This is Carole (with a new Livejournal name and everything)
What your job title is, and what that means
I'm a Project Hydrogeologist for a civil engineering and environmental consulting company.
What that means is I do soil and ground water evaluations for commercial companies that come to our company for advice. The evaluations could be related to potential chemical contamination of the soil or ground-water, or it could be an evaluation of the soil and ground-water for civil engineering work. An example of that is for a city that needs to get rid of their treated wastewater. Typically they'd spray it on a piece of property. My job is to evaluate the soil and ground-water and tell them how much of their wastewater can go on that property.
A description of a typical day
Come in, turn on the computer and read email :). If it's an office day I'll be writing reports on the evaluations I've done or using a computer model of the site to predict what the groundwater is going to do next. If it's a field day, I'm outside at the job site supervising the installation of monitor wells (I get to do that Friday), digging holes in the ground and putting soil in a jar, or drawing a water sample from a well to send to a lab for chemical analysis.
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job
You need at least a B.S. in Geology or Environmental Sciences. I have an M.S. in Geology with a certification in Hydrogeology. You also are required to get licenced after a certain number of years on the job. I'm a licenced Professional Geologist in Florida and A Registered Geologist in Arizona.
Why you like it and (if you dare)
I like it a lot. I didn't do it for 2 years and missed it terribly. I love the quiet time spent figuring out how to turn a real life section of the earth into a computer representation of that section. I love the problem soving necessary to make the model work. I love gathering the data and finding trends. I like being able to get paid to be outside sometimes.
Why you dislike it
I hate hate hate the technical writing most of the time. It turned me off writing in general for a very long time.
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job?
Hmmmmm, lots and lots. You can gather too little or too much data. You can sample ina way that the data is invalid. You can misrepresent the scope of work to the client. You can confuse a regulatory official and delay your clients project. You can spend too much time mucking about with the model. You can say the wrong thing in a report and get sued. You can miss something and be completely wrong in your evaluation. Need more?
What kind of person thrives in your job
Someone who is analytical, enjoys the outdoors, enjoys the indoors, doesn't mind not interacting a lot with other people, enjoys problem solving. Someone who doesn't mind an occasional day of hard physical work and doesn't mind getting your hands muddy in the soil (and there is a very important difference between sandy clay and clayey sand). Someone who can communicate technical information simply.
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
There are times when I get to sit out in the sunshine watching other people work and get paid for it. There are times I get to wear jeans and get all muddy. There are times I have to wear a business suit and talk to business people about their environmental troubles. It's the variety of work that's great. Each project brings some unique circumstance. Some unique problem that I can help fix. It's fun.
That was fun. Good luck Fiona and I really wish someone had done this for me growing up. I was very clueless when I was deciding what to do when I grew up. Luckily I happened into something I enjoy that makes not too bad money as well. Can't beat that.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
My Job
Date: 2003-04-23 09:05 pm (UTC)What your job title is, and what that means
I'm a Project Hydrogeologist for a civil engineering and environmental consulting company.
What that means is I do soil and ground water evaluations for commercial companies that come to our company for advice. The evaluations could be related to potential chemical contamination of the soil or ground-water, or it could be an evaluation of the soil and ground-water for civil engineering work. An example of that is for a city that needs to get rid of their treated wastewater. Typically they'd spray it on a piece of property. My job is to evaluate the soil and ground-water and tell them how much of their wastewater can go on that property.
A description of a typical day
Come in, turn on the computer and read email :). If it's an office day I'll be writing reports on the evaluations I've done or using a computer model of the site to predict what the groundwater is going to do next. If it's a field day, I'm outside at the job site supervising the installation of monitor wells (I get to do that Friday), digging holes in the ground and putting soil in a jar, or drawing a water sample from a well to send to a lab for chemical analysis.
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job
You need at least a B.S. in Geology or Environmental Sciences. I have an M.S. in Geology with a certification in Hydrogeology. You also are required to get licenced after a certain number of years on the job. I'm a licenced Professional Geologist in Florida and A Registered Geologist in Arizona.
Why you like it and (if you dare)
I like it a lot. I didn't do it for 2 years and missed it terribly. I love the quiet time spent figuring out how to turn a real life section of the earth into a computer representation of that section. I love the problem soving necessary to make the model work. I love gathering the data and finding trends. I like being able to get paid to be outside sometimes.
Why you dislike it
I hate hate hate the technical writing most of the time. It turned me off writing in general for a very long time.
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job?
Hmmmmm, lots and lots. You can gather too little or too much data. You can sample ina way that the data is invalid. You can misrepresent the scope of work to the client. You can confuse a regulatory official and delay your clients project. You can spend too much time mucking about with the model. You can say the wrong thing in a report and get sued. You can miss something and be completely wrong in your evaluation. Need more?
What kind of person thrives in your job
Someone who is analytical, enjoys the outdoors, enjoys the indoors, doesn't mind not interacting a lot with other people, enjoys problem solving. Someone who doesn't mind an occasional day of hard physical work and doesn't mind getting your hands muddy in the soil (and there is a very important difference between sandy clay and clayey sand). Someone who can communicate technical information simply.
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
There are times when I get to sit out in the sunshine watching other people work and get paid for it. There are times I get to wear jeans and get all muddy. There are times I have to wear a business suit and talk to business people about their environmental troubles. It's the variety of work that's great. Each project brings some unique circumstance. Some unique problem that I can help fix. It's fun.
That was fun. Good luck Fiona and I really wish someone had done this for me growing up. I was very clueless when I was deciding what to do when I grew up. Luckily I happened into something I enjoy that makes not too bad money as well. Can't beat that.
Lots of Luck
Carole