How To Become A Geotechnician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a geotechnician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a geotechnician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.14 an hour? That's $50,211 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 3,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreGeotechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $50,211

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.06%

Asian 9.68%

Black or African American 9.52%

Hispanic or Latino 16.84%

Unknown 6.17%

White 56.74%

Gender

female 31.40%

male 68.60%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a geotechnician

Explore geotechnician education requirements

Most common geotechnician degrees

Bachelor's

77.5 %

Associate

11.3 %

Master's

5.6 %

Start to develop specific geotechnician skills

Skills	Percentages
Geotechnical	55.14%
Construction Materials	11.35%
Core Samples	8.07%
Water Samples	6.39%
GPS	6.14%

Complete relevant geotechnician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New geotechnicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a geotechnician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real geotechnician resumes.

Research geotechnician duties and responsibilities

Manage daily RCRA inspections and mechanical, electrical, and electronic equipment preventive/corrective maintenance procedures.
Locate wells using well permit information, maps, and GPS coordinates in the field.
Serve geologists and geochemists by researching data in industry repositories to load to Petra and ArcGIS 9.3/10.
Assist HAZWOPER technicians with logistical support for operations on project operations including research of facilities and vendors need for project completion.

Get geotechnician experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a geotechnician. The most common roles before becoming a geotechnician include technician, internship team lead and geologist.

Prepare your geotechnician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your geotechnician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a geotechnician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable geotechnician resume templates

Build a professional geotechnician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your geotechnician resume.