On any given ground investigation, there are three types of employers you could end up joining. The physical ground investigation is carried out by the company that owns the drilling rigs who are known as the Drilling Contractor, while the design and reports are generally completed by the Consultant, who often engages a drilling contractor as a subcontractor. However, there are plenty of Hybrid Companies that do both. Drillers that provide reports and Consultants that own rigs.
In your mind, you may wish to work for one or the other, but in reality, the first 12 to 18 months with a contractor, consultant or hybrid will be similar. Whichever you choose, your career will be off to a flying start in the ground investigation sector as you learn about how the information for ground models is collected – an essential part of all geology careers.
Penguin Recruitment’s Geo-Candidate Survey Findings
The overwhelming feedback from responders to our survey was that Site Experience in the early part of your career provides a tremendous foundation for your future career.
A selection of relevant responses from geo-professionals:
“Get some site experience if you eventually plan to work for a consultant. It is always clear to me those that have worked on-site before when it comes to both undertaking design and H&S.”
“Contractor work is a great start in geo and can give great foundations to move upwards into consultancy.”
“I recommend in this sector trying to get as much site experience as you can in your early career…I felt like I learnt more from standing at the side of a rig asking a driller why he was doing the tests he was undertaking than any kind of book or guidance document could provide. After a few years of learning how site engineering works I moved into consultancy and found it to be so rewarding to see how my site knowledge could then be applied to interpretation.”
“Be prepared to get your boots dirty and be onsite for a minimum 5 years before transitioning into an office role. The office role I am in now as a project manager needs to have that onsite knowledge to understand the processes. You are more respected in the industry if you have had the onsite experience. “
Expect to spend 80% plus of your time on site
A large part of the first 12 to 18 months of your ground investigation career is likely to be spent on site, supervising drilling rigs, borehole logging, sampling, testing, and sending samples off to the laboratory. You may well do this for Contractor, Consultant, or Hybrid. All have slightly different roles and responsibilities, but all involve understanding the ground investigation process and the different methods for collecting information.
As your career in ground investigation progresses, into the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year, this site percentage drops to approximately 20% as you will be required to be in the office more and more to utilise your expertise to complete the reports described previously. You will be well on the way to becoming a fully-fledged Geo-Environmental Engineer, Geotechnical Engineer or Engineering Geologist and perhaps be following a more specialist path in either environmental or geotechnical.
One great benefit of the ground investigation sector is early exposure to the full project lifecycle and obtaining great Project Management experience.
Differences between a Tier 1 Consultant and a Ground Investigation Consultant?
Large employer (Tier 1)
Large employers can provide great graduate training programmes and exposure to much larger projects, but be careful what you wish for… some new employees end up on one site, a long way from home for 12 months (or longer), or working on a very small component of large projects, gaining little exposure to how the whole project lifecycle works. As a balance, there are others that have gained excellent exposure.
The key here is that you shouldn’t just accept a job because it is a big company, you should explore more deeply with your potential line manager how they can commit to your early career plan. One thing is for sure, although case studies on a career page are always great stories, make sure you gain a much wider perspective about the role offered before commencing.
The Tier 1 route is generally the fastest way to get Chartered, but it may well leave you with gaps in your knowledge when compared to those with extensive small company exposure.
Large multinationals may not be for all, as some perceive a potential glass ceiling, and we often speak with people who are unable to secure promotion as there is no “room above”. These are big machines where numbers matter and reporting is a huge part of the process (as required on all large projects).
As a side note, events like COVID-19, takeovers/mergers, restructures, or large projects being cancelled by Government (think HS2) can significantly affect your career plans.
Graduate intakes are generally in September each year and the recruitment process can be long and drawn out, with little human contact.
Small to Medium Enterprises
SMEs by nature are much more agile. Training programmes may not be as formal because sometimes an ‘all hands on deck’ approach is required to deliver the work load. Work tends to be much more local as the business would have a stronger local presence. This is not always the case, but a good rule of thumb.
Although training is less formal, you will usually be exposed to the full lifecycle of projects and can take on fairly broad responsibility much faster. You may be exposed to several projects each month, rather than a few a year. Try to look for companies that have a diverse range of clients, ensuring the company is not exposed to fluctuations in the market. Housing, Rail and Renewables can all be exposed to the risk of a negative Government decision.
