Entry 9 – Career Research

1. Who hires entry level professionals for your career?
1. Museums that have exhibits about natural history.
2. Oil Companies
3. Colleges/Universities
4. State and Federal Geological Surveys
2. What does one need to know and be able to do for this career? (i.e. skills, training, etc.)
1. An in depth understanding of statistics and calculus
2. The ability to listen to the ideas of his/her peers
3. Be able to think critically
4. Be an effective communicator through writing
5. Display competence with modern technology
6. Have effective materials management skills
7. Must be able to work effectively within a group
8. Know business and management techniques
9. Know biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and geography thoroughly
10. Must be able to educate and train someone effectively
3. What type of work does one do in this career?
1. Paleontologists work in the field by searching and uncovering fossils of various extinct groups of living organisms and work in the laboratory by finely cleaning the fossils of these organisms.
2. They also form hypotheses about how these creatures behaved and lived using the fossils that they have found and they may apply this knowledge to understand the precursors of evolution and extinction in today’s life forms.
3. Also, Paleontologists use fossils to study ancient climates, or other related subjects, so that the knowledge that these fossils give them can be used in comparison to today’s climate.
4. What are typical starting salaries?
1. Assistant Professor with a Ph.D - $40,000 to $60,000 for a nine month school year
2. In industry or government with a Dr. - $50,000 to $80,000
3. Geoscientists, paleontologists included, working for oil companies or gas extraction earn an average of $139,390 a year.
5. What type of benefits package can one expect?  (Medical, dental, vision, retirement, etc.)
1. Paid leaves, and Medical and life insurance
2. Various types of allowances such as travel, housing, and stipends
6. How many entry level jobs are available each year?
1. 26,090 on average for Geoscientists, including paleontologist, but excluding hydrologists and geographers
7. What is the projected outlook for job openings in this career for the next ten years?
1. Growth of 16% for Geoscientists in general
8. Where are these jobs located?
1. Most growth is going to be present in oil and gas extraction industry
9. What sort of advancements are available in this career?
1. Paleontology is known as a gateway science meaning that most students who become passionate in science usually have Paleontology to thank.
2. Paleontologists have the intriguing goal of uncovering our planets history, and so they have keen insight as to the conditions that lead to very rare events that humanity may experience in the future.
3. Also, as a Paleontologist, you understand the magnitude of the changes to the biosphere that are happening constantly.
4. In addition, Paleontology imparts huge amounts of critical thinking skills onto those who study it and it gives them the power to predict the possible rare events of the past that might happen in the future.
10. What is the average salary?
1. $91,920 on average according to shmoop.com
11. What is a high salary?  How many people make this salary?
1. $130,330 annually
2. Only 25% of all paleontologists make this much money.
3. There are about 1920 to 3200 paleontologists in the US.
4. Globally there are around 30,000 to 50,000 paleontologists
12. What professional organizations will you need to join?
1. The Palaeontological Society in Britain
1. While membership is not mandatory, it is essential for a paleontologist to communicate his findings and this society releases of the more distinguished Paleontological journals.
13. Is additional education required?  If so, what is required?
1. Yes, most paleontologists are going to need to work for a Ph.D or Doctrate degree from a Paleontology graduate program.
2. However, most consultant, museum, and industry jobs only require a Masters degree.
14. After 15 years, what second career(s) could you pursue with the same degree and/or other education?
1. Business and Administration
2. Teaching
3. Land Management consultant
4. Ecologist
5. Marine Biologist
6. Technology and Programming
7. Technical Design
15. What other relevant information did you find?
1. A career in Paleontology is very hard to achieve as well as being very expensive to earn the required degrees and risky due to a small job market.
2. Paleontologists commonly work in other fields if they plan to do so as a backup to stay out of unemployment.
3. Paleontologists have to be ready to meet a large deal of public misunderstanding, as well as dissent from other professional scientists.