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I find it hard to decide what direction to proceed now.
I've done a Masters in Geology with no specifics. Does it give me the flexibility to choose a job to my liking or does it leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Do I need to invest further time and money in pursuing a degree with specifics or do I qualify for a job as an exploration geologist.
I can safely say that I can identify a rock from other rocks and structures as well, as well as an experienced geologist would.
Please understand that I am not boasting here. I am genuinely confused.
After reading matter published in this forum I found that I should have gone in for a specialized course like petroleum or mining geology.

Hello,

From what you said I infer you did a non-thesis masters program. Otherwise your thesis would have most likely fallen into one of the several major sub-disciplines of geology. So it appears to me that it would be helpful to those of us thinking about answering your question if we knew what courses you took. Personally I would like to know all courses above the 1st year level. That may sound like I am trying to snoop into your business but since many of the courses my teachers took as 2 semester courses were only 1 semester long when I took them and some pf these have been combined at some schools. Example: Sedimentology - 1 year, stratigraphy 1 year, vs sedimentology 1 semester & stratigraphy 1 semester vs sed-strat 1 semester, I think it relevant information.

My intuition and experience tells me however, that if you can impress a recruiter or someone w/in a company that you will be a good employee they won't worry too much about the lack of specialization. And besides your career may take many unusual turns before you retire and that broad based education may serve you better than being overly specialized.

I took two sedimentology courses but did not take metallic minerals. Now being a mud logger with my own compnay and looking at sulfides in shales and sandstones I wish I knew more about how to analyze them and had a reflecting petrographic micrscope with which to do it. And most of those who took the metallic minerals course are now working in offices looking at well logs, after mid-career swings through working as environmental geologists. In closing and until I know more about your course work (assuming you post it), let me just say this: you can't have too many of the basics and if you will just show up on time and work hard while there I doubt you will have any problems. Or at least not more than most geologists encounter during their careers which may include months to multi - year long periods of delivering pizzas, sacking groceries, teaching school, and all the other jobs we do when times get bad. ON the other hand, in what other profession do people have the passion for their work that geologists have? I love it!!

Darryl

For Sem 1: Mineralogy, Igneous Petrology, sedimentary petrology, Metamorphic petrology, Geomorphology, and the corresponding lab work
For Sem 2: Structural Geology, Remote sensing, Digital Image Processing and GIS, Geochemistry, Stratigraphy, Paleontology, Solod Earth System, and the corresponding lab work
For Sem 3: Exploration Geology, Mining Geology and Mineral Economics, Economic geology, Engineering geology, Global tectonics, Micropaleontology, Marine Geology, Quantitative geology and the corresponding lab work
For Sem 4: Environmental geology, Hydrogeology, Sedimentary Environments and Basin analysis, Quaternary geology, Petroleum and coal geology, and the corresponding lab work

I had a dissertation project too and it was on the Ring dyke of Amba Dongar in Gujarat, India and the associated Alkalinites in its locality.