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re: Finding jobs abroad in the Oil and Gas industry
Posted on 3/12/12 at 9:46 pm to barry
Posted on 3/12/12 at 9:46 pm to barry
Agreed. My undergrad GPA was pretty abysmal in all honesty, and although my grad GPA is fine, its still not a 4.0. That definitely prevented me from getting a B4 job straight out of school (blessing in disguise probably), but with just even a year of experience, the place I'm working for now (where I am still amazed I was able to sneak through the cracks to) didn't even ask me for a transcript. Once you've got experience, if you can get in the door and talk your game people absolutely don't care. But you probably need a college degree to get through the door. Sucks, I have considered and will almost certainly end up going back to get an MBA in the next 3 years even though I absolutely don't need it other than for a nice name on the resume, but that's how shite works. Gotta play the game, whatever that game may be in whatever industry.
1
Posted on 3/12/12 at 10:03 pm to kfizzle85
Thread hijack for kfizzle: Did you get your BS in Acct from LSU and Masters in ACCT from UNO ?
Back to topic: I know of people from Louisiana in Oil and Gas jobs who have had to relocate to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, UAE, etc. and they are paid a lot more than they make stateside. Only thing that sucks is living in a country under Muslim sharia law and crazy medieval rules. But it's definitely friendlier to foreign working men/business types than for women.
Back to topic: I know of people from Louisiana in Oil and Gas jobs who have had to relocate to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, UAE, etc. and they are paid a lot more than they make stateside. Only thing that sucks is living in a country under Muslim sharia law and crazy medieval rules. But it's definitely friendlier to foreign working men/business types than for women.
Posted on 3/12/12 at 10:03 pm to Powerman
anyone have any insight into landing a landman job in LA? i have my JD and am barred here. at some point in the future i'd like the jump in to the oil and gas field and this seems like a logical jumping off point for someone with my educational background and minimal practical experience. any other positions i should be looking at?
sorry for the hijack. if i need to make my own thread i will.
sorry for the hijack. if i need to make my own thread i will.
Posted on 3/12/12 at 10:08 pm to ladytiger118
I went to LSU but ended up getting both from UNO (BS/S in Acct w/ minor in Finance). See previous comment about shitty undergrad gpa. I took ~90% of my undergrad accounting and finance at LSU though. Its not holding me back any more but its pretty miserable to think about in all honesty. 
Posted on 3/12/12 at 10:12 pm to theOG
All I know is that its really hard to get into. I've mentioned it before here but I know a VP at Chevron in charge of their Land sub and she said her office gets literally hundreds of resumes (JDs, she's a lawyer and she went to Loyola fwiw) a week and has been for like 3 years. I have no idea how you break through that wall.
Posted on 3/12/12 at 10:27 pm to kfizzle85
well i'm thinking i'd probably need something smaller, something independent. there seem to be quite a few land companies in southern louisiana. i'm thinking i may just send resumes to the member directory for the petroleum landman association of new orleans.
Posted on 3/12/12 at 10:40 pm to kfizzle85
My GPA is just okay; but I'm definitely working hard to make it better (graduate next May). Acct at LSU is fairly challenging IMO; rarely know people who make A's in the intermediates, advanced acct, tax, etc. I'll more than likely live at home for a year and get my masters at UNO so i can sit for the CPA. LSU is way more expensive for grad school and I'd like a change of scenery even if it means moving back home from ages 22-23. Plus I can save money before I buy my own place. Hell, I'd I have enough hours when I graduate, I may just be a non matriculating student and go take the few classes I need for the CPA. Just depends on my hours.
(once again I apologize for getting off topic in your thread Powerman).
(once again I apologize for getting off topic in your thread Powerman).
Posted on 3/12/12 at 11:10 pm to ladytiger118
Well if you're asking me from a career perspective what I think of that, I would say it depends on your goals. Do you want to stay in nola and work for a B4 there? If so, just make sure you get an internship (somewhere, doesn't have to be a B4, just some real accounting experience even though they'll give you jack shite to do) and definitely stay full-time so you can do recruiting. The NOLA offices will recruit UNO as much as they do LSU and seem to like taking the LSU BS/UNO MS kids as far as I can tell as I know more than a handful to say the least. Same thing if you want to work for one of the big local firms (PN, BB, etc), although not as important to have experience I guess. If you have any desire to go work anywhere but NOLA stay at LSU. If you have any desire to skip the public accounting route and go work in industry straight out of college stay at LSU. The degrees are practically the same but like anything with college its about the network and LSU's network is just much better than UNO's. I'm not sure what the difference is now but I don't remember it being that dramatic from one to the other? What is LSU? UNO was over 10k and I feel like the LCPA should reimburse me for it since you don't actually need any of it when taking the test itself.
This post was edited on 3/12/12 at 11:12 pm
Posted on 3/13/12 at 9:34 am to jonboy
quote:
It is highly unlikely for an SSE of any sort to get put on an international rotation. Those slots are usually reserved for more experienced hands. I'm not saying it's impossible, but unlikely.
The magic number in the oilfield is 3-5 years. Once you get to that level of experience a move into the office is possible(but not mandatory-plenty of 20 year hands still working in the field). I've seen guys with less experience move into the office but those are your "knocking it out of the park everyday" types who's skills are more valuable in the office than the field.
Perhaps I wasn't very clear about what I do
Despite my lack of degree, I've had a white collar engineering position for a large construction company for the past 4 years. I'm not a short service employee and my skills are certainly much more valuable in the office than in the field.
I'm more competent than most of our degreed engineers. In fact I've lasted longer than any of the ones that were hired within a six month period of me.
I have experience in scheduling, procurement, estimating, tracking, project management among other things. I'm not some helper in the field.
I don't need to "move into the office" because I've been here for 4 years already.
Posted on 3/13/12 at 11:08 am to Powerman
quote:
Powerman
Think about it this way; the O&G industry views any new employee -that is an employee without an O&G background - as an SSE and field time will be required. Drilling companies hire engineers straight out of college to work as floorhands as part of their training program. Your skill set might be relevant for your job in your industry, however, without knowing anything about operations in the field it is unlikely anyone would put you in a similar position. By the way the term "field hand" isn't negative.
Posted on 3/13/12 at 11:38 am to Powerman
I'm not trying to discourage you, but just bring some reality to situation. You may very well find someone willing to take you on without having any field time. It's just not likely. By way of comparison, I went from management at my previous employer to the field in O&G. I was all pissy about it until I realized that my lack of technical knowledge would have crushed me in the office (doubling my salary didn't hurt either).
Good luck.
Good luck.
Posted on 3/13/12 at 11:39 am to Powerman
I still think you would be well served with a Business Admin degree or something similar. If its just your major gpa that got fricked up, you should be able to fix that by changing disciplines.
Business degree + your experience is a lot better than no degree + your experience AND a lot better than engineering degree + no experience.
Business degree + your experience is a lot better than no degree + your experience AND a lot better than engineering degree + no experience.
Posted on 3/13/12 at 12:53 pm to Powerman
quote:
Despite my lack of degree, I've had a white collar engineering position for a large construction company for the past 4 years
Oil and gas is not for you. Even the brightest of the bright start out as field hands. And without a degree and your background in EE you would probably end up at SLB, Sperry, or Baker on a MWD crew. What you do from there is up to you.
Posted on 3/13/12 at 1:16 pm to jonboy
quote:
Think about it this way; the O&G industry views any new employee -that is an employee without an O&G background - as an SSE and field time will be required.
Again, perhaps I'm not being clear. I am already working in the petro industry as a contractor. I have no problem with remaining on the contractor side of things.
I'm not necessarily trying to get on directly with a big oil company or oilfield service company.
Posted on 3/13/12 at 1:19 pm to jonboy
I have worked with plenty greenhorn engineers with no field experience. Engineers need to get in the field to see how things actually are assembled, tested,work, and function instead of just hypothetically. It can be very frustrating working with greenhorn engineers at times.
Posted on 3/13/12 at 1:32 pm to Powerman
You need to get your degree regardless of GPA and then work a few more years and go back for an MBA.
Otherwise, you can go to work for one of the majors as a field operator or hook up with one of the big service companies also as a field hand or supervisor depending on experience. I think you can work your way into an office gig, but it would happen faster if you finished out the degree regardless of grades.
Otherwise, you can go to work for one of the majors as a field operator or hook up with one of the big service companies also as a field hand or supervisor depending on experience. I think you can work your way into an office gig, but it would happen faster if you finished out the degree regardless of grades.
Posted on 3/13/12 at 1:42 pm to gonads&strife
quote:
You need to get your degree regardless of GPA and then work a few more years and go back for an MBA.
What the frick are you talking about?
Posted on 3/13/12 at 1:45 pm to Powerman
Didn't you say you haven't finished out your degree? I'm suggesting that you finish it out - the paper, for better or worse, matters eventually. And another way to make people forget or ignore the GPA in the undergrad degree is to get a grad degree and for most that is an MBA.
That's wtf I'm talking about. Are my facts wrong?
That's wtf I'm talking about. Are my facts wrong?
Posted on 3/13/12 at 2:00 pm to gonads&strife
I think you may have not heard everything I've said here
Right now, it's almost impossible for me to finish my degree
I could get a degree in something else, but that would obviously take a while. I guess at my age, I just don't see starting over in another degree, and an MBA on top of that as a realistic option. I have to continue working for the time being. I'm not saying I'll never go back, but it's just not feasible right now.
Right now, it's almost impossible for me to finish my degree
I could get a degree in something else, but that would obviously take a while. I guess at my age, I just don't see starting over in another degree, and an MBA on top of that as a realistic option. I have to continue working for the time being. I'm not saying I'll never go back, but it's just not feasible right now.
Posted on 3/13/12 at 5:10 pm to Powerman
I understand the feasibility part. Are you over 30? I'm sure you can take some of your course credits that aren't bad and apply them to another degree, at least have a head start. And people get MBAs through their 40s. I'm not saying you can't make a worthwhile career without a degree, and frankly I think we put to much emphasis on the piece of paper, but in the corp world you need it or your career will hit a road block at a certain point. Now if you start your own business....
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