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BillyG

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  1. I would just say good luck. A lot of people I know in the industry began looking for new work as their projects dried up, only to find that companies were hiring at much lower wages, or not hiring at all. I think over the next year the industry is going to suffer, but hopefully in 18 months we'll see banks lending money again so companies can begin new projects. All my company will likely see for the next 2-3 years will be updating/repairing old stations, and no brand new projects. I suspect it will be the same all over. A friend at Mustang told me prior to the holidays that even they had lost a big project and were looking at some significant layoffs. As far as the effect on the industry with Obama in office, I really don't see one. The big (huge) boys will get taxed a bit more maybe, but that's it. The world still needs oil/natural gas, and even with the transfer to renewable energy oil won't be going anywhere anytime soon. I'm more worried about the state of the industry 15-20 years from now when I'm working hard to retire early.
  2. I consider traveling one of the perks of the job. Some people hate traveling, and refuse to do so, