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What does a geological engineer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
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Geological engineer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real geological engineer resumes:

  • Conduct time-and-motion studies and performance of truck-and-shovel analysis and efficiently allocate trucks to shovels and attain optimum productivity.
  • Identify ways to maximize data gather from logging and testing, conduct onsite petrophysics analysis and QC.
  • Help to prepare mechanics, geotechnical and geological reports.
  • Analyze field and laboratory test data and prepare geotechnical reports.
  • Operate and troubleshoot vacuum deposition machinery used in the development of anodes vital to the design of novel lithium-sulfur battery technology.
  • Involve consistently infield operation and provide high safety and HSE standards.
  • Analyze / evaluate major onshore / offshore discoveries Texas / Louisiana for attachment to the Tenneco pipeline system.

Geological engineer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 30% of Geological Engineers are proficient in Geotechnical, Autocad, and Technical Reports. They’re also known for soft skills such as Writing skills, Analytical skills, and Math skills.

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

  • Geotechnical, 30%

    Analyzed field and laboratory test data and prepared geotechnical reports.

  • Autocad, 14%

    Created and managed E-Beam write pattern layout by way of AutoCAD and Solid Works software.

  • Technical Reports, 11%

    Complete all engineering documentations related to assigned projects, such as technical reports, work instructions and method/process validation.

  • Engineering Design, 10%

    Involved in fabrication and installation activities to ensure products and systems conform to engineering design and customer specifications.

  • Slope Stability, 9%

    Take and analyze soil and rock sampling classification, in field and lab for slope stability projects.

  • Data Interpretation, 6%

    Performed data interpretation and economic evaluation of minerals.

"geotechnical," "autocad," and "technical reports" are among the most common skills that geological engineers use at work. You can find even more geological engineer responsibilities below, including:

Writing skills. The most essential soft skill for a geological engineer to carry out their responsibilities is writing skills. This skill is important for the role because "mining and geological engineers must prepare reports and instructions for other workers." Additionally, a geological engineer resume shows how their duties depend on writing skills: "created and delivered presentations to individuals and large groups, live and via internet, writing technical reports. "

Analytical skills. Many geological engineer duties rely on analytical skills. "mining and geological engineers must take many factors into account when evaluating new mine locations and designing facilities," so a geological engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways geological engineer responsibilities rely on analytical skills: "analyzed / evaluated major onshore / offshore discoveries texas / louisiana for attachment to the tenneco pipeline system. "

Math skills. geological engineers are also known for math skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to geological engineer responsibilities, because "mining and geological engineers use the principles of calculus, trigonometry, and other advanced topics in math for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." A geological engineer resume example shows how math skills is used in the workplace: "applied computational math tools to compute and analyze data and resolve errors. "

Problem-solving skills. A big part of what geological engineers do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to geological engineer responsibilities because "mining and geological engineers must explore for potential mines, plan their operations and mineral processing, and design environmental reclamation projects." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical geological engineer tasks: "identified and solved system performance bottlenecks in multiple subsystems: cpu: optimized compute-bound operations which increased peak iop performance. "

Most common geological engineer skills

The three companies that hire the most geological engineers are:

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Compare different geological engineers

Geological engineer vs. Mining consultant

The annual salary of mining consultants is $13,522 lower than the average salary of geological engineers.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a geological engineer are more likely to require skills like "autocad," "technical reports," "engineering design," and "construction management." On the other hand, a job as a mining consultant requires skills like "extraction," "sas," "financial models," and "sql server." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

On average, mining consultants reach similar levels of education than geological engineers. Mining consultants are 0.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 2.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Geological engineer vs. Mine safety director

Mine safety director positions earn higher pay than geological engineer roles. They earn a $30,370 higher salary than geological engineers per year.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real geological engineer resumes. While geological engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "geotechnical," "autocad," "technical reports," and "engineering design," mine safety directors use skills like "msha," "breakthrough strategies," "safety program," and "mine site."

In general, mine safety directors achieve similar levels of education than geological engineers. They're 1.1% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 2.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Geological engineer vs. Mine safety manager

On average, mine safety managers earn higher salaries than geological engineers, with a $9,190 difference per year.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a geological engineer is likely to be skilled in "geotechnical," "autocad," "technical reports," and "engineering design," while a typical mine safety manager is skilled in "safety audits," "msha," "safety program," and "accident investigation."

Most mine safety managers achieve a lower degree level compared to geological engineers. For example, they're 19.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 9.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Geological engineer vs. Mine inspector

Mine inspectors tend to earn a lower pay than geological engineers by an average of $24,624 per year.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "geotechnical," "autocad," "technical reports," and "engineering design" are skills that commonly show up on geological engineer resumes. On the other hand, mine inspectors use skills like mine safety, msha, health laws, and dep on their resumes.In general, mine inspectors hold lower degree levels compared to geological engineers. Mine inspectors are 14.3% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 2.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of geological engineer

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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