How to hire a geoscience technician

How to hire a geoscience technician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step geoscience technician hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a geoscience technician job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new geoscience technician
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

Post a geoscience technician job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the geoscience technician you need to hire. Certain geoscience technician roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a geoscience technician to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a geoscience technician that fits the bill.

   This list presents geoscience technician salaries for various positions.

   Type of Geoscience Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Geoscience Technician	Geological and petroleum technicians provide support to scientists and engineers in exploring and extracting natural resources, such as minerals, oil, and natural gas.	$26-51
   Lead Data Technician	A Lead Data Technician is responsible for supervising the data science division in developing products focused on the technology of analytics. They provide technical assistance to their team members on how they will inspect, monitor, and repair aircraft machinery and the system and the flight controls... Show more	$44-81
   Data Technician	A data technician is responsible for handling the company's data management systems and ensuring the safety and security of the stored information. Data technicians write data reports, retrieve necessary information, and dispose of outdated data properly according to the company's guidelines... Show more	$12-32

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Data Management
   • Petra
   • GIS
   • QC
   • Log Data
   • Petrel
   • ArcMap
   • Digitizing
   • Core Data
   • Production Data
   • Geotechnical
   • PowerPoint
   • Hard Copy
   • Geographix

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage data input by various methods of scanning, downloading, and digitizing.
   • Generate base maps using Amoco implementation of ARC/INFO GIS software.
   • Create prospect, seismic, lease and field maps in ArcMap.
   • Used GIS applications for display of spatial layers and associate data tables.
   • Supervise and delegate work to contract, clerical, and geotechnical personnel.
   • Support geologists and geophysicists with GeoGraphix project updates, imports and exports.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your geoscience technician job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A geoscience technician can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, geoscience technicians' average salary in hawaii is 52% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level geoscience technicians 49% less than senior-level geoscience technicians.
   • Certifications. A geoscience technician with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a geoscience technician's salary.

   Average geoscience technician salary

   $77,535yearly

   $37.28 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level geoscience technician salary

   $55,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

4. Writing a geoscience technician job description

   A geoscience technician job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a geoscience technician job description:

   Geoscience technician job description example

   The Sr. Geoscience Technician is part of a cross-functional team focusing on geoscience related data management and software support, specifically Petrel and ArcGIS. Candidates for this role will be asked to have a strong background working with geoscience and geophysical data. Responsibilities include geologic and seismic database management, software support, data loading and troubleshooting. This will be a role on the corporate staff that will support teams on an as-needed basis.
   Essential Roles and Responsibilities:
   Provide technical support to geoscience staff by utilizing database information and software tools to manipulate and analyze data. Have a strong working knowledge of a wide variety of geoscience data types and naming conventions. Ability to harvest data from various sources for advance analysis in Spotfire, ArcGIS, Petrel and other programs. Manage data in geoscience software database to include tops, logs, perforations, directional surveys, zone data, etc. Strong working knowledge of seismic data types, seismic data loading and QC. Manage geologic team files including e-logs, mud logs, maps, drilling and completion reports. Monitor new technology developments for application to project tasks. Gather and post drilling and completion activity data for operation and asset teams. Provide training and mentorship to new users. Provide user support for Petrel and ArcGIS including installation, maintenance and troubleshooting. Conduct business safely and with the highest ethical standards. Other duties as assigned.
   Computer/Software Applications:
   Competent level of skills and familiarity with Microsoft Office. Competent with computer mapping software including ESRI ArcGIS and/or Global Mapper, Spotfire and geologic and geophysical computer software applications for SMT Kingdom and Petrel. Ability to use programming language to navigate database software to query and extract data from multiple sources.
   
   Role-Specific Technical Knowledge & Skills:
   Competent in fundamental geologic principles, data and database management, mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Proficient in seismic data loading. Expert in Petrel. Generates novel ideas and innovations in map-making efforts. SQL/ data query knowledge attained. ArcGIS training and/or Advanced GGX module training completed.
   
   Education:
   Technical associate degree or related experience required. Bachelor's Degree in relevant field preferred.
   
   Typical Experience:
   Minimum of 5 years of experience in related field or industry.
   
   Schedule: A/B schedule working A week in the office and B week remotely.
   
   Salary Range: $88,00-$122,000 (based on experience) plus annual discretionary bonus, medical, dental, vision, 401k, PTO, etc.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find geoscience technicians for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any geoscience technicians they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level geoscience technicians with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your geoscience technician job on Zippia to find and recruit geoscience technician candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit geoscience technicians, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new geoscience technician

   Once you've selected the best geoscience technician candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new geoscience technician. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a geoscience technician?