davev1977

In addition to the November trip, I've added an October trip to attend the SEG meeting in Houston. While I'm there, I will visit the career placement center to meet representatives from multiple companies in hopes of landing a career with one of them. Exxon and Chevron will both be there (my top two), as well as Hess, BP, and Total. I have my resume and business cards, suit and tie, and I'm ready to do this!

We're going to visit Houston on the weekend before Thanksgiving, then take a five-day cruise from Galveston to Cozumel! We're very excited. While visting Houston we're going to drive out to Sugar Land and The Woodlands, as well as downtown, and get a feel for what each place is like and where we would like to live. We'll test drive the commutes to downtown while we're at it...

I've read up on Chevron, now, and really like what I see. Any fans of BP out there?

Sorry it took me awhile to get back on here. I'm just considering which to apply to. I understand it's not the best time, the economy being as it is. But perhaps by next spring things will be looking up. And that's when I hope to get my foot in the door. In the meantime, I'll be sharpening my skills and tailoring my resume! Mr. Barnes, you have given me plenty of good advice in this thread. I really appreciate that! I hope one day to make the acquaintance of any or all of the gentlemen you've mentioned at each of these companies. I would be thrilled to work for any one of them.

Okay, so I'm looking at four companies and comparing them to each other, trying to figure out which would be the best to work for as a newcomer to the industry. Two are majors and two are mid-majors I think. The four I've identified so far are (in no particular order): Devon Energy, El Paso Corporation, Shell, and Exxon. Does anyone have any thoughts on any of these?

I'm getting closer to the time when I begin applying for a job with an oil company and I'm wondering what the situation is for new hires in the industry while oil prices are so much lower than the average over the last couple of years. Any thoughts?

I'm wondering what the mood is like for those of you working in the oil industry now that Obama has been elected. Is the general consensus that not much will change, things will get worse (layoffs, etc.), or things will get better? How do you all view this situation?

My new question is for those of you who commute to downtown Houston. Where do you commute from, how long does it take, what kind of car do you drive, and how much is it costing you on average per week? We're thinking about moving to Sugar Land and I wonder how expensive it will be. If my income increases by $20,000/year, I'm sure I'll still come out ahead, but I still want to factor this into the equation. Plus, my wife may end up staying home for a few years when we have kids, so I need to factor that in as well because that will represent a decrease of ~$40,000/year. Thanks for your help!

Does anyone here work for Devon Energy or know somebody who does? I was very impressed with the information on their website and was wondering if anyone could speak up about the company's reputation among the employees. I also noticed they offer 3 weeks of vacation to begin with...does it ever increase to 4 weeks? I plan to be employed as a geologist/geophysicist within the next year or two.

I definitely see travel as a perk, too. I've had some international travel experience, including the Marshall Islands, where I went to high school, and Europe, where I was in the military stationed in Germany for 2 years. I can't wait to become mobile again!

Where have you travelled to with the oil companies? I had been wondering about this: how do you all who work in the petroleum industry enjoy traveling to other countries as part of your job? Where have you been, what's the work like, how long do you work somewhere before getting to go to let's say Brazil, etc.? I'd love to hear some stories from people who have been in the industry. Any kind of anecdote will do - doesn't have to be a travel story, just some memorable experiences. I'd especially like to hear from any geoscientists out there, but stories from everybody would be great!!

That sounds exactly like the train of thought I was on, thank you. I'd love to one day get a Phd and teach, but only later on as I head into retirement.

No, that's fine. I had been hearing more along the lines of $80k for Master's degrees. Sometimes a little lower, but that's still an attractive number for me. I had also read that they hire more M.S. degrees than PHD. I wonder if it's a better idea to go get a PHD and get on a higher track or stick with the M.S. and do just fine that way...

Thanks for all the good information. Sounds like you have a pretty sweet deal there for yourself. I've got a Master's degree but all my experience is in coal so far. I know that won't translate well, but would you expect that to help my case? If they're desperate enough I'm sure somebody would hire me!? I really like the sound of $90k. That would represent a $30k/year increase for me. I'm certainly agreeable to staying with one company as long as it was a good one. What kinds of reputations do some of the companies have for treating their employees? Sounds like all the benefits are first-class...

Let me ask you this: If I know someone who works at Exxon, not necessarily in the geosciences, but someone who has worked there for 20+ years, would I be better off sending my resume through them or by applying on the company's website recruiting page? Or, what if I know some friends who work in the geosciences but have only been there for 2-3 years? Should I try going through them instead? They work at other companies, Schlumberger, Noble, and Pioneer.

Thank you, great advice. On another topic, do you think there is any reason to believe that pay rates, bonuses, or hiring might decrease with the election of our next president since both likely candidates, McCain and Obama, express concern about global warming and have indicated they might hold oil companies accountable in some way? I doubt either one would actually do much harm to the industry in light of the fact that we will continue to need oil and will need to further our exploration and development activities, and the hiring activities are more related to a shortage of geoscientists in general, but might there be any impact at all?

Night school doesn't sound appealing. Probably the only way it could be done would be to go to a school in Houston. No way could I go all the way out to TAMU or something like that. I'd rather take 2-3 years off and just get it all done at once, anyway. Which company do you work for? How do you like it? Any other oil company employees: how do you like working for your company? Do they treat you pretty well, other than giving good compensation/benefits?

Man, that sounds like a good life! Very American. Congrats to you. That's a whole lot of land, too. I can appreciate the thing about horses, they're pretty popular here in Kentucky, as well. My sister loves horses and owned one up in Montana while she was in college. Made me want to do the same some day. Is there much land available down there still at a decent price?

No, no, you're alright. In fact, your post was not as bad as I made it out to be. I just got the wrong idea I think. When I first created this topic I was afraid the first thing that would happen would be somebody would criticize me for wanting to work for an oil company, their reputations being what they are. I was very happy to get good advice and positive feedback about it. Thanks for the apology, though probably unnecessary.

I agree...wrong thread.

How exactly did you manage that? It seems that would be a long commute every day. Did you work and take classes at the same time? Or did you live in College Station for awhile?

That is excellent. I really want to continue my education, too. I'd love more physics, math, and geophyisics, as well as other subjects like spanish, english, business, etc. ls "DEng" a "degree in English" or "doctorate in english" or something else? Where did you take your courses, by the way? Also, I realized "DEng" is engineering, not english. duh.

Has anyone ever heard of an oil company sending their geoscientists back to school to earn a phd (at UT-Austin or Tex A&M for example) in order to move into the research and development side of the company?

Thank you for the information, I'll explore each of those avenues. I just looked at El Paso's website and was very impressed. They seem to offer everything I'm looking for and I was getting excited by the prospect. I certainly need to learn the software as quickly as possible, but I'm ready, willing, and able. Almost more than anything, working as part of a team appeals to me. Right now I work largely on my own as I'm responsible for overseeing our exploratory drilling and geological data management, drawing maps and cross-sections, etc. I do collaborate with our engineers, but I'm the only geologist for our Kentucky subsidiaries. I enjoy my job and the independence is good and all, but it would also be fun to be a part of some larger projects with several other geoscientists working together to solve problems and such.

Do you know what the hourly rates are, approximately?