to prevent and detect bias in our resources, and much more. Following orientation, you will work closely with the Tech Team. You will meet one-on-one weekly with a member of the team to coordinate your tasks. Additionally, there will be some other specific training calls as necessary depending on which projects you work on.
In addition to your onboarding experience, and the experience you will develop working in your assigned area, you will also have the opportunity to attend topical meetings or webinars.
As a Ballotpedia Tech Team GIS Analyst intern, your primary job is to research and format shapefiles for political boundaries. Ballotpedia's sample ballot lookup app allows voters to see upcoming elections for their address. This and other functionality will be powered by your work.
This will involve
- research to understand the legal requirements for who can vote in which types of elections
- sourcing maps through online research, outreach to government offices, or georeferencing to create new shapefiles
- testing and formatting the files to conform to Ballotpedia's database requirements
- working with the Ballotpedia database to add the boundaries and perform tests
Desirable experience for GIS Analyst intern
- GIS (working with shapefiles, formatting, georeferencing) using tools such as ArcGIS or QGIS
- Research/data entry
- Some coding knowledge (Python, SQL) a plus, but not required
Ballotpedia is happy to facilitate credit for your internship experience if that is available to you. If you will be seeking credit for your internship, and if there is anything that Ballotpedia will need to do to assist you, please include that information in the same file as your cover letter.
Environment
Ballotpedia interns will work remotely, as all Ballotpedia staff work remotely. To join Ballotpedia, you must have a well-functioning computer with Internet access. Ballotpedia uses Google Applications (Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive and more) to accomplish our goals. Some familiarity with Google Applications is helpful.
Compensation
Interns will be compensated at $12.00 per hour.
Please note If the minimum wage in your area is more than $12.00 per hour, you will be compensated in accordance with your area's minimum wage.
To Apply
To apply, click on "Apply for this job" below and fill out the form. Please attach the following in PDF format
- resume
- cover letter which states your interest in the GIS Analyst internship including
- the contact information for two professional references
- a statement of what you hope to learn from this internship
- Optional GitHub repository link and/or other examples of projects you've worked on that demonstrate your competencies
Position Summary
Company
MessageGears
Start Date
As soon as possible
Employment Type
Full or Part Time
Period of Employment
Open
Type of Compensation
Paid
College Credits Earned
No
Tuition Assistance
No
Required Student Status
Open
Preferred Majors
Other
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