Plan your career: Perfect career for nimble witted, gritty workers

Geologists are engaged in studying the earth’s history, composition and structure. They are the experts in research, exploration and preservation of the earth. Unfortunately, exploitation too has become part of the profession. Geology is a vast area of study that includes the study of minerals, fossils, forces and the formation of earth’s crust. 

Geologists supervise explorations in various parts of the earth (deserts, oceans, riverbeds and mountains to identify minerals, oil, natural gas and fossils. They analyse the information collected through satellites, conduct surveys to construct maps, examine gravity and magnetic fields, and contribute to waste management and water supplies. 

To be a geologist, one has to go through BSc and complete MSc in a related subject. Also, a five-year integrated course in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is a very good option through IIT JEE, or after BTech/ MSc admission is done through Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), and the study lasts for three years. The specialisations include Petroleum Geology, Marine Geology, Mineralogy, Hydrogeology, Geo-Morphology (refers to erosion and glaciations), Remote Sensing, Paleontology, Oceanography, Structural Geology, Environmental Geology, Volcanology, Stratigraphy (study of sedimentary rock layers), Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geochronology, Engineering Geology and geologists who train to be academicians and museum curators. 

The scope for geologists in India is exhaustive. Experts in the field observe that Geology is one field that has minimal competition with a higher number of jobs. Geologists work in both private and public sector and numerous companies employ them. For instance, the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) conducts exams annually to fill in the vacancies. The other firms that follow similar procedures are Oil India Limited, Coal India Limited, Hindustan Zinc Ltd., Mineral Oil Exploration Limited, The Atomic Mineral Division and several others. The Geological Survey of India and the Central Ground Water Board select through Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination. 

There are other employers like Indian Bureau of Mines, Indian Space Research Organization, National Geophysical Institute, National Hydro Power Corporation, Mineral and Metals Trading Corporation, State Mining Corporation, Broken Hill, Rio Tinot, De Beers, Cairn Energy, Reliance and Shell are only to name a few. 

The Defence and paramilitary forces also employ geologists. The job options are as engineering geologist, geochemist, geophysicist, Seismologist, Geoscientist, Hydrogeologist, glaciologists, etc., There are also opportunities open in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Middle East and other developing countries. 

The working conditions for the geologists are mostly harsh. They need to rough it out with extreme and unpredictable weather and with little or no amenities. It is a test by fire of one’s mental and physical stamina. 

As a geologist, one should develop the ability for data collection and interpret them, to visualise, have excellent scientific and technical skills, energy to keep on exploring, to handle information in multiple mediums. Above all, one needs good writing skills to report the findings. Imagination plays an important role to make one think in terms of geological time and dimensions.