What they do all day? Discovering the next great oil play is the goal of these geoscientists. You might envision them in the field breaking rocks with hammers, but they actually spend the day in front of high-powered computers, running simulations and manipulating geologic data to test their hypotheses of where petroleum reservoirs can be extracted.

How to get the job? Business acumen is as important as the ability to decipher geophysical clues. The job isn't just finding where to drill and turn up oil -- it's finding the location where a company can drill and make a great profit.

What's great? What's not? Petroleum geologists get to explore the wonder of the dynamic Earth. But with a lot riding on their calculations -- oil and gas wells can cost several hundred million dollars -- they must be able to handle high-precision work under high-stress conditions. --G.W.

What they do all day? Discovering the next great oil play is the goal of these geoscientists. You might envision them in the field breaking rocks with hammers, but they actually spend the day in front of high-powered computers, running simulations and manipulating geologic data to test their hypotheses of where petroleum reservoirs can be extracted. --G.W.