As some on here may know, I am currently studying for a Certificate of Higher Ed. in Geology, which I am loving. Because I am loving it so much, I am considering going for the full BSc: However, I am a little concerned over career prospects at the end.

I am 42 and have 15+ years experience as an Architectural Technician (including my current employment), but by the time I’ll finish the degree, I’ll be 45-47, depending on how long it takes, and I’m a little concerned my options will be limited.

I am veering towards the structural geology side of things (earthquakes, seismic, geophysics etc), if that makes any difference.

I guess it largely depends on whether I go down the commercial or academic routes.

Any thoughts/comments/experiences?

No experience in that field i’m afraid, but would say if you are loving the study/learning, and can afford the BSc, then go for it regardless of any possible employment options at the end.

Geophysics was what I focussed in on during my degree, looking at geophysics in relation to agriculture. I found that if you want to do that sort of geophysics you earn practically nothing and have to work for yourself with some very expensive kit, or work in oil (which I didn’t fancy, and is going down the shitter a bit anyway at the minute). However, there are other possibilities like firms such as Zetica and Terradat who do a lot of serious geophysics outside the oil industry.

The earthquakes/seismic stuff will more likely take you abroad or into the BGS, possibly the Coal Authority. Maybe also Terradat and a couple of others.

I’m a geotechnical engineer, which I fell into by mistake since I graduated in the last recession and had to take what was going. Depending on who you work for it’s really good or really awful (some bigger firms are prone to bleeding staff dry and overworking them in return for not a lot of money). I really enjoy it now but it doesn’t really fall in with what you’re thinking of. Relatively easy to get a job in, although given that we’re flying towards another collapse in the building industry following Brexit I’d not bank on it as a new graduate as you’ll be first out the door when things do go bad.

geology pretty much means oil/gas industry

there is a call for geotech engineers in the wider construction industry as its fairly specialist. they seem to command a decent pay rate. You would need a big consultancy to be able to support one though or a decent sized Site investigation contractor. and much comes down to experience.

my old lecturer used to freelance on the geotech side. he had a decent reputation though

@ andy and MB

… and there, in a nutshell, are the two opposing views going through my head at the moment.

Well, firstly, doing it ‘cos you love it is a great start.

I did the same, and a BSc led to a PhD and a postdoc..

I worked for 5 years in the oil industry in Norway and have been a lecturer at Manchester for the last year (sedimentology).

Geophysics clearly has a wide range of applications in a wide range of industries. Our grads are having a hard time getting into O&G but it seems like there are a lot more jobs in environmental fields (remediation, building etc). That said, the best students, no matter what age, make it through. If your passion is transformed to grades then it can work.

Good luck!

As has been suggested you either go into the oil and gas industry or go onto do a PhD and go into academia or research institute like the BGS.

Herself works as a geophysicist in O&G exploration, nearly all of the people working for her have PhDs, so I’d think that it’ll be a difficult industry to get into at graduate level.
A few years ago I ended up having discussions with some geophysics academics about using non-intrusive seismic methods to find hidden underground structures – they were much more interested in the modelling of and detection of underground nuclear explosions and the masking of such using chamber size, depth and additional conventional explosives…
With HS2, Crossrail 2 etc coming on stream then there’ll be some significant work in that – particularly if you were to go into effects of tunnelling and deep box construction on existing areas and buildings in sensitive locations. this will include face loss calculations with ground level movements and possibilities of using grout injection/ pipe arching etc… With an architectural background that might be a good business to get into as part of an engineering consultancy – maybe Alan Baxter?

or go onto do a PhD and go into academia or research institute like the BGS.

That is my preferred option, especially as I’m not keen on getting into O&G.

Edit: Actually, I’m a little inspired by my Structural Geo lecturer, and head of department, who is passionate about earthquakes and EQ preparedness. He mainly works on researching faults in Italy (no jokes, please 😉 ).
It’s something I’d love to get into.

With an architectural background that might be a good business to get into as part of an engineering consultancy – maybe Alan Baxter?

Thanks, I’ll check them out.

I’d not say it’s a oil and gas/academia choice. There’s a lot of geotechnical engineer, slope stability and remediation stuff around. Not necessarily what you’re after but if the environmental side interests you at all it’s a good option, providing building is doing well. I work for a small company, about 20 of us, of which six of us are in geotech, the rest are civil or structural engineers.

Here’s one of the geophysical firms that are outside Oil and Gas. They always sound lovely to work for when I deal with them. They’re down south, though.

