verystormy

I was wondering if there are any geologists here or if any one knows what the market is like for geology jobs over there?

christmasoompa

I shall ask the obvious questions before others do - do you have a green card/US citizenship or do you require sponsorship for a visa?

The answer will depend on that, the likelihood of you getting a job will vary massively depending on whether you can work in the US without sponsorship or not.

And if you do need a visa and haven't read it already, then have a look at this............http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulaski's_Ways:_How_to_Live_and_Work_in_the_USA

caleyjag

While I am no longer a geologist, I was a geology student in the US 10 years ago. I still keep an eye on things in that business.

Interestingly, geology is generally not a very popular major here at university. This is good news for you.

For instance, when I was a geology undergrad in Edinburgh, there were 150 people in my class. When I transferred to Berkeley, in California, which is arguably a better department, and certainly a bigger school, there were no more than maybe a dozen geology majors in my year.

So....... the upshot of this is that there seems to be less competition for jobs.

You have two principle options here - an academic career or an industrial career in either the oil or mining industries.

Postdocs at university are an option. Be aware though that academic geology programs are not typically well funded so you will likely be conducting your research on a shoestring. Note that many US government laboratories (Livermore, Los Alamos etc) have active geology research programs.

You could apply directly to a large prospecting company, such as WesternGeco. I would also suggest throwing your lot in with international oil recruitment agencies such as Orion. My sister works for Orion and I know that they send Brits to Texas all the time. At the moment there's also a good chance of being punted to Alberta, Canada.

http://www.orionjobs.com/

There are loads of similar international resourcing companies for the oil and mining industries. A lot of them are based in the UK too, which is convenient.

The other thing is that, as a geologist, and even better as a geophysicist, you are squarely in line for an H1b, and of course oil companies have a few pennies lying around to pay for it all.

In short, a professional geologist has a pretty good shot of getting into the US, I'd say.


Note that there is quite a lot of oil around Santa Barbara, California. You could do a lot worse than ending up here.

lisa67

Is there no end to your talent?

Rete

Apparently not. He appears to be the upper echleon of the elite intellectual society of which I am not member. Would not be surprised if he were a Mena Member in good standing and heads a chapter of his own in California.

TimFountain

Great question, I'll dig into a bit and see what comes to the surface.

- Tim

HoosierDaddy

Geologists Rock!

caleyjag

Are you a Cal State alum?
Is it acceptable form to cross-reference threads?

No, I'm just a regular dude who used to study rocks, then about half way through my undergrad studies got exposed to lasers and immediately fell in love. Years later I discovered that expertise in lasers is pretty handy for getting work in the US, particularly in tech-heavy California, and with the help of Scotland's terrific optics research programs I even got the O1 visa. Score!

The truth is that lasers and optics is relatively easy. Real physicists (eg nuclear and particles) look down on people like me - they know that we 'crapped it' and took all the easiest physics classes (optics, acoustics, geophysics, etc.)

The only thing is that lasers are incredibly useful. This gives me a lot more employment opportunities than a particle physics dork. Which is terrific.

meauxna

You're SpiderMan, I KNEW it!!!
Never trust those lasers, me.

Be careful of the native Californians around here.. you never know where people's loyalties lie!

-fickle former denizen of the land of fruits n' nuts

caleyjag

Spiderman 2:

Good guys's a physicist.
Bad guy's a physicist.
Nuclear fusion.
Kirsten Dunst.


Possibly the greatest movie of all time!

Also a bonus point for not having any of that emo nonsense that blighted the third one.

caleyjag

The native Californians know that Berkeley is the best, and I am right!

zargof

I thought you looked familiar.

Rete

Lasers? Optics? For me they are chit. Didn't help me in the eyesight department at all. Maybe I should go to Scotland to get my sight restored?

Scouse Express

I think you're between a rock and a hard place!

Jim.

ian-mstm

I saw that in a horror movie once... didn't end too well for the guy!

Ian