The careers pages series (13 pages) for geoscientists is an initiative of the AIG National Graduate Group to better inform students and early career graduates who may be considering or embarking upon a career in geoscience in an Australian context.
Information is provided on a broad range of geoscience careers and employment sectors and can be reviewed or downloaded from the pages.
The main page shows the individual sectors where geoscientists are most likely to develop their careers as a group of linked tiles, each leading to more detailed information. By hovering over each tile a short summary of that career sector appears.
Drilling down in a particular career path can access a large amount of information a person may seek when considering a career within that sector.
It starts with a summary of what that geoscientist does and some of their responsibilities.
Key information is a list of activities one would encounter, day to day, in that particular career. Some indications are given of the level of site-based activities and office activities such as interpretation and modelling including use of software. Likely outputs such as reporting, audits etc are listed.
A list of the likely skills requirements for that career path are provided. This covers requirements such as working in teams, working with other disciplines, working with software and some of the basic knowledge required. Of course, this knowledge is in addition to a standard geoscience degree but may highlight specific knowledge required for specialist areas such as numerical skills, statistics or the ability to think in three dimensions. Some specialist areas require experience in another career path prior to specialising and information on where to acquire that experience is provided.
For budding university and senior secondary school students, information is provided on University subjects and unit selection most suited to that career path. This includes some of the specialty subjects particularly required in that career.
For graduating geoscientists, some of the statutory requirements with regard to registration or reporting in that sector are listed. Links are provided that show how that accreditation can be achieved within the AIG.
For a graduating geoscientist a job in their sector is the main aim. Some suggestions are presented on the most common types of organisations where employment may be found for each career path and also some of the peripheral areas where employment may be found.
Of course, each career path has some markedly different lifestyle implications generally determined by where the majority of the work occurs.
Under the Lifestyle heading, likely living and working conditions for that career path are noted. These conditions can be quite variable depending on the business, locations and travel requirements for the job.
In addition to the lifestyle notes, some of the pros and cons of working in that career are discussed. These can be related to absence from home, long hours and shift work as examples of the drawbacks but also highlight the opportunities such as travel, good remuneration etc.
Each career has some Frequently Asked Questions which should aid the candidate who maybe close to a decision. These may have information such as how to become a specialist or what sort of career progression can be expected.
Finally, a printable Fact Sheet covering all aspects of that career path can be downloaded for the users reference. The Fact Sheets also have some useful links for further information that may help the budding geoscientist.
The Careers in Geoscience page can be found at: https://www.aig.org.au/careers-in-geoscience/
