Career Trends

Employment prospects in earth sciences improve with a graduate degree.

Geography

Careers in conservation, demography, transportation, land-use planning, soil science and tourism management are open to geography graduates. The skills of map interpretation, remote sensing and data analysis that are developed in undergraduate geography programs are the basis of the more advanced applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Many universities offer courses in GIS in the senior years of the program.

With an undergraduate degree:

Currently, chances of these graduates finding work in occupations in which they usually look for work are rated "Fair"...Over the next five years, this outlook is not expected to change… These graduates are expected to have more success when searching for jobs as urban and land use planners in the professional services sector of the economy. (http://www.emploiavenir.ca/fos/M830.shtml) With a graduate degree: Some graduates found work teaching at universities and in elementary/secondary schools. Others found work as programmers or systems analysts, mapping and related technologists or physical science professionals. They worked in educational institutions, government departments or tourism institutes or in the scientific and technical services industry. Currently, chances of these graduates finding work in occupations in which they usually look for work are rated "Good"…Over the next five years, this outlook is not expected to change...
These graduates are expected to have more success when searching for jobs as urban and land use planners in the professional services and construction sectors, which are expected to grow strongly over time.

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Geology

Geology graduates often find employment in the oil, mining and environmental industries. Following are some excerpts from Human Resources Development Canada's Job Futures 2000.

With an undergraduate degree:

Graduates from this program of study often find work in the same occupations as engineering graduates and those with a master's degree in this field. Graduates usually found work as professionals or technologists in their field. Some worked in various engineering fields or as teachers. They worked for engineering firms or in the mining industry.
After two years in the labour force, these graduates earned on average 14% more than all university graduates at the bachelor's level. They were among the highest paid of all graduates at this level in physical sciences.

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With a graduate degree:

Graduates usually found work as geologists or geological technologists. Some also worked as university professors. Many worked for engineering firms or for the petroleum or mining industries.
After two years in the labour force, these graduates earned on average 5% less than all graduates at the master's level. Nevertheless, they were among the highest paid of all master's graduates in the physical sciences. They earned 17% more than graduates at the bachelor's level in geology. After five years, they earned 6% below the average for all master's graduates.

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