Hello, my fellow Petro-Graduates from around the world! What are you up to these days?
Final year students looking for jobs, juniors and sophomores looking out for an apprenticeship or an internship probably and freshman boys/girls – hope not repenting opting this discipline. Crude price hovering around $40 this year has shattered hopes of many individuals like us including the senior professionals. With the politicos belonging to different nations involved in intricate/extricate matters of different groups, cultures and their motives, we succumb to any big news popping around the internet every other day. Prices increased by 1% - well maybe they got their brains back and are about to freeze production, prices fall by 1.3% - sudden spikes keep on happening based on forecasts by various agencies & companies. Collective meetings of the OPEC/non-OPEC members are always quite speculative but without no fruitful results. Ego is a big problem in humans and when it comes to a large group of people having numerous powers, history has been the witness for the repercussions mankind has seen. This time, the consequences are on wealthy nations cutting out on budgets, people losing out jobs, economies slowing down which may indicate a brink I suppose. Who knows the future, we are mere spectators here with very less power in hand.
As the things unfold, we ought to adapt in order to survive, as clearly stated by Darwin’s theory of Evolution. As a student, past few months have been quite full of hopes for the prices to bounce back so we can get out on the fields/offices and start applying our knowledge gained. Many of you must have been shattered and thought of switching the careers, innumerable reasons may be there. Out of the bunch, who still love petroleum engineering and are quite adamant to work in this field only (like myself), there are quite a few options to explore until the market stabilizes-
1. IFP MOOC Certification Course (for this year it ends, keep check for next year)
2. Stanford University – Reservoir Geomechanics Course
3. Free online safety, oil and gas certification course
4. Taking up small oilfield jobs with low pay-scale (it may hurt a little, but worth a chance)
5. Getting involved in a project activity in association with your contacts (if you have any)
6. Start working on some research topic for presenting in an international conference
7. Attend worldwide Oil and Gas ‘relevant’ conferences which maybe an option considering geographical regions, expenses involved etc.
8. Become student members of different organisations e.g. SPE, AAPG, EAGE, SEG, SPWLA
9. Volunteer for these educational organisations for the events happening around you
10. If you really want to take up some job, try thinking working for ‘FREE’ for any small scale company (Big Companies don’t entertain)
11. Build your resume till the peak employment time approaches so you’re ready to head start
12. Take up higher studies if you’re really interested
13. Think about allied courses – petro-econo1mics, logistics, procurement, tender, data services etc.
14. Be active on business/professional networks ( you never know, when you get an opportunity to your dream job)
15. If you got a zeal for writing and have something new to present to the world, start your own website/blog (believe me – this idea is high up in the market now)
16. Never sit idle for weeks/months which may prove counterproductive in your next interview
Different geographical regions have different job related scenarios. Middle East regions have less issues, US/Europe/Asia/Australia are facing tough times, Russia still have less issues capitalizing on on-going production for jobs etc. The break-even price is deciding fate of job-seekers in a particular region. Having talked to many industry professionals, the word of advice is don’t stagnate your knowledge levels. Constantly being in touch with the latest news, technologies, concepts, exploring new areas of interest would prove beneficial when you head for the interviews. Still in this scenario, some companies are recruiting worldwide but you got to lookout for those very few. Hang on to the job portals available – rigzone, oilpro, oilgrads etc. with a caution that competition is very severe for the few positions available. Build your resume covering vast aspects of petroleum industry which may help in current scenario rather than being limited to one particular area i.e. drilling, reservoir, production, geology etc.
Comment your views and any new ideas if you have here. Looking forward to listening to different minds and counting on new options. Have a good day!
#Careers #downmarket #Students #toughtimes #smalljobs #whattodo