I graduated in April with a degree in petroleum engineering, although I tried I got no coop or no internship. I paid a company to write me a new resume, I have been applying but got nothing. I’m thinking of either:
Masters of environmental engineering
pipeline technician certificate
non-destructive testing certificate
project management certificate (but i’m not really into that, cost estimates etc… aren’t my thing)
or switching completely to education or even nursing.
OP, PetE is a narrow focus and I suspect that the market is getting saturated. What are your qualifications? GPA, academic focus, engineering extracurricularservices, etc. Why did you pick the field?
**3. I would really like to branch into environmental. I have looked at taking a few extra courses to get noticed. but i am finding that there are just as many environmental grads looking for work. plus all the environmental diploma people competing for the same entry level jobs. my prof once told me that extra courses won’t do much, or the type of courses, its actually graduating and having a label like certificate, masters etc… in environmental
I got a 73% GPA, petroleum engineering major, no extra activities. I picked petroleum because everyone told me it was a good idea to get into, Part way through I wanted to switch into environmental but advisors told me to graduate than get my masters in environmental if i still wanted to. I don’t have a problem doing that, except financially i can’t afford that, I haven’t been able to get funding, so i’d have to pay out of pocket, and I question if getting my masters with no experience is worth it?
this is why i have been looking at other certificates etc.
What do you mean by 73% GPA?
That likely means we aren’t talking about US universities.
yea, I said i’m in Canada. are US petroleum grads finding lots of work?
Nope. Oil’s too cheap right now.
From what I can see, a 73% translates to about a 2.9 or so GPA. Kind of low grade for a tough job market as PetE is now ( because as eyemgh says, oil is cheap)
well, i didn’t fail and I still made it through. And I won’t doubt the time and effort I put in to learning the information.
I decided to do my masters of environmental engineering.
In all areas of engineering having below a 3.0 GPA or an 80% will exclude a student from interviews with many employers. Employers are not looking for applicants who “made it through”, they are looking for applicants who excelled in their studies. Also your hesitancy to move to Alberta has certainly been another hindrance in finding employment in your field.
Can’t assume that. That would make a 93% average a 3.7, whereas – at least at my school – it could very well be a 4.0.
Besides, in many countries the idea of a “good grade” is not “B or above” or “80% or above.”
If you are in Canada, maybe jobs in ND, SD, Ohio, PA? Put your name in anywhere you can.
Without internships or co-op experience it might be difficult.
http://www.indeed.com/m/jobs?sameL=1&q=Petroleum+Engineering&l=&from=searchOnSerp
I did a Google search to find out how to translate a Canadian percentage GPA to a 4.0 scale that I could make more sense of. The OP’s response that “I didn’t fail” kind of affirms that his grades weren’t great. Conclusion is still the same, you need very good grades to make it in a tough job market.
Not sure what the OP’s status would be in the US, but he may need to have a US company to sponsor him to work in the US. Not many companies are willing to do so, even in a good job market.
It might also take good grades to get accepted into grad school (especially if funding is needed). Typically grad school is intense and requires a lot of self-motivation. The engineering grad school students I knew did well in undergrad and then had to take it up a notch in grad school.
In addition to grad school, consider starting with a non PetE job. I knew a ChemE that eventually decided to take a job related to insurance (and had a waiter gig too). Then he found an opportunity for a temp ChemE-ish job in a remote area of TX. After that experience, he found a ChemE job back near home in CO. Sometime you need to compromise a bit to get started.
I don’t know why everyone has been hung up on my grades. I am fully accepted into grad school, so that must show i can work.
The thing with applying to the US is that they aren’t sponsoring anyone, and why i am hesitant about moving to Alberta is that my family and son are here. Don’t get me wrong, if a position comes available in Alberta that I can do, I apply for. I would have to be away from my family to get experience then see that happens.
I have been branching out, I have applied for a few sales positions and banking positions.
I created a LinkedIn profile to connect with HR personal that way. It seems odd, for a minimum $31/month you get 5 credits to use inmail, when you message (or in mail someone) it cost 3 credits. so I can only send 1 in mail message a month? how does one get a head doing this?
Employers are hung up on grades because engineering jobs require you to use your knowledge to do the work. Grades are the indicator of how well you understand the subject. Perfect grades aren’t required as the are checks and balances within the organization to insure the quality of the work. But a minimum GPA level is required by many companies. My company would not hire anyone with a GPA less than 3.0, no exceptions.
In a technical field employers are looking not for people who can “do the work” but rather who can do the work well. Many grad programs outside the top schools are looking for tuition paying students.
Attending grad school is not solving the issue that you might have to move/travel to where the jobs are.