What are the pros and cons of a career in geology?
I am considering a career in geology and would to hear from some geologists about the nature of the work. I understand that it is an extremely varied field, but any insights would be helpful. Two specific questions I have are:
1) What do you really do on a day to day basis?
2) Are there job oppurtunties in geology that don’t require 100% office work?
I’m an analytical person and I love nature, so I thought this might be an interesting career. But, I would like to avoid spending all my time in an office.
Thank you!
What made me reply to this question is how eloquently phrased it is. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no experience in geology, nor will I ever, so I can therefore be of no help to you. Also, I wonder at how many geologists in the field you’re surveying will have both the inclination and the free time to peruse Yahoo Answers. However, I hope you can find help somewhere. Maybe you can search the web or your local university for scientific journals in geology, to get a feel for what’s going on. Any nerd geologists with the desire to record the happenings of their lives will probably publish them in places like that.
Good luck!
I’m not a geologist, but my father is. He works for the government, and most of his work is desk work; he’s away from home only a few days per month. For the most part he works with databases, either making sure that companies are complying with the province’s environmental regulations or coming up with possible solutions to certain small-to-medium-scale environmental problems.
But from what I understand, most geologists (especially at the beginning of their careers) do a lot of field work; travelling to remote places and spending days and maybe even weeks away from home. It’s finding a job that wouldn’t involve field work that would be harder, and would likely require of you to have a lot of experience and at least a Master’s degree.