v rocks & reads

goals and the beginning of the hunt

leading up to graduation, I had hoped to find a job doing geologic research and/or something involving the use of gis. the dream, of course, would have been to find a position with the ugs or usgs, even an internship! I actually applied for an internship with the ugs which would have revolved around minerals and resources, if i’m remembering correctly (which I may not be), but they ended up hiring a fellow uvu student (noah) who was perfectly suited to the job (i was and am incredibly happy for him! he did a research project on using remote sensing to identify minerals in rocks in central ut).

my more realistic (maybe?) backup was a city gis job (which would have been super boring, but good gis experience) or some sort of geotechnical position (which for some reason was terrifying to me???). parker gave me good advice to speak to our dean because he has connections to a couple geotechnical engineering firms from like 20 years ago! he ended up being the reason I got a job for after field camp! (shout out dr. danny horns!!!)

at the time i’m writing this, I have been with my company (iges – intermountain geotechnical engineering services) for 5 – 6 months. aaaaand so has parker! it was kind of crazy! we both talked to dr. horns, and he recommended we each reach out to kent hartley with iges. i ended up emailing a million (realistically, probably 10) different geotechnical engineering firms in salt lake valley and utah valley, and i heard back from 3 or 4. i set up interviews with 2 of the 4 (the 2 i heard from first). these were iges and GSH.

GSH interview

I interviewed with GSH first, and it was pretty much completely terrible. I was interviewed by 4 men, 2 of which seemed like they did not like me. the guy in charge kept emphasizing how physically difficult and uncomfortable and sucky the job would be and how they’ve had people quit after 2 days because they didn’t feel like they were given enough training. he was proud of these stories, and clearly thought that it was the new hire’s fault and not the company’s, which seems just as insane to me now as it did then. like, how about you train your employees???

he also badmouthed professors/people who go the academia route, saying that they don’t know what they’re talking about. this was specifically in regards to my resume, but it sure seemed like he meant it in all aspects.

later, they showed me some of the equipment (drill rig, rock coring casings, etc), and I showed interest, saying everything was cool and asking questions. then he commented on how I kept saying everything was cool and that I wouldn’t think it was cool when I was standing in the freezing rain working in the field.

it very much felt like they didn’t think I had it in me, and that he was trying to scare me away. and I guess it worked, because I left that interview thinking there was no way in hell I would work there!

IGES interview

a week or so after that interview, I went to IGES for the first time and interviewed with literally 5 people (all men, again) at once! it was really intimidating, especially after my first bad experience! luckily, it couldn’t have been more different. everyone was nice, joking around, asking about my schooling/research (which GSH did not give 1 #### about), and not asking stupid interview questions. the vibe was so much more comfortable, and I actually felt respected as a potential employee, despite my age, gender, and lack of experience.

Kent (my now-boss) basically said alright we’ll give you a few days to think about it, but they wanted to offer me the job! he also mentioned the possibility of doing a “ride-along” to see some of what the job would consist of.

later, when I was emailing him some follow-up questions (including, embarrassingly, do I get paid for the drive time? lol), I mentioned that I have friends graduating who may be looking for jobs as well, and are they interested? he said yes, so I sent him Parker’s info and I sent Parker his info! Parker also interviewed and was also essentially offered the job on the spot!

we ended up doing the ride-along at the same time, but I think Parker had already accepted the position, while I hadn’t. idk what I was waiting for, I guess it just felt like a big commitment? anyway, we went with Jeff to do a couple of lot observations. we learned what pinholes are, which is hilarious to think back on because of how frequently we see them now.

after that, I accepted the job, and we had start dates after field camp!

IGES (2024-now!)

presently, I am a staff geologist with IGES at the draper office, however, I don’t actually do much geology at all. I almost-solely do lot observations, which involves going to an excavation for a house or building and checking out the soil in order to determine whether they are okay to build the foundations or not. I look for native vs fill soils, pinholes (indicative of potential for collapse), groundwater, frost, etc. It probably sounds more boring than it is. it does involve a lot of drive time sometimes, because we do lots in tooele, park city, santaquin, etc pretty frequently. it’s nice, honestly! I like listening to music/audiobooks/podcasts or calling Jordan and talking for a little bit. the flexibility is really nice, as well. and I’ve become friends with some of the excavators, which is also fun.

overall, I am happy with my job as a first step in my career! or maybe I’ll be a housewife/stay-at-home-mom who is weirdly obsessed with rocks and fossils.