Home

Of the 8 on my Environmental Geology degree the future paths have ended up like this-

2 – Geotechnical Engineering
1 – BGS Northern Ireland
1 – Banking
1 – Oil and Gas
2 – Further academic work
1 – Some other type of consultancy, not 100% certain which
1 – Army (but killing people, not doing geology)

Engineering Geologist here, there seems to be a fair amount of work around in the geoenvironmental field at the moment, which is where I have (unfortunately) ended up. Spent some time doing near shore and off shore site investigations for maritime and O&G projects from ports and harbors to jack up foundations. Then went into mining, specialising in tailings and mine waste facilities.

Oooo that company looks interesting. Thanks MB. I’ll check them out further, tonight.

Does anyone think my age will be a problem in any of this?

Thanks all, for the input so far.

You know, I would actually give Zetica a ring, ask for a chap called Kelly who is in charge. He loves to chat and he’d be best placed to help you out with what you want to know. I don’t think your age would be a problem, but you are already older than everyone in my current job, and all but two in my previous company. But that’s more because geotech has only really taken off in the last few decades than anything else.

I have two mates who are geologists, one went the oil and gas route, made a fortune in a very niche job. Sadly that job is gone and he finds himself out of work and in a pretty bleak place. Did some temping on the huge sewer going under the Thames but couldn’t adapt to it. I worry for him.

The other went down the mining route currently lives in Denver and is a busy boy on all sorts of interesting jobs, Chile copper mines, dealing with tailing sites, meeting the head honcho in Ecuador to talk about natural resources. Went to Imperial and Royal School of mines and did all sorts of qualifications.

Good luck with how you go.

http://sunriseamericas.com/

Thanks PF

You know, I would actually give Zetica a ring, ask for a chap called Kelly who is in charge. He loves to chat and he’d be best placed to help you out with what you want to know. I don’t think your age would be a problem, but you are already older than everyone in my current job, and all but two in my previous company. But that’s more because geotech has only really taken off in the last few decades than anything else.

Awesome, thanks MB.

Does anyone think my age will be a problem in any of this?

I am not suggesting it will be a problem, but I am yet to meet anyone who has done a PhD in their 50’s in my field (geology related) who has then gone down the academic route, if that is one of your preferred options. The reason for that is not age discrimination; but often the need for mobility, short term contracts and often not great pay for the first 5-10 years post PhD before securing a permanent job. Understandably at 50 people have different life priorities and moving around every 2-3 years often isn’t one of them! Typically older students do it because they want to embrace something they wished they have done earlier. Age would not be a reason not to get a postdoc position, but potentially what people want out of life at different ages means they choose not to pursue it!

In terms of direct geological jobs, I now work in a geological Department and I can see from my limited time here, people are getting at least specialized Masters to help them take their choose career path.

Mikey,

Engineering Geologist with over 15 years experience. Started off working for Site Investigation contractors supervising and babysitting drillers ferrying their supplies and describing the samples, dealing with the client etc. Moved into consultancy in UK designing earthworks for failing slopes and rock faces on roads and railways as well as more mundane development projects: designing foundations etc.

I’ve been independent for over 8 years now and have carved a worldwide niche for myself. I work for many sectors including oil and gas and mining and transport etc as well as more normal UK development and construction projects. Highlights include supervising a 6 month drilling program to look at rock face stability for a planned 800m+ deep gold mine in Africa and digging big trenches to look for active faults on an oil pipeline project to work out if they posed a risk (I had to hold my own in meetings with some of the world’s experts in Paleoseismology….)

Do feel free to e-mail me: danj DOT heywood AT gmail.com

digging big trenches to look for active faults on an oil pipeline project to work out if they posed a risk (I had to hold my own in meetings with some of the world’s experts in Paleoseismology….)

making it sound awfy glamorous Dan… 🙂

making it sound awfy glamorous Dan…

I think so

Thanks Dan. I may well be in touch.

making it sound awfy glamorous Dan.

lol,
I’m geoscience background, geochemistry undergrad, biogeochemistry masters and something similar PhD. 12 years in remediation.

I clean up stuff others left behind.

kinda like a womble.

but the pay is worse

It was quite glamorous that one. On a superficial level: Platinum JW Marriott member as a result 😉 On a technical level: It was proper geology, something that can be ‘lacking’ on certain projects as I am sure you will agree Iain ;).

^^^^ 🙂

Thanks folks. I must admit there is a large part of me that thinks if I don’t at least try, then I may regret it later: at which point, it would certainly be too late.

Geohazards? Waste management, environmental Gubbins, GIS, minerals, also worth having a think about

I got into geology cos I loved being outside but wanted to do a science at uni. Gravitated (haha!) to geophysics to study earthquakes and spent some time in academia (lecturer in geophys). Found that a) the money is crap b) the prospects are zero c) it’s hard to do research without grants d) I liked teaching – so I sold my immortal soul and went (returned, actually – long story) to O&G. Now I lead the geophys team on UK’s biggest oil field, but I’d still rather be outside than behind a desk, and dream of jacking it in to work in forestry or something.Maybe fracking will take off and there will be jobs for seismologists to monitor that stuff!!

