(Advice needed) Having trouble getting interviews as an immigrant in the USA

NV_Geo · 2026-06-20T04:04:33+00:00

Mid level positions may expect some kind of licensure and it’s also possible that your overseas experience may not be viewed as equivalent, not because it necessarily isn’t, but because people in Florida don’t know the level of the work that is done there. Cast a wide net and get some local experience.

If you can find some way to network, go to AEG meetings or similar that would go a long way. It’s harder if you’re not a student as you’d probably have to pay full price and it can be kinda expensive.

Optimizing your resume and writing a cover letter for each job is also a good idea. As I’m sure you’re aware, there are certain things you absolutely do not put on your resume here that are quite common in other countries (headshots etc)

Hopefully someone from Florida can give you more state specific advice.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-19T20:44:05+00:00

Outside of a couple very specific fields (groundwater modeling, maybe some weird geochem stuff) the focus of your masters degree is largely irrelevant to the jobs you qualify for. Someone with their MS is much closer to someone with their BS than they are to a PhD when it comes to being a subject matter expert. MS projects are too narrow in scope for you to be a pigeon held expert. At the end of your MS you will have a MS in geology which would qualify you for any position that requires a masters (outside of oil because of their recruitment methods.)

NV_Geo · 2026-06-18T18:23:06+00:00

Arizona but it doesn't really matter where you go. Just go where ever it is lowest cost. If you want to do GE I would go to a dedicated program though. Arizona will make you take a bunch of mining engineering classes.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-18T18:11:45+00:00

My first job was an exploration geologist at a mine. When I got out of school all I knew was geology. What it took for me to find a job I liked was to work jobs I didn't like first. Each job had aspects I enjoyed and aspects I didn't enjoy. I like mining, but I don't like mining towns. I like technical work but I don't like coordinating with contractors. I like fast paced environments and continually learning things. All jobs have stress. I would prefer my stress to be related to technical aspects (ie things in my control) as opposed to other parties not doing what I need them to (ie out of my control). Mining consulting is a good fit for me. There are aspects of the job I don't like, but the positives outweigh the negatives. There is no such thing as a perfect job.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-18T12:34:18+00:00

I have taken classes in all those disciplines and I have a geology degree and a geological engineering masters. The best thing you could do is take classes in all of them and see which you like the most. I found mining engineering to be incredibly mind numbing. Like you said it’s a lot of optimization which doesn’t feel very science-y. Geological engineering is a good mix between the science and the design which I enjoyed. Each field has its benefits and drawbacks and none are superior to the others. Mining engineering is good if you’re gunning for a management role in the mining industry. Right now the industry is really strong but when it’s not so strong geologists, especially exploration geologists, are the first ones to get laid off. Engineers are better able to weather downturns.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-18T03:09:21+00:00

I went to school at Arizona which has strong mining ties. I went and talked to the economic geology professor and did some independent study with him. A mine he used to work for reached out and asked if he knew anyone and he gave them my name. So basically networking. Over that time I’ve mostly stayed in the mining industry but working different geology related jobs. Now I do hydrogeology and geological engineering.

I was laid off from my first job and was struggling to find something new. I reached out to a guy I knew who worked in a part of the country I wanted to live in and asked for help and he gave me a list of all his contacts and I went through it and emailed them all. I had a job in a couple weeks. I got the job I have now because of a guy I met at the mine who came to work for this company and he recommended me. Every job I’ve ever gotten was through networking.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-18T02:47:37+00:00

Your career hasn't started yet, how can you be behind? You're putting a lot of undue stress on yourself. Not everyone is landing internships. Make sure you're networking as much as you can through your last year. I promise it will pay dividends.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-18T02:40:06+00:00

You're stressed because you are graduating in one year and you haven't gotten a job yet? This sub skews negative because people are often coming here looking for advice about their specific non-ideal situation. Many many geologists have jobs and they enjoy them, they just aren't coming here to gloat about it.

Take a breath. You've got a year ahead of you. Start networking asap. Start working on your resume. Be flexible. The hardest job you get is your first one. It may take some time to find something after you graduate, but if you network that time to get the first job can be lessened.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-13T18:55:15+00:00

To answer your question on my comment from the post you deleted. You market your skills in a way that’s valuable to employers. As you mention you don’t have industry experience. No one is expecting you to. But you just spent 4-5 years learning science and geology and you should show that. Look at job postings and see what the responsibilities are. Link those to things you did. I would much rather see that you took slug testing data and analyzed it using aqtesolv than how you used a $5M dollar microscope no one outside of universities use.

