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Senior geologist vs consulting geologist

The differences between senior geologists and consulting geologists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a senior geologist and a consulting geologist. Additionally, a consulting geologist has an average salary of $112,160, which is higher than the $109,166 average annual salary of a senior geologist.

The top three skills for a senior geologist include project management, data collection and GIS. The most important skills for a consulting geologist are GIS, technical reports, and geotechnical.

Senior geologist vs consulting geologist overview

Senior GeologistConsulting Geologist
Yearly salary$109,166$112,160
Hourly rate$52.48$53.92
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs8115,484
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age4545
Years of experience1212

What does a senior geologist do?

A Senior Geologist manages all geological activities and research, and provides guidance to junior team members. They assist geological supervisors to prepare an annual and long-term plan for geological work.

What does a consulting geologist do?

Geology Consultants are experts in their field who assist with different geology-related projects and research. They are generally specialized in petroleum, environmental, or hydrology geology.

Senior geologist vs consulting geologist salary

Senior geologists and consulting geologists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior GeologistConsulting Geologist
Average salary$109,166$112,160
Salary rangeBetween $63,000 And $186,000Between $65,000 And $191,000
Highest paying CityCorpus Christi, TX-
Highest paying stateTexas-
Best paying companyStatoil-
Best paying industryEnergy-

Differences between senior geologist and consulting geologist education

There are a few differences between a senior geologist and a consulting geologist in terms of educational background:

Senior GeologistConsulting Geologist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common majorGeologyGeology
Most common collegeUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Senior geologist vs consulting geologist demographics

Here are the differences between senior geologists' and consulting geologists' demographics:

Senior GeologistConsulting Geologist
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 84.7% Female, 15.3%Male, 86.8% Female, 13.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 0.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 6.3% Asian, 5.4% White, 82.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 1.1% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.0% Asian, 3.7% White, 82.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage4%4%

Differences between senior geologist and consulting geologist duties and responsibilities

Senior geologist example responsibilities.

  • Manage the installation of geophones, tiltmeters, inclinometers, passive vent wells, gas caps, and ORWs.
  • Provide technical GIS support to CRA staff including data acquisition, analysis, and presentation.
  • Supervise excavations of contaminate materials, collect groundwater, potable water, and surface water samples, and perform soil-gas surveys.
  • Lead coordinator and geologist for ComEd geotechnical and environmental sampling project to support infrastructure expansion.
  • Serve as principal-in-charge on geotechnical projects ranging in scope from engineering geologic assessments to foundation engineering studies.
  • Build geological, geophysical and geochemical models for integrate basin modeling, prospect generation, volume estimation and well planning.
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Consulting geologist example responsibilities.

  • Manage task training and laboratory/field safety according to MSHA standards.
  • Work on projects in both oil and gas and environmental consulting using GIS base software, maintain database in Petra
  • Used Petra for mapping purposes and cross-sections.
  • Support Petra, SMT-Kingdom projects and software.
  • Initiate the geological and geotechnical pit mapping program, and a surveillance program for pit slope stability.
  • Operate a Trimble GPS (cm accuracy) unit to locate grid positions for a gravity survey.
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Senior geologist vs consulting geologist skills

Common senior geologist skills
  • Project Management, 9%
  • Data Collection, 9%
  • GIS, 8%
  • Geotechnical, 7%
  • Autocad, 5%
  • Business Development, 4%
Common consulting geologist skills
  • GIS, 20%
  • Technical Reports, 16%
  • Geotechnical, 7%
  • Data Collection, 6%
  • Data Interpretation, 5%
  • AU, 4%

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