You've found your passion, and now you're ready to turn that into a career.
A good place to start is with the Center for Career Engagement. They have many resources to help you find a summer job, internship, or a career, and they also have data on recent graduating classes to see what they have done.
Once you graduate, you'll be faced with the important decision of how you want to begin your career. Generally you have four options:
- graduate school in geoscience
- other education
- starting a career
- taking a gap year
Many undergraduates who are interested in a research career will pursue a PhD in Earth Science, Planetary Science, or in a related field. Students who major in Washington University's Earth and Planetary Sciences Department are highly sought after, and are routinely accepted into multiple PhD programs from top institutions.
If you choose a professional career, you'll want to determine which industry is most interesting to you. Nationally, the largest employers for geoscience graduates with a bachelor's degree are Environmental Services (such as environmental consulting), the Oil & Gas industry, and the federal government (agencies such as USGS and the National Park Service). A good way to get your foot in the door to one of these industries is through an internship.