Anyway – I love the subject (still) but the job market is just very tough these days, and my younger colleagues are all looking at what transferable skills they have on their cv. Good luck!!

Geologist here as well.

As posted ^^^, I suspect that the geotechnical and environmental markets have taken a substantial proportion of graduate output over the last 10-20 years (out of those who have taken up degree relevant posts).

The work can be very varied and therefore interesting, BUT the first 3-5 years will involve a lot of site work and cheap hotels. Some companies like to bring graduates on quickly, so that they are using their brains and adding to their subject knowledge, other prefer to utilise them as cheap field technicians with little opportunity to progress towards interpretative and decision making roles.

There was a recent piece in the Times stating that geology degrees gave the highest grad starting salaries (40-75k IIRC), and the quite a strong response on LinkedIn criticising the newspaper for “made-up stories”.

There was a recent piece in the Times stating that geology degrees gave the highest grad starting salaries (40-75k IIRC), and the quite a strong response on LinkedIn criticising the newspaper for “made-up stories”.

Starting salaries for geos in OandG fall in that range.

I doubt the money is any worse than Architecture, which is considered one of the worst paid of all the “classic” professions.

O&g would need a masters, no need for a PhD. But not a lot of jobs and even in the majors your not going to get 45k as a starting salary! Not a lot of jobs right now, most companies are losing staff. If u was starting again I would probably look at geo hazards, geotech. Less money but probably more stable. Mining would be fun if you don’t have a lot of commitments at home and want to do some travelling.

Another geotech bod here, 10 years in. BSc in geology and a part time MSc in geotech. I did a little stint in ground investigation and then spent a good few years working for a specialist contractor which was pretty cool, and then moved north of the border to work for a mutli-disciplinary consultancy.

General advice woudl be to try and speak to as many people in industry as you can (as you now are!), go to conferences/trade shows/etc. to try and speak to the various companies out there. Do a bit of research and you’ll find there are a lot of different companies with interesting workloads and good opportunities, not just the usual big 3 or 4 consultancies. Also take a good look at some of the specialist contractors out there, geophysics and otherwise, as there can be some very interesting, challenging (if high pressure at times) and very rewarding work.

Also, try and do some intern work if you can, the fact that you’re a mature student who has worked in the more general construction industry should see you in good stead as you have an awareness of how projects develop and (hopefully!) some common sense. Though you did say architecture… 😉

Where are you based?

in the Geotech/Geoenviro side, starting salaries for graduates in their early 20s, with big consultancies, will be in the range of 23-26k, rising to around 30K after a few years. After 8-10 years, salary of around 45K likely.

The salaries Iainc mentions are subject to the construction industry staying good. When I started in 2011 I was only on £15k. This was more a problem with the company I worked for but be aware that salaries, if you can get one, won’t be good if we have another recession.

iainc in staff poaching shocker…! 😆

🙂

in the Geotech/Geoenviro side, starting salaries for graduates in their early 20s, with big consultancies, will be in the range of 23-26k, rising to around 30K after a few years. After 8-10 years, salary of around 45K likely.

geez a job!

well, if the pay doesn’t increase soon I’ll be on the scout anyway I think…

I’d like to say you’ve all helped, but now I’m really confused hahaha.

(Just kidding)

Well don’t do what I did and study structural geology to PhD level, via an oil industry grant and then walk away from the subject all together. Not really sure what went wrong as I used to love the subject. However, A level, followed by a degree and then the PhD (with a bit of dragging and a year out in the middle) meant that I had effectively spent 9 years of study on the subject. I just needed a change and was able to take on a project management role in an unrelated field. 5 years of that I I gave up academia altogether to go back to my roots as a farmer.

I have just spent the morning giving a load of ram lambs a quick “back, sack & crack” shave prior to running them up to the abattoir tomorrow…

The end to an inglorious career 🙂

I think it’s fairly safe to say i won’t end up doing that

It is quite therapeutic (if a little smelly 🙂 )

I’m one of around 7 or 8 geology PhD graduates from a prestigious university this year and none of us can get jobs (or at least nothing longer than a month). The rest are holding out for something, but I’m doing photography instead and eventually land management.

I was formerly a geotech engineer-cum-environmental consultant. I hated it!

But I’m a firm believer in doing things you enjoy, regardless of the outcome, and things might be different by the time you finish in terms of a thriving market for graduate geologists.