It has been a while since I have written a careers blog, admittedly partly due to the immense amount of work which I am presently doing for my Masters, but also in large part due to the fact that I simply don’t want to have to ponder the prospect of beginning my career in the current economic climate if I can possibly avoid it .

Of course this is hardly a realistic solution to any problem, so ponder I did….

Thinking about this matter somehow put me in mind of a career path long forgotten, when I was avidly studying Robert Frost’s poetry for A Level English Lang. Lit. and, in particular, a little four stanza number entitled ‘The Road Not Taken’ which begins:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth…..

At present I see four main roads open to ‘vocationally’ geared Masters students such as myself:

1. Work in Industry
2. Another Masters
3. PhD
4. Work ‘in the area’ and pursue further study

and a decision will soon need to be made as to which road will be taken.

At the moment the clearest and most-trodden route for an Engineering Geologist is the one in to industry and a placement related directly to my Masters degree:
Sadly this path is presently obscured by the unseemly undergrowth of the recession. Whilst it is clearly always a sensible option to apply for jobs and graduate schemes throughout the year and to keep on good terms with potential employers, it is becoming increasingly apparent (by direct admission of many of the major companies) that the Geotechnical sector is reducing its intake indefinitely.

It must, therefore, be considered prudent to invest some more research time in further career ideas, and other possible paths to take.
So what about doing another MSc? More in the next instalment….