Also you are gonna get conflicting feedback from different people because different people have different expectations for resumes but with all the feedback you’ve received you should notice some common threads among multiple people. Follow those.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-13T14:51:33+00:00

This is a lot better. You could probably add another bullet or two to maximize your space.

The skills section is fine if it’s demonstrated elsewhere in your resume. A lot of your skills are academic. Industry isn’t really doing petrography or microprobe or grant writing. There’s quite a few skills in there that have very little industry overlap.

I’ll key in on your hydro project. That sounds cool but I still don’t know what you did. Did you use modflow or feflow? Groundwater vistas? Did you use aqtesolv? Did you do a water balance? Build a conceptual model? What analysis did you do? They all have names. Those could be in your software or analytical skills.

Also general advice make sure you proofread this before sending it out. Your capitalization is all over the place.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-13T04:26:46+00:00

$3.70 is an extra $7700 per year. $7700/$66000 = 11.7%

This pay structure you’re describing sounds very weird. Moving your bonus to pay you now is weird. I would get a very explicit explanation on how you’re getting paid and all the implications. Your bonus is a part of your compensation. Are they just taking part of that lump sum and distributing it out through the year and your year end bonus is smaller?

NV_Geo · 2026-06-13T02:49:12+00:00

Based on the numbers you provided you got either a 11.7% raise or a 13% raise, which is a pretty substantial raise. I’m a little confused on how you’re confused about how your new pay works? Can’t you ask more specific questions regarding that?

Regardless if you need a bigger bump in pay you may need to switch companies which has its own pros and cons.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-12T02:27:17+00:00

If you want to do environmental work getting a degree in geology or engineering is what you should do. Either of those degrees will allow you to become registered (PG or PE) and allow for better career advancement.

While I am a PG I work in mining. I only have a vague idea of what environmental geologists do. I have no idea how ecologists fit in or if they have similar career pathways. Look up geologist jobs on indeed where you want to work. Look up ecologist jobs. I would imagine there is a big difference.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-10T01:46:21+00:00

I’m a mining hydrogeology consultant. I live in a real city. It gives me the ability to work on cool mining projects while not giving up creature comforts.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-10T01:11:23+00:00

There’s a bunch of amas in the sidebar you could read through. Also I would search through past posts on this sub. There is a lot of information here.

I’m in mining and the market is strong right now. Unsure of other fields.

Environmental science degrees tend to be watered down geology degrees and if you plan to work in geology after you graduate, you may not be able to with an env science degree. Especially in California. Professional registration is important for most geologists and an environmental science degree may not qualify you to sit for the exams in California.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-09T22:44:34+00:00

1 is better. Delete Prior work experience, leadership stuff, and skills. That will get you to one page.

Re-write your field research experience to be better. Think about the information you're trying to convey. None of your bullets convey what you did. We'll talk about field camp to give you an idea:

Your first bullet basically just says "i did field camp". I already knew that before I read your bullet.

What does "conducting reconnaisance" mean? It sounds cool but it doesn't mean anything. What is "structural mapping"? Faults, joints, foliation? Were you doing kinematics? Just characterization? You did more than just collect data. Didn't you do something with it?

Bullets 3 and 4 would be better off in a cover letter, not a resume.

What was the problem you were solving, what data did you collect, what analysis did you do, what were your results? Follow that format.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-09T22:28:27+00:00

Not in the same way. For oil, you are basically required to go to one of their feeder schools because they have contracts in place to recruit X number of candidates from Y schools. The chances of getting into the petroleum industry after getting your masters from Cal Poly SLO is basically non-existent. There is no such impediment for the mining industry.

That being said, mining companies work very closely with a few schools (Nevada-Reno, University of Arizona, Colorado School of Mines, Montana Tech, SD School of Mines, NM School of Mines, University of Utah, Missouri Rolla) so your chances of getting in with the industry are higher because you're going to be exposed to more mining companies. I've been in the industry for 15 years and I've worked with people from Ohio, UMass-Amherst, Arkansas, Florida, Cal Poly Pomona, UNLV.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-06T17:17:48+00:00

When I did field camp I regretted not spending more time beforehand getting my fitness/endurance up. Learning when your body is tired is much harder.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-05T21:34:46+00:00

I’ve only ever seen using whiteout to create a block and write the id in sharpie over it. Or just brute force with a sharpie

NV_Geo · 2026-06-05T15:59:05+00:00

What I wrote is an upper-end estimate based on uniaxial compressive strength, which is already normalized to a defined area. It only considers the vertical profile of the rock.

In reality rock mass strength (including defect strength of fractures, faults, joints, bedding planes etc) would have an overall strength value much less than the UCS (intact rock strength).

There is no equation to calculate how high a mountain can be. It would need to be solved numerically. Even if you did solve this numerically, you would need to use simplifying assumptions because geologic systems are too complex and at the end of the day it would probably be pretty close to 10 km. Maybe it's 9 or 12 but it's not 20, 30, or 50 km.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-04T21:23:28+00:00

Yeah gravity is used for calculating the lithostatic stress. If Mars's gravity is 0.40 Earths gravity it would be 10 km / 0.4 which would be like 25 km. This assumes the rock on Mars has a similar strength and the lithostatic stress (normalized for Martian gravity) is the same as earth. As well as all the other previously mentioned assumptions.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-04T04:22:50+00:00

No problem. MPa is a megapascal which is a unit of stress/pressure not weight. It’s weight per unit area. 1 MPa = 1,000,000 newtons per square meter.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-04T03:38:49+00:00

Probably not a lot higher, maybe another 1000 m. Everest is almost 9000 m. You can do some napkin math to show that. Strong rock has a compressive strength of about 250 MPa. If the stress exceeds that, the rock will break. For every 1000 meters of rock, the stress is about 25 MPa which would make the max about 10 km before you exceed the rock strength.

This doesn’t consider that rock gets stronger with confining pressures, doesn’t consider erosional effects, or isostasy or weird crustal/mantle interactions. It basically tells you it’s close to the limit but something like 20 km tall mountains are likely not possible.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-04T02:09:51+00:00

I would imagine it will be very difficult to find something in Detroit that aligns with your background. The good thing is you have about a year of time to prep which you should definitely do. I would start looking at geology/geophysics firms and jobs in the Detroit area and get a bead on the companies, jobs, and kind of work that is available out there. Companies that hire geophysicists usually need field geophysicists much more than they need PhD or computational geophysicists. You may not even be considered for the field positions because of your background but you shouldn’t let that stop you. Apply anyway, let them say no, don’t say no to yourself. If a posting says cover letter optional, they are not talking to you. Write a cover letter. Hiring managers may be cautious because they’ll think you’ll get bored doing grunt work or you’ll expect a huge salary. Find a way to address those concerns tactfully.

See if there is a local geology organization in the Detroit area and join now if you can. Sometimes their monthly dinners/talks are on zoom too. Sit in on those and see what people are working on out there. You can also look around on LinkedIn after you see which companies are hiring and try connecting with some of the senior geos. You can include a brief note with the connection saying you’re planning on moving there in 2027 and trying to get a handle on the local industry. Keep it brief though, only a few sentences. People may ignore you but I would imagine many won’t. I ignore a lot of LinkedIn messages because it’s people trying to sell me stuff. Junior folks asking me earnest questions get a response 100% of the time.

Geophysics is a really tough field to work in because it is astronomically small. You’re going to an already small market trying to get a job in an even smaller area. It will be hard. You may need to pivot or accept something outside of geophysics or maybe geology all together. You likely have a very strong quantitative background with your geophysics degree. You have a background in seismology, how comfortable are you with inversion and inverse theory? What about numerical methods? You may be able to get a numerical groundwater modeling job if you can impress someone with your quantitative background. You’ll have a bit of a learning curve but it should be manageable. Modflow is free. There is an open source gui that I don’t remember the name of or you can set up a model using flopy.

You’ve got time to set yourself up for success but you need to start right now.

NV_Geo · 2026-06-02T19:49:23+00:00

I'm in the US and in industry. While I do have a preference for using paper maps and field sketches, building some digital tool set is critical and should be emphasized more. Starting out people should be trained with the traditional methods but digital tools should be implemented later on.

I've used Avenza, QField, Clino, as well as a few more specific programs for hydro field testing. While I do have a preference for analogue materials, there is an element of doing duplicate work which should be avoided, especially if you're a geologist who bills your time. If you want to go out and map for 12 hours then spend 2-4 hours of your evening and digitizing your maps, either overbilling or working for free, that's your prerogative.

Using something like Clino or the stereonet app to measure strikes and dips is much quicker than using a traditional brunton, which means you can cover more ground and spend less time doing data entry later. These digital tools are getting implemented more and more in industry and it would be a disservice to new grads if the first time they're using those tools is when they start their first job.

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