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Started By
Message
Finding Your First "Real" Job
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:07 am
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:07 am
Background: Degrees from LSU in Petroleum Engineering and History. Worked 1 internship with return offer rescinded when oil prices crashed. Worked other odd jobs between school breaks.
Today: Spend at least 3 hours a day searching and applying for jobs on all the sites, as well as attempting to build and reach out to current network. Rest of the time is spent learning new skills (Lynda.com) and building old ones.
Question: What entry level fields should I be looking at with above qualifications? Are job sites pointless? I'm trying to get creative but struggling to find jobs to apply for other than some engineering, engineering technician, and (assistant) project management. I've applied all over the map and had 0 luck. Wheels spinning 100.
Any advice is appreciated.
Today: Spend at least 3 hours a day searching and applying for jobs on all the sites, as well as attempting to build and reach out to current network. Rest of the time is spent learning new skills (Lynda.com) and building old ones.
Question: What entry level fields should I be looking at with above qualifications? Are job sites pointless? I'm trying to get creative but struggling to find jobs to apply for other than some engineering, engineering technician, and (assistant) project management. I've applied all over the map and had 0 luck. Wheels spinning 100.
Any advice is appreciated.
18
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:08 am to Tigerbiscuits
What was your GPA?
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:09 am to Displaced
Major/Cum: 3.5/3.4
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:10 am to Tigerbiscuits
Career fairs and expos were how all my friends at LSU got hired before graduation. The petroleum engineering looks like the breadwinner degree to me.
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:12 am to Tigerbiscuits
I've always had better luck going directly to a company's website to apply than job boards.
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:12 am to Tigerbiscuits
Have you looked at state level clean up or enforcement? The pay won't be what you want but it's a job. I know Florida DEP loves to hire engineers.
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:12 am to Tigerbiscuits
Just don't give up. Supposedly it's slow in Louisiana now, but you seem like someone they'd want. Just went through the same thing, just keep applying.
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:13 am to Tigerbiscuits
Might have to do a job that is below your educational standards for a little while to get your foot in the door and ride out the doodoo market we face right now.
I know a guy who was an engineer / proj manager for a major oil company. He now works offshore on a platform because it was that or get laid off
I know a guy who was an engineer / proj manager for a major oil company. He now works offshore on a platform because it was that or get laid off
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:13 am to Tigerbiscuits
quote:
Major/Cum: 3.5/3.4
any idea what percentile this is?
how rampant is grade inflation at LSU?
editing for actual advice. Learn how to write a decent cover letter. This will take you places. if you learn how to do a mail merge with a few fields designed as sentences directed at the specific company you can pump out 100 in no time flat.
This post was edited on 6/7/16 at 9:23 am
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:14 am to Tigerbiscuits
Make sure to take the cover letter seriously. Was a shock to me how much my company cares about stuff like that
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:22 am to The Easter Bunny
Any legit head hunters around anymore?
With nursing there were for awhile, but it faded out to just travel contracts and less steady jobs.
Job fairs were really not the best way to go for healthcare, but probably is a great way with petro engineering.
Gotta be willing to relocate though.
How feasible is overseas with your home and family situation? From what I heard of it it seemed to be a single mans game. And you'd need to set immediate limits on places you'd not go.
I knew one idiot who did it. He wasn't a damned engineer either. Made tons of cash. And blew it immediately when home. He was like a Deadliest Catch cast member though with his level of stupidity.
Good luck.
With nursing there were for awhile, but it faded out to just travel contracts and less steady jobs.
Job fairs were really not the best way to go for healthcare, but probably is a great way with petro engineering.
Gotta be willing to relocate though.
How feasible is overseas with your home and family situation? From what I heard of it it seemed to be a single mans game. And you'd need to set immediate limits on places you'd not go.
I knew one idiot who did it. He wasn't a damned engineer either. Made tons of cash. And blew it immediately when home. He was like a Deadliest Catch cast member though with his level of stupidity.
Good luck.
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:32 am to ShoeBang
quote:
any idea what percentile this is?
No clue, they used to put it on our transcripts but I don't see it any more. Probably hurt someone's feelings.
quote:
Might have to do a job that is below your educational standards for a little while to get your foot in the door and ride out the doodoo market we face right now.
Definitely not opposed to this. Looking way below my standards (no offense) with possibly doing some landscaping, uber, other laborer type work just to get by. Struggling to find that middle ground of entry level professional job that's below my qualifications.
quote:
Any legit head hunters around anymore?
Looking for headhunters online is like looking for any type of service these days. It's super flooded with spam sites, and the few legit ones I've found are for IT, Accounting/Finance, and Healthcare.
quote:
Relocate
I've applied Coast to Coast but international would be a tough sell. I'm recently engaged to a great woman who's firmly rooted in NOLA, so moving would require proving an earning potential greater than her's.
Thanks for the advice. I think my cover letter is pretty solid and I tailor it specifically for job listings I find appealing. With little experience it ends up being a well written highlight of a small work portfolio with a combination of cliches for the most part.
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:34 am to Tigerbiscuits
As a drilling guy myself I would recommend you find anything in the industrial realm that you can find and continue looking as prices rebound. The Great Crew Change, or whatever they call it, is still gonna happen and they'll need fresh bodies. But while you wait you need to hone those skills that will make a difference down the road ie understanding safety practice, project budgeting, etc.
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:42 am to Tigerbiscuits
quote:
Tigerbiscuits
ever thought about the military?...you could go in with a commission and be an officer...if nothing else you do your 6 years or so and then it will open doors you never even knew existed...or you could do 20...retire in your 40's and pull a pension for the rest of your life...get a job making 6 figures and be sitting like a fat cat...Coast Guard...would be the direction I would take if doing this...you could more easily stay in the gulf coast region and be close to NOLA...just my .02
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:44 am to DonChowder
Awesome man, hope the crash hasn't hurt you too much. My dream job is in reservoir so I've been studying a lot of analytical decline curve analysis proposed by fetkovich and building a small portfolio of forecasts. Hoping one day to show em off in an interview.
It's tough breaking into the industrial realm right now, seems like the only people hiring want some knowledge of CAD and unfortunately we miss that in the Pete program.
It's tough breaking into the industrial realm right now, seems like the only people hiring want some knowledge of CAD and unfortunately we miss that in the Pete program.
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:50 am to Tigerbiscuits
quote:Obligatory
Major/Cum: 3.5/3.4
ETA:
quote:This is so true. All we had was CE1030 or something like that with Venkatesh...one semester of a basic CAD class and that's it. Kind of ridiculous. Luckily, with the right book and enough sit-down time, CAD is fairly easy to become proficient at
seems like the only people hiring want some knowledge of CAD and unfortunately we miss that in the Pete program
This post was edited on 6/7/16 at 9:54 am
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:52 am to The Easter Bunny
quote:Spot on. A good cover letter gets your resume read. A good resume gets you an interview. A good interview gets you a job.
Make sure to take the cover letter seriously. Was a shock to me how much my company cares about stuff like that
A good cover letter also demonstrates the ability to effectively communicate in writing, which is a key skill in most jobs.
Good luck!
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:53 am to TexasTiger90
I had the same thing happened after i graduated college. Have you tried taking the test for state jobs ? I finally decided after searching for a few months and lower paying jobs to leave the state. Saw some suggestions for Military.
Not a bad idea since i was in the Air Force as well.
Not a bad idea since i was in the Air Force as well.
This post was edited on 6/7/16 at 9:57 am
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:55 am to Tigerbiscuits
quote:
Are job sites pointless?
Nope. They route you to the company's website usually anyway. Beware of recruiting companies and staffing agencies....pain in the arse.
I think you have an oil industry issue (as I'm sure you know). Keep plugging away man, especially those jobs you mentioned outside of oil & gas.
Couldn't hurt to contact the LSU engineering career center too even though you've graduated.
Posted on 6/7/16 at 9:56 am to Tigerbiscuits
honestly i waited tables in college and had a ton of people to contact them when i graduated. (degree was in geology) so it wouldn't hurt to work in a restaurant where people meet for business to maybe meet some people and make some money while job hunting
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