I am in my first semester of my freshman year and I am interested in getting a BS in Geology-Geophysics. How employable is this degree with just a bachelors? Would I need a masters to get a job as a geologist? Would getting a BS in Geology-Geophysics and a Minor in Structural Engineering make me more employable? Or should I just stick to getting a Engineering Degree. What can I expect with a Geology-Geophysics Degree? I’m trying to get information so I can start picking classes for next semester. Thank-you
You might want to ask your career center about the kinds of jobs that graduates get. Don’t just look at the pay levels, but also look at the kinds of jobs. E.g. would you want to work in mining, oil, and gas?
If you want to go into any kind of civil engineering, you may want to prefer to get an ABET accredited engineering degree since it is better for PE licensing.
The number of people employed in the US as “geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers” declined from 38,000 to 34,000 between 2012 and 2014 (http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_102.htm and http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000). During the same period (same sources) mechanical engineers (for instance) increased from 258,000 to 271,000. Not all engineering fields have increased, however; petroleum engineering jobs, for instance, have declined about the same as geologist jobs (which also have largely been in the oil industry). Also, on the jobs site Indeed.com today there are 1,170 results for “geologist” and 53,849 for “mechanical engineer”.
http://geology.com/articles/geologist-salary.shtml claimed (in 2008?) there were 2800 geology graduates per year.
In addition to petroleum an industry that is large in employing geologists is environmental assessment/remediation. In this, employers expect to employ bachelor’s holders, but often say they prefer master’s. Scroll to page 19 of http://www.americangeosciences.org/sites/default/files/StatusRecentGeoGraduates_2013.pdf to see the proportions of geologists working in specific industries.
“Job availability for geoscientists in the United States is expected to increase by around 35% between 2008 and 2018. The number of geoscience degrees granted in the United States each year has remained relatively stable for the past 15 years”
For more info, go to: beageo.com
From http://www.americangeosciences.org/sites/default/files/StatusoftheWorkforce2011overview.pdf : “The number of geoscience degrees conferred by U.S. institutions in the 2009-2010 academic year also increased markedly (Bachelor’s degrees: 3,037)”
From http://www.ehow.com/info_7844864_geologist-salary-job-outlook.html : “The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment growth of 18 percent between 2008 and 2018 for geologists and all geoscientists, which is faster than the average for all jobs in the United States.”
From http://geologydegree.org/average-salary-and-career-outlook-for-geologists/ : “As of 2008, there were about 33,600 geoscience jobs in the United States” This is essentially the same as the number of geoscientists BLS gives for 2014, indicating that actually there has been NO net growth during 2008-2014 (although there may have been ups and downs during that time). This is another sign that BLS predictions are not to be counted on.