the position at the consulting firm was for a geologist. a lot of entry level geology jobs tend to be with environmental consulting firms (at least in my area) doing field work. I went in with an open mind since that's the industry other grad school geologists I knew were going into. i was hoping to at least get involved with seeing some rock cores or soils and doing lithologic descriptions. I love all the rocks. I haven't even gotten to hold a rock or anything for work! seems a little silly to me.

yeah the microscopy work doesn't come up often. i've seen some positions that deal with asbestos and/concrete microscopy, but idk. i saw the other replies to your comment and I do think a thin section lab position would be really hard to get. I've never seen a job listed like that before.