Minor in Petroleum engineering

Hello! i was wondering if minors matter for engineering majors. I have a friend whos a civil engineering major, but he doesn’t want to be limited only to civil engineering and seems to be interested in petroleum engineering. So next semester he is starting a minor in petroleum engineering.

But I’m curious, if a mechanical or civil engineer gets a petroleum minor, can they work in the petroleum industry?
Would it be difficult to get a job with only a minor?

I think it’s a mistake to have a minor major in engineering. You need to focus everything on your major and take all the required courses, which is already quite a load. Frankly, I think it’s a terrible use of your precious time to do it, and no employer will frankly care about your minor. The oil and gas industry employ plenty of mechanical engineers.

@NoVADad99
True 100% of your focus should go to your major in most cases. But what about students who come in with a ton of AP and IB credit who don’t want to graduate early and possess an interest in petroleum?

Does anyone know if a Civil engineer with a petroleum engineering minor will have a hard time getting employed?

If you possess an interest in the oil and gas industry then probably your best bet is to get some experience in it. If you can swing a minor in petroleum, that would add some additional substance to your resume to help you get in the door with a civil degree. My S is in petroleum engineering and during recruitment last fall I observed that approx. half of the E&P companies recruiting petroleum engineers only recruited petroleum engineering majors. Many of the larger companies will open it up to mechanical, civil, and chemical - but experience and knowledge is key when competing with petroleum majors.

My advice: major in mechanical and minor in geology if you want to do oil work. Mechanical engineers have a much better understanding of the fundamentals than petroleum engineering majors, and a minor in geology will give you a better understanding of geology than any pure petroleum engineering major. Also, talking to geoscientists is critical for that job. The advantage of a petroleum engineering degree is minimal after three to four years of work experience, but the fundamental engineering knowledge is far more important.

As far as your friend in concerned, do the civil engineering thing with a geology minor. That will show enough interest to be looked at. The difficulty of getting a job in the oil industry is directly related to the oil price, by the way. The smaller companies don’t recruit for anything other than petroleum engineering majors, but they will look for them at conferences. If they want to get into the industry don’t take “no” for an answer.