Need advice with helping a recent petroleum engineering graduate get a job

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

I thought I would get advice from posters to this forum about a former student who has asked for my help. I will try to give as much info, but have to hold back some info for privacy reasons. I ran into a former student of mine over the weekend who is working at a retail store. This student graduated from a college in the upper midwest with a degree in Petroleum Engineering in May 2017 and the particular college is known for being a great place for petroleum engineering majors. I have known this student for 15 years since our families are also friends. He is very nice and.I have always thought of him as a hardworking person. When he was my student he put the effort into his work. I asked him why he was working retail rather than engineering and he replied that he was applying to engineering entry jobs but having no luck. Since my own child has had an easy time getting engineering internships and jobs, I know what she did for her success and told my student I would be happy to help him with his job search and share my DD’s tips.

I received his resume yesterday. He graduated with a 2.92 gpa, has no awards and had no internships or research during college. He said that internships jobs were hard to find in the petroleum industry during his college time so he worked at a restaurant during college. His only community service is volunteering at a community marathon.in 2015 His two ECs were being on a college club volleyball team for two years and being the founder and president of the campus horticulture club (which he did until 2014). He did do a senior design project. This represents the total of his resume. My student is very personable and I believe if he could just get in front of a recruiter or on an interview he would do a great job of selling himself. After seeing this student’s resume, I now understand why he hasn’t had success in his job hunt.

My DD has a fuller resume so I am having a tough time coming up with ideas for this student and would love any advice or input from posters on CC.

I advised this student the following:

  1. Sign up for SHPE because the student is Latino and try to attend the college fair at the national SHPE conference next month. I also told him to join the local SHPE chapter because it is pretty active and to try and network with the members by attending events and just get general career advice from members.
  2. My DD had her best job hunting success at conferences, both local and national. I advised this student to join HENAAC, the Society of Petroleum Engineers , Roughneck Camp etc and attend their events and career fairs. All these organizations have online career centers where you can post your resume and look up recent job postings so I told my student to do that also.
  3. In my opinion, I think this student needs to get some engineering experience to add to his resume. I told him to see if he find an unpaid engineering internship to do along with his retail job. Do you think this is a good idea?
  4. I also told him to try to volunteer in the Latino community on STEM projects. Do you think this is a good idea?
  5. I told him he should focus on smaller companies because I know for a fact Exxon will not look at him due to his gpa and I don't think companies like Cheveron, Shell or Phillips 66 will not take a look at his resume since his gpa is not over 3.0 Do you think that is a good idea?
  6. I told him find companies he likes and then on Linkedin look up people that work for those companies and then reach out to those people to ask them questions, network, meet for lunch etc. My DD got this advice and it did help her with a few companies.
  7. I told him to start looking into shadowing engineers who do jobs he likes so he can learn more about the industry and what they do as well as get advice from them about how he can improve his job hunt.

Let me know if any of you have other ideas and whether any of my ideas are not a good idea. My DH looked at this student’s resume and said “it’s too bad you can’t tell him to redo college”. My experience with my daughter and her friends at her college is completely different because they have better grades and are much more engaged on their campuses so that is why I am having some trouble advising this student.

Thanks in advance for everyone’s help.

2

Aren’t companies in Houston hiring petroleum engineers right and left? I went to Texas A&M and it seemed to me many PetEs had multiple offers. Of course, it’s a cyclical business.

3

Oil Platform. International.

The PE’s I meet usual get that experience in some pretty remote places. One women spent 2 years in Indonesia, alternating 2 weeks on the platform and 2 weeks ‘home’ which she usually spent traveling around Asia.

4

Does he want to work as an engineer, or just in the industry? Personable and vaguely familiar with the industry makes me think landman.

Goes without saying he needs to be looking where the jobs are. My wife works in that industry, and if she needed to change employers, we’d need to move to Texas or Colorado or get really lucky.

5

Joined just to respond. This may be a bit long, but here it is:

I was in a similar boat as your former student. I graduated last year from UT Petroleum Engineering (at the time ranked #1). The oil crash happened in the middle of my studies. The company that I was to intern with cancelled my internship to save money 2 months after I accepted, meaning I was without a summer job well past the hiring season (Sept-Nov). I did research instead and graduated with a 3.3 GPA.

My raw numbers that may sound harsh:
Applications/resume drops/cold calls: 630±20
Phone Interviews: 17
In-person interviews: 7
Offers: 2
Time Unemployed: 11 months

Most Petroleum Engineering programs are looking at 50% employment upon graduation or less at this point in time (despite what numbers say on their websites). A look at this infographic will reveal something unfortunate:

https://public.tableau.com/static/images/CR/CRUDEREALITY-PEGrads/LostGeneration/1_rss.png

There is a glut of unemployed experienced workers who graduated 2-4 years ago, an even greater abundance of new graduates from the past two years, and a very small pool of jobs. By my own experience I found only 1 job posting every 10 days that would have been normal for a petroleum engineer to take before the crash. Until 2014 a job with a Service Company (Halliburton, Weatherford, Schlumberger) was considered sub-par. Nowadays careers with exploration and production companies (Apache, Pioneer, etc) are limited to the internal 3-10 intern pool NATIONALLY.

Those few “petroleum engineer” jobs available are usually piled on by every new graduate due to email alert systems. Exxon gets thousands of applications for one position. I would figure hundreds if not more for the mid-tier producers. Don’t forget, there are also unemployed Graduate students who are now applying for positions normally given to those with BS’s. I have even seen a surge of degreed people applying to HS jobs–in fact, of my peers who did not have an internship, about 3/4 of them have gotten jobs through this method.

There are 2 options: He needs to lower his standards or approach his skills from another angle. Working as a Reservoir, Drilling, or Production Engineer–it’s out of the question at this point. There are thousands of trained engineers with 2+ years of experience who would be cheaper to hire in the long-term. Without an internship a resume is unfortunately filtered out right away. That is not to say he shouldn’t apply for these. It’s really a lottery, and in many cases nepotism plays a strong part of the applicant selection process.

So lowering standards is one option. I would imagine anything would be better than working in a restaurant…or not. Three common field positions are Loggers, Lease Operators, and Roughnecks. None of them require a college education, all would be rotating shifts (14 days on, 7 off for example), and again you run into a combination of already experienced field workers looking to re-enter the workforce and recent graduates with internships also lowering their standards. Frankly, all 3 are unpleasant jobs that are typically in remote locations that involve long 12+ hour days for probably what you could make at a mid-tier restaurant plus tips. But they are experience. I have heard of many people trying to get in at the bottom and “work their way up.” There are a few “Golden Ticket” stories on reddit about some graduates who started as a simple pump operator but were promoted to field engineer after a year.

Two personal issues that led me to opt to the second approach
-I really am not a field guy. Working in the field is rough work with rough people. It is high-stress work at the worst with a very real chance of injury. I am from a city and sitting in the middle of nowhere for two weeks would kill me.
-As I mentioned, a few stories mentioned the very optimistic “plucked from the assembly line” outlook where there was a chance for promotion. Assuming I were to survive nerves and health intact after 1 year in the field…what if this didn’t happen?

So the second approach I took was to look for other positions related to engineering or with my skills. I had a strong background in programming and IT work, so I looked for oil and gas related jobs with IT and data work. Banks, financial institutions, and even some journals looked for analysts and techs. Likewise, I looked for more downstream (refining, pipelines, etc.) engineering work. Unfortunately there is also a glut of Chemical Engineers I was competing with, so while I did get some calls regarding Pipeline work, none came through. It is still an option. I also looked for more general engineering work, though most jobs were pretty low-pay with tons of applicants. I applied to civil, industrial, mechanical, and even some aerospace positions…with little luck but a few calls.

I eventually received offers from two companies. The first is downstream and works with power management typically from natural gas. The second was as a field technology engineer for a smaller oil company. Neither job posting wanted an engineering degree (MBA or MSF/Comp Engineering), but I wrote cover letters explaining my background and why I felt I was the fit they needed. It was apparently enough.

A more important question your former student needs to think of: Is this what I want with my life? I never knew it got this bad when I went for my degree. As a graduate I am young and single, so moving is no issue (both offers were out of state), but imagine if this were to happen when I was in my thirties and with a family? Outside of core oil hubs Houston, Dallas, and Midland–all in Texas, your location is never stable. The two job offers I obtained would allow me to shift into business/finance/power management or IT Systems should the oil market turn sour again. It took the 80s glut nearly 20 years to recover. I know it is enticing when you hear of a friend making 6 figures out of college…but that friend is in the 5% of lucky ones. Is it worth it?

So to sum up:

  1. Apply to all the far and few petroleum engineering jobs that pop up–it’s a lottery, but you can’t ignore them
  2. Decide whether to lower standards or expand horizon
    a. If lowering standards, look into being a Logger, Roughneck, or Lease Operator
    -Companies hiring for them include Halliburton, Cudd Energy, and Big Red…they tend to have career fairs in Midland every month or so
    -I have also heard that going to a bar in the Midland area and chatting up middle-aged workers is a good way to get a job
    b. If broadening horizon, alter resume to accentuate another strength (IT, programming, etc.)
    -Look for general engineering firms, data science positions, or analyst roles focusing on oil, gas, refined chemicals, or energy in general
    -Taking the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam and getting Engineer in Training (EIT) certified may help if his credentials are lacking (3-4 weeks studying, about $300)
    -Volunteer work may help…but job apps are different from college apps. HR likes to see some formal employment.

A habitual 10-20 applications a week should be routine. Towards the end I was doing 4-6 a day.

I know that this is quite a bit of information, but having gone through with it and no longer having to do it makes me want to help any other petroleum engineering graduate in trouble. To address some of your points, SPE and these colleges lack the means to provide students with jobs and they know it. Companies attend career fairs but either do not hire or are looking to hire an unreasonable amount of spots (1-2 with 600 applicants). Again, going to them is better than nothing, but before you know it you’ll be down a few grand still without a job.

So…quite a few points to go off of here. It may not look easy…but unfortunately getting a job in oil and gas right now seems more a lottery than anything else.

6

Joined just to respond. This may be a bit long, but here it is:

I was in a similar boat as your former student. I graduated last year from UT Petroleum Engineering (at the time ranked #1). The oil crash happened in the middle of my studies. The company that I was to intern with cancelled my internship to save money 2 months after I accepted, meaning I was without a summer job well past the hiring season (Sept-Nov). I did research instead and graduated with a 3.3 GPA.

My raw numbers that may sound harsh:
Applications/resume drops/cold calls: 630±20
Phone Interviews: 17
In-person interviews: 7
Offers: 2
Time Unemployed: 11 months

Most Petroleum Engineering programs are looking at 50% employment upon graduation or less at this point in time (despite what numbers say on their websites). A look at this infographic will reveal something unfortunate:

https://public.tableau.com/static/images/CR/CRUDEREALITY-PEGrads/LostGeneration/1_rss.png

There is a glut of unemployed experienced workers who graduated 2-4 years ago, an even greater abundance of new graduates from the past two years, and a very small pool of jobs. By my own experience I found only 1 job posting every 10 days that would have been normal for a petroleum engineer to take before the crash. Until 2014 a job with a Service Company (Halliburton, Weatherford, Schlumberger) was considered sub-par. Nowadays careers with exploration and production companies (Apache, Pioneer, etc) are limited to the internal 3-10 intern pool NATIONALLY.

Those few “petroleum engineer” jobs available are usually piled on by every new graduate due to email alert systems. Exxon gets thousands of applications for one position. I would figure hundreds if not more for the mid-tier producers. Don’t forget, there are also unemployed Graduate students who are now applying for positions normally given to those with BS’s. I have even seen a surge of degreed people applying to HS jobs–in fact, of my peers who did not have an internship, about 3/4 of them have gotten jobs through this method.

There are 2 options: He needs to lower his standards or approach his skills from another angle. Working as a Reservoir, Drilling, or Production Engineer–it’s out of the question at this point. There are thousands of trained engineers with 2+ years of experience who would be cheaper to hire in the long-term. Without an internship a resume is unfortunately filtered out right away. That is not to say he shouldn’t apply for these. It’s really a lottery, and in many cases nepotism plays a strong part of the applicant selection process.

So lowering standards is one option. I would imagine anything would be better than working in a restaurant…or not. Three common field positions are Loggers, Lease Operators, and Roughnecks. None of them require a college education, all would be rotating shifts (14 days on, 7 off for example), and again you run into a combination of already experienced field workers looking to re-enter the workforce and recent graduates with internships also lowering their standards. Frankly, all 3 are unpleasant jobs that are typically in remote locations that involve long 12+ hour days for probably what you could make at a mid-tier restaurant plus tips. But they are experience. I have heard of many people trying to get in at the bottom and “work their way up.” There are a few “Golden Ticket” stories on reddit about some graduates who started as a simple pump operator but were promoted to field engineer after a year.

Two personal issues that led me to opt to the second approach
-I really am not a field guy. Working in the field is rough work with rough people. It is high-stress work at the worst with a very real chance of injury. I am from a city and sitting in the middle of nowhere for two weeks would kill me.
-As I mentioned, a few stories mentioned the very optimistic “plucked from the assembly line” outlook where there was a chance for promotion. Assuming I were to survive nerves and health intact after 1 year in the field…what if this didn’t happen?

So the second approach I took was to look for other positions related to engineering or with my skills. I had a strong background in programming and IT work, so I looked for oil and gas related jobs with IT and data work. Banks, financial institutions, and even some journals looked for analysts and techs. Likewise, I looked for more downstream (refining, pipelines, etc.) engineering work. Unfortunately there is also a glut of Chemical Engineers I was competing with, so while I did get some calls regarding Pipeline work, none came through. It is still an option. I also looked for more general engineering work, though most jobs were pretty low-pay with tons of applicants. I applied to civil, industrial, mechanical, and even some aerospace positions…with little luck but a few calls.

I eventually received offers from two companies. The first is downstream and works with power management typically from natural gas. The second was as a field technology engineer for a smaller oil company. Neither job posting wanted an engineering degree (MBA or MSF/Comp Engineering), but I wrote cover letters explaining my background and why I felt I was the fit they needed. It was apparently enough.

A more important question your former student needs to think of: Is this what I want with my life? I never knew it got this bad when I went for my degree. As a graduate I am young and single, so moving is no issue (both offers were out of state), but imagine if this were to happen when I was in my thirties and with a family? Outside of core oil hubs Houston, Dallas, and Midland–all in Texas, your location is never stable. The two job offers I obtained would allow me to shift into business/finance/power management or IT Systems should the oil market turn sour again. It took the 80s glut nearly 20 years to recover. I know it is enticing when you hear of a friend making 6 figures out of college…but that friend is in the 5% of lucky ones. Is it worth it?

So to sum up:

  1. Apply to all the far and few petroleum engineering jobs that pop up–it’s a lottery, but you can’t ignore them
  2. Decide whether to lower standards or expand horizon
    a. If lowering standards, look into being a Logger, Roughneck, or Lease Operator
    -Companies hiring for them include Halliburton, Cudd Energy, and Big Red…they tend to have career fairs in Midland every month or so
    -I have also heard that going to a bar in the Midland area and chatting up middle-aged workers is a good way to get a job
    b. If broadening horizon, alter resume to accentuate another strength (IT, programming, etc.)
    -Look for general engineering firms, data science positions, or analyst roles focusing on oil, gas, refined chemicals, or energy in general
    -Taking the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam and getting Engineer in Training (EIT) certified may help if his credentials are lacking (3-4 weeks studying, about $300)
    -Volunteer work may help…but job apps are different from college apps. HR likes to see some formal employment.

A habitual 10-20 applications a week should be routine. Towards the end I was doing 4-6 a day.

I know that this is quite a bit of information, but having gone through with it and no longer having to do it makes me want to help any other petroleum engineering graduate in trouble. To address some of your points, SPE and these colleges lack the means to provide students with jobs and they know it. Companies attend career fairs but either do not hire or are looking to hire an unreasonable amount of spots (1-2 with 600 applicants). Again, going to them is better than nothing, but before you know it you’ll be down a few grand still without a job.

So…quite a few points to go off of here. It may not look easy…but unfortunately getting a job in oil and gas right now seems more a lottery than anything else.

7

Thank you to everyone who responded and especially to @a246abc1. I really appreciate your long email and plan on copying it to send to my former student. I am meeting with him this week and will go over your email in detail. I think your suggestions are on point and will help him in coming with a game plan. Other suggestions are also good that he may want a more hands-on role on a platform just to get some experience that could potentially lead to an engineering job.

If anyone else has other ideas please post them.

Thanks again.

8

Could he be taking a few supplemental classes in CS at a CC (or online through UT, tech, or another instate option)? He could thus apply to positions for general engineering with a little “plus”?

9

The post from @a246abc1 was so thorough and helpful that i almost didn’t add my small thougth. But here it goes…

3) Typically internships are paid position, unless working for a nonprofi - there are labor laws involved. Almost every engineering intership/co-op I've heard of was paid.