Initial Publication Date: July 14, 2017

Understand Workforce Needs

Jump down to: What Employers are Looking For | Additional Resources

Explore the Current Workforce and Trends for the Future

The Workforce for a Sustainable Future

In order to prepare your students for the future workforce, you (and they) need to understand what the current workforce looks like. Learn about the needs of and opportunities offered by the future workforce. See more information about employment statistics, information about major employment sectors, and a description of future opportunities that will arise as the current workforce retires.

Learn about what Employers are Looking For

Needed Competencies

Prepare students for the workforce by ensuring your program is equipped to train them with the the knowledge and skills employers are looking for.

Employer Perspectives and Career Profiles

Read first-hand accounts of what employers are looking for and what skills and competencies are in demand in industry. This page includes employer and employee interviews and career profiles across several fields in the geosciences and beyond.

Find Partners in the Workplace »
 In almost every part of the country there are businesses and government agencies eager to hire graduates with geoscience expertise. Reaching out to make connections with firms and offices can generate opportunities to bring in external speakers and place students in internships as well as potentially generate financial or in-kind support for the academic programs that prepare those graduates.
From a synthesis of lessons learned by InTeGrate Implementation Programs

Additional Resources

  • The Career Development site guide provides links to several projects related to providing resources and information for graduate students, post-docs, and early career faculty. While many are geoscience-based, most of the information they contain is applicable for other STEM disciplines as well.
  • The Supporting and Advancing Geoscience Education in Two-Year Colleges (SAGE) program has a host of resources on Geoscience Career Information for 2-year college students.
    • Workforce Oveview lays out information about what geoscientists do, what kinds of preparation are necessary, and what the earning potential is in various parts of the geoscience workforce.
    • Career Pathways - Students can use the information on this page to plot their own route to a satisfying career in the geosciences.
    • Career Profiles - This collection of career profiles combines personal descriptions of the individual career paths of many geoscience professionals. From academia, to industry, to government, and beyond, there are many ways that a geoscience degree can set our students up for success.
  • Support Transitions to Workforce, Transfer, and Careers - Get ideas for supporting students at the course level, the program/department level, and institutional level and beyond.