renth

Realistically, is this going to happen?

laven

It totally may.. It happened before, it will happen again.

Or Chinese overheated economy will slow down more than we think now, thats it, WA is done..

Amazulu

Oil maybe not but LNG definitely could. It would come back lon term but medium term could fall.

verystormy

God there is some crap mentioned on this post.

I am a geologist currently sat at my desk on site in the northern goldfields so am reasonably qualified to help answer your question. I will give you a few points.

1. Excellent career and lots of different opportunities. I am a exploration geo and people think this means tramping about the bush. Wrong. Not in WA as not a lot of point. No outcrop of rock in most of it, so most geos are primarily Perth based with occaisional campaign work in the field to supervise drill rigs. Other roles even on site are mainly office based. Most of the guys i work with are complete desk jockeys, heck its probably 10 years since some have even seen a rock.

2. No jobs for geo's is the biggest load of crap i have heard in years. There are currently more jobs than there are geo's and its never going to get really bad for us again simply because there arent many students studying it. Kids today dont want to do hard science when they can do media studies or something. We, like everyone else are fighting to get geo's. Its generaly not a subject someone does without a bit of a passion for it and not everyone can get passionate about rocks

3. Age doesnt really matter in WA. It would if you wanted to do field exploration in somewhere like central Africa, but not here. That and dont forget the majority of geos are mine staff who again are very desk bound. The post of there being hundreds of over 50's out of work is rubbish. The average age in my office is probably over 50.

4. Yes it can be a bit boom and bust but there are ways to live with this. I work in gold, but was originaly lead / zinc. When the lead price fell i just had to change commodity.

5. In the oil game, the oil isnt going to run out any time soon. Thats rubbish spoken by people who dont understand the nature of how we clsify reserves and resources.

All in all it is a fantastic career that has lots of options and allows you to see the world and be paid for the privalage - i have lived and worked all over the world and may yet move to somewhere else if the itchy feet call. How many people do you know who have been paid to have a stroll along the great wall of china with there girl friend? I have.

Weebie

You're obviously an idiot and haven't been in Perth for very long. Most old geologists will dispute everything you've just said.

Whats the difference between a Geologist and a Pizza - A pizza can feed a family. One of the most told jokes in the resource sector.

renth

Woah there!

Verystormy's post was excellent. What's with the "idiot" talk?

Amazulu

Agree with Renth - play the game and not the man.

bcworld

I was working for BP in 97/98 when oil prices were close to $10/barrel.

I assume prior to that there had been talk of peak oil, oil running out, all the usual stuff cited as a support for never ending price rises.

Maybe an 'it's different now' paradigm applies, but I doubt it!

renth

I dunno, but oil really is a finite resource that will only get more expensive to extract. Probably the topic for a different thread though.

verystormy

Dont worry, i am big enough to take it. Most people just dont understand the nature of what a geo does or have the faintest idea about the industry.

As for not being in Perth long, nope - 2.5 years ish.

Yes i know the joke, i also dont know any geo's - and most of the people i know are geo's (sad i know) who have been out of work for than a few months in their career. It does mean flexibility is needed and be willing to move about, but as even in downturns companies will pay relocation costs its not the end of the world.

As for the "old geo's", well i am no spring chicken and i am sat opposite a co worker at the moment who shall we say is a long way north of 50 and have just asked him how long he has been unemployed for and in a long career he reckons a total of 5 months.

Have a look here: http://www.infomine.com/careers/jobs...nces.jobs.aspx

or here

http://www.seek.com.au/JobSearch?Dat...archFrom=quick

and there are plenty of other web sites for the industry.

As for those in Africa - its simply the $$$. I could head off tomorrow - get offers on a regular basis and earn twice what i do now, but i am happy in my current role

verystormy

Agreed. Just remember that what a company declares it has is a very different figure to what it knows is in the ground. We currenty declare about 3 million ounzes of gold available, but the reality is probably at least 3x that. The cost of bring something into reserves is very expensive and not done until it has to be whether for gold, iron ore or oil.

lauralollipop

thanks for that VS! I had chat with my hubby today about this thread and the bull shit advice people dish out who are not even working in that line of work. I was wondering when you would see this thread.
My hubby said to tell the OP its a brilliant career and lots of different opportunities, he is currently working in Contaminated land as a consultant and also can do geotech work, people should really get there facts right before giving duff advice. My hubby said there are quiet times and busy times but with geo you should have a job for life as a consultant.

verystormy

Hi Laura

Thanks for that. Exactly. There are good times and bad - but it is rare that you cant find any work. The down turns normally mean you cant change jobs or maybe doing a line that your not so keen on. I wouldnt want to do iron ore, but if the gold price fell and i lost my job i would pick up work in it.

The funny thing was, just after my last post the boss called me into the office to ask if i knew any geos - and yes of ANY age as we are struggling to find and need at least 2. In fact we want a older more experienced geo as well, but havent got the budget that they are demanding as most of the guys aged 50+ are asking for $200k.

What i think the other poster doesnt appreciate is that the older guys are often essential as in order to publish a resource statement under JORK it has to be signed off by a competent person who has considerable recent experience in that commodity and mineralisation style.

laven

Thanks for your post! It is good to know there are many office based jobs.. I knew there were some, didnt realise it was that common even on site. Im female and it is good news for me.

Ive always been what Russians call "office plankton", hard science is so much more meaningful and challenging for me, matter of vanity in a way, well, pay level helps a lot too. I was very passionate about rocks as a I child. Reading two books on geology at the moment, very interested.

But there were times when there were NO jobs for geologists in WA or probably anywhere else. and apparently they couldnt just switch commodity as easy. Again, geos and related jobs all depend on the situation in China / India. Not just on how much oil left underground.

And I paid for all that myself)) !!

laven

Its a pity not so many jobs in Russland))