>>12022977The type of work you do and pay can vary considerably. You have to be aware that recent graduates are going to make much less than senior and chief geologists, so it takes time before you can make big money. Petroleum geology pays the best (slightly below six figures to well above), but is the most competitive and jobs can be hard to come by and the petroleum job market can be volatile. You'll also usually need a master's degree to go that direction. Economic geology and mining geologist jobs are a little easier to come by, but pay can vary a good bit here so I can't really give an estimate. You can do these with just a bachelor's but a master's will definitely help. Finally, there's hydrology and environmental geology. These usually pay the least, but jobs are pretty plentiful here and just a bachelor's will do for most entry level positions. With these jobs, you won't be doing so much "traditional" geology, but function more as an environmental worker (taking soil and water samples and testing for water quality, contaminants, etc.). You can also get GIS jobs in various fields in or outside of geology if you're good with that, but the pay is more on par with hydrologist/environmental geologist I think. I just graduated and am job searching, so I can't say if I hate my job yet.
The most important thing you can do is research for yourself and have a clear goal in mind of what you want to do before you go to college, because there will be some really unenjoyable classes that make you second guess yourself. Look up jobs on
USA.jobs or Indeed or wherever and see what kinds of jobs there are and if they interest you. I was only focused on getting a scholarship so I could afford to go to college after highschool, that I never put any thought into what I actually wanted to do. And to be honest, I'm still not entirely sure, but I have a degree now and can at least get some decent jobs where I get to work outside of an office.
