Considering Geology Career
Considering making a career change into geology. Currently I’m active duty military with about a year left on my contract but will be starting school soon.
I plan on attending Western Washington University and graduating with the Geology degree around if everything works out. Ideally I’d like to intern, do research, etc while in school. I’m interested in doing field work afterwards for a couple years before pursuing a masters (strong desire to go into a research scientist role).
From the anecdotal stories of others I’ve seen online on Reddit, YouTube, and forums it seems like a lot of people struggle to find employment in their field. I’m trying to understand if that’s representative of the field today, or if there are mistakes that make it harder.
Long term I’m interested in federal or (preferably) state science (Department of Ecology, USGS, NOAA, etc) rather than academia. However I’m still very early in exploring career options.
I have 0 interest in working in O&G but could see myself in exploration/mining. Obviously my thoughts on that could change after getting into the upper division courses. I’m specifically interested in building a career in WA, OR, or possibly AK.
My main questions are:
Why is it so hard to find jobs for recent geologist graduates? How can you be a competitive recent graduate?
Does anyone have experience in working for their states geology/ecology departments? If so, I’d love to chat about your experience and any advice you could give.
Would it be worth it to get a masters right after a bachelors vs working for a few years then pursing a masters? I’m well aware of WA’s licensure requirements/process.
For those that had a successful transition into geology, what do you think helped you the most? Research? GIS? Internships?
Thank you for any advice or answers!