Field Geologist Overview
Working as a Field Geologist
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a field geologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $48.39 an hour? That's $100,652 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 1,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Field Geologist Do
There are certain skills that many field geologists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, physical stamina and problem-solving skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a field geologist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 16.1% of field geologists included water quality, while 15.0% of resumes included data collection, and 8.1% of resumes included site assessments. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the field geologist job title. But what industry to start with? Most field geologists actually find jobs in the professional and energy industries.
How To Become a Field Geologist
If you're interested in becoming a field geologist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 62.0% of field geologists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 29.0% of field geologists have master's degrees. Even though most field geologists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a field geologist. When we researched the most common majors for a field geologist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on field geologist resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a field geologist. In fact, many field geologist jobs require experience in a role such as geologist. Meanwhile, many field geologists also have previous career experience in roles such as internship or research assistant.
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Field Geologist Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of geologist you might progress to a role such as project manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title construction manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Field Geologist
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Aerotek Field Geologist Field Geologist | Aerotek Aerotek | 01/19/2021 01/19/2021 | $31,30501/19/2021 $31,305 |
State of Michigan Geologist 12 (Petrographic Recognized Resource) Field Services Geologist 12 (Petrographic Recognized Resource) Field Services | State of Michigan State of Michigan | 12/29/2020 12/29/2020 | $54,47112/29/2020 $54,471 |
RRC Power & Energy, LLC Field Geologist Field Geologist | RRC Power & Energy, LLC RRC Power & Energy, LLC | 03/15/2019 03/15/2019 | $54,49603/15/2019 $54,496 |
RRC Power & Energy, LLC Field Geotechnical Geologist Field Geotechnical Geologist | RRC Power & Energy, LLC RRC Power & Energy, LLC | 10/03/2017 10/03/2017 | $53,33110/03/2017 $53,331 |
RRC Power & Energy, LLC Field Geotechnical Geologist (Travel) Field Geotechnical Geologist (Travel) | RRC Power & Energy, LLC RRC Power & Energy, LLC | 03/20/2017 03/20/2017 | $53,33103/20/2017 $53,331 |
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Top Colleges for Field Geologists
1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Public
2. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA • Public
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
4. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
5. University of California - Davis
Davis, CA • Public
6. SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY • Public
7. San Jose State University
San Jose, CA • Public
8. Texas A&M University
College Station, TX • Public
9. University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA • Public
10. San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA • Public
Top Skills For a Field Geologist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 16.1% of field geologists listed water quality on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and physical stamina are important as well.
- Water Quality, 16.1%
- Data Collection, 15.0%
- Site Assessments, 8.1%
- Technical Reports, 6.0%
- Rig, 5.7%
- Other Skills, 49.1% See All Field Geologist Skills
How Do Field Geologist Rate Their Jobs?
Top Field Geologist Employers
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