Hey everyone. I'm a graduating petroleum engineer here and wondering what everyone would do here in this situation. Feel free to chime in with your experiences also.
Oil is dead and will be possibly for the foreseeable future (see the 80's...). For anyone hoping for a sudden comeback in the 80's adjusted for inflation the prices held around 20-something. So what we are looking at right now has already happened in the past.
...Needless to say the decline to $28/bbl surprised many of us, and even our professor now is telling us that the peace corps exists, teach for america, or to go travel or raft for a year. A recruiter at an oil company straight up told me to just go do something else for a while. Basically it is their way of telling us nicely that we are screwed.
There's a lot of uncertainty in the air, and not the good kind. It could be only a few months, or it could be years until oil really does come back. No one really knows. Here are a few options I managed to scramble up within the past few months.
Sales engineer/Pre Sales -- Many of these are remote. If I had a remote job I would travel the US staying with friends and family. Otherwise I would live near an airport in a metropolitan area (Vegas anyone? Hehe). 6 figures from what I read and see.
Technical Sales -- Taking clients out and 6 figures from talking to guys who have done it. Won't make anyone rich but it's definitely not a bad gig either.
I won't get rich, but sales is a pretty transferable skill in which many do use to start their own business later down the line. My dad is doing real estate and I might want to join him there.
Working with a few marketing funnels with some marketing people. I get paid on the side and it may lead to bigger things, so not a bad gig.
Tech/software sales -- I have a friend doing this. Seems extremely lucrative... I was considering this.
I also have a few friends who are in a extremely high caliber business group. I was informally given the opportunity (At least it was there a few months ago) to come on as an employee and then eventually help create a business venture with them. Risky but I am still young so the risk is not that high.
I'd like to make a lot, but at this point I think big law, finance, or med school is out of the question unless I heavily leverage connections. Med school I would hate, law would be a tossup, and finance I might like.
Also working on getting my EU passport, which will take a while. I was thinking about ditching the US and either working for a major corporation or starting a business somewhere in Europe. Does anyone have experience starting a business in Europe? I also heard free grad school if you are a citizen. If I came in with my BS in engineering would finding work be pretty straightforward? Dual citizenship tax laws may be a pain in the ass though.
Oil is dead and will be possibly for the foreseeable future (see the 80's...). For anyone hoping for a sudden comeback in the 80's adjusted for inflation the prices held around 20-something. So what we are looking at right now has already happened in the past.
...Needless to say the decline to $28/bbl surprised many of us, and even our professor now is telling us that the peace corps exists, teach for america, or to go travel or raft for a year. A recruiter at an oil company straight up told me to just go do something else for a while. Basically it is their way of telling us nicely that we are screwed.
There's a lot of uncertainty in the air, and not the good kind. It could be only a few months, or it could be years until oil really does come back. No one really knows. Here are a few options I managed to scramble up within the past few months.
Sales engineer/Pre Sales -- Many of these are remote. If I had a remote job I would travel the US staying with friends and family. Otherwise I would live near an airport in a metropolitan area (Vegas anyone? Hehe). 6 figures from what I read and see.
Technical Sales -- Taking clients out and 6 figures from talking to guys who have done it. Won't make anyone rich but it's definitely not a bad gig either.
I won't get rich, but sales is a pretty transferable skill in which many do use to start their own business later down the line. My dad is doing real estate and I might want to join him there.
Working with a few marketing funnels with some marketing people. I get paid on the side and it may lead to bigger things, so not a bad gig.
Tech/software sales -- I have a friend doing this. Seems extremely lucrative... I was considering this.
I also have a few friends who are in a extremely high caliber business group. I was informally given the opportunity (At least it was there a few months ago) to come on as an employee and then eventually help create a business venture with them. Risky but I am still young so the risk is not that high.
I'd like to make a lot, but at this point I think big law, finance, or med school is out of the question unless I heavily leverage connections. Med school I would hate, law would be a tossup, and finance I might like.
Also working on getting my EU passport, which will take a while. I was thinking about ditching the US and either working for a major corporation or starting a business somewhere in Europe. Does anyone have experience starting a business in Europe? I also heard free grad school if you are a citizen. If I came in with my BS in engineering would finding work be pretty straightforward? Dual citizenship tax laws may be a pain in the ass though.