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What does an engineer and geologist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

The duties of an engineer and geologist depend on one's line of work or place of employment. An engineer's responsibilities typically revolve around planning and overseeing construction projects and processes, performing risk assessments, and developing procedures to optimize construction operations. On the other hand, a geologist is usually in charge of gathering data, analyzing geological structures, and providing geological assessments and advice for construction procedures, ensuring a safe and efficient work environment for everyone.

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Engineer and geologist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real engineer and geologist resumes:

  • Manage numerous UST closures and site restorations
  • Conduct geotechnical investigations for commercial and residential soil and foundation design, seismic stability, grading and soil compaction testing.
  • Report writing for pavement construction and rehabilitation.
  • Conduct pavement management studies and recommend rehabilitation strategies using MicroPaver.
  • Perform site reconnaissance and slope stability analyses to back-calculate material strengths and design mitigation of incipient rock slide feature.
  • Perform slope stability drilling investigations, site inspection and supervision of slope stabilization construction of berms and concrete caisson piles.
  • Coordinate geotechnical and environmental subsurface evaluations that involve scheduling subcontractors, obtaining government agency permits, and communicating with property owners.
  • Conduct field investigations with CPT and SPT.
  • Perform drilled shaft bearing capacity calculations and reinforcement design.
  • Perform and guide several junior to intermediate engineers to perform buoyancy control requirements and calculations.
  • Supervise hydrology RC drilling project.

Engineer and geologist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 14% of Engineers And Geologist are proficient in Geotechnical, Groundwater, and Project Site. They’re also known for soft skills such as Physical stamina, Communication skills, and Problem-solving skills.

We break down the percentage of Engineers And Geologist that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Geotechnical, 14%

    Coordinated geotechnical and environmental subsurface evaluations that involved scheduling subcontractors, obtaining government agency permits, and communicating with property owners.

  • Groundwater, 9%

    Designed municipal & individual site wells, identified/explored groundwater sources.

  • Project Site, 7%

    Provide oversight of performance load tests and standard penetration tests at project sites.

  • GIS, 7%

    Utilized CAD and GIS daily.

  • Technical Reports, 6%

    Prepared and delivered technical reports/presentations to management and other departments during coordination or performance meetings.

  • Project Management, 6%

    Engaged in all phases of project management for foundation engineering projects for public and private clients.

Common skills that an engineer and geologist uses to do their job include "geotechnical," "groundwater," and "project site." You can find details on the most important engineer and geologist responsibilities below.

Physical stamina. The most essential soft skill for an engineer and geologist to carry out their responsibilities is physical stamina. This skill is important for the role because "geoscientists need to be physically fit because they may need to hike, sometimes to remote locations, while carrying equipment for fieldwork." Additionally, an engineer and geologist resume shows how their duties depend on physical stamina: "conducted downhole geologic and geophysical logging of boreholes and supervised the casing and grouting installations for these wells. "

Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform engineer and geologist duties is communication skills. Engineers and geologist responsibilities require that "geoscientists must be able to present their research findings clearly to a variety of audiences, including both scientists and those who do not have a background in geoscience." Engineers and geologist also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "conducted geotechnical investigations of communication tower sites, commercial site development and rails to trails proposed right of ways. "

Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for engineers and geologist to perform their duties. For an example of how engineer and geologist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "geoscientists must be able to analyze statistical data and other information in order to address problems." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an engineer and geologist: "provided geotechnical guidance during construction of various highway projects including solutions to difficult problems encountered during construction. ".

See the full list of engineer and geologist skills

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Compare different engineers and geologist

Engineer and geologist vs. Environmental technician

An environmental technician is responsible for identifying, evaluating, preventing, and controlling contamination of the environment. They study how it affects human health with the supervision of environmental engineers and environmental scientists. Environmental technicians work by monitoring the environment and look for possible sources of pollution and contamination that can possibly affect public health. They make sure that environmental violations are prevented. In addition, an environmental technician also investigates any complaint that is related to water quality, air quality, and food safety.

The annual salary of environmental technicians is $62,192 lower than the average salary of engineers and geologist.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between engineers and geologist and environmental technicians are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like geotechnical, gis, and technical reports.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an engineer and geologist are more likely to require skills like "groundwater," "project site," "project management," and "dynamic environment." On the other hand, a job as an environmental technician requires skills like "patients," "osha," "hazardous materials," and "customer service." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Environmental technicians really shine in the energy industry with an average salary of $43,237. Comparatively, engineers and geologist tend to make the most money in the energy industry with an average salary of $106,941.On average, environmental technicians reach lower levels of education than engineers and geologist. Environmental technicians are 14.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Engineer and geologist vs. Geology internship

In a geology internship, an intern has the opportunity to gain insights and practical experience while performing various support tasks under the directives and supervision of a geologist or manager. Their duties typically include working on different projects, conducting research, doing fieldwork, gathering and analyzing samples, collecting photographs or videos as evidence, completing surveys and assessments, and producing reports, submitting them according to protocols and standards. Additionally, they also have clerical duties, such as handling calls and other forms of correspondence, preparing and processing paperwork, and running errands when necessary.

A career as a geology internship brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of an engineer and geologist. In fact, geology interns salary is $7,358 higher than the salary of engineers and geologist per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both engineers and geologist and geology interns have skills such as "geotechnical," "gis," and "data collection. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that engineer and geologist responsibilities requires skills like "groundwater," "project site," "technical reports," and "project management." But a geology internship might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "database management," "gps," "arcgis," and "digitizing."

In general, geology interns achieve lower levels of education than engineers and geologist. They're 7.7% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Engineer and geologist vs. Geophysicist

A Geophysicist studies the Earth's physical properties. They also examine the effects of the atmosphere on radio and satellite communications.

On average scale, geophysicists bring in higher salaries than engineers and geologist. In fact, they earn a $3,185 higher salary per year.By looking over several engineers and geologist and geophysicists resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "geotechnical," "gis," and "data collection." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, engineers and geologist are more likely to have skills like "groundwater," "project site," "technical reports," and "project management." But a geophysicist is more likely to have skills like "geophysical data," "c++," "r," and "matlab."

Geophysicists earn the highest salary when working in the energy industry, where they receive an average salary of $125,764. Comparatively, engineers and geologist have the highest earning potential in the energy industry, with an average salary of $106,941.When it comes to education, geophysicists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to engineers and geologist. In fact, they're 4.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Engineer and geologist vs. Geoscientist

A geoscientist specializes in studying geosciences and performing research and analysis. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around crafting research plans, conducting field mapping and studies to examine geological structures, gathering samples, obtaining photographic evidence, and conducting different experiments and scientific studies. As a geoscientist, it is essential to maintain an extensive record of data, summarize results in reports and presentations, and collaborate with different scientists. They may publish their studies in various publications, utilize them for other projects and programs, or raise public awareness.

Geoscientists tend to earn a higher pay than engineers and geologist by an average of $8,747 per year.While their salaries may vary, engineers and geologist and geoscientists both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "geotechnical," "gis," and "technical reports. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "groundwater," "project site," "project management," and "gint" are skills that commonly show up on engineer and geologist resumes. On the other hand, geoscientists use skills like seismic data, reservoir characterization, petrel, and data management on their resumes.geoscientists enjoy the best pay in the energy industry, with an average salary of $128,564. For comparison, engineers and geologist earn the highest salary in the energy industry.geoscientists reach higher levels of education compared to engineers and geologist, in general. The difference is that they're 8.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 4.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of engineer and geologist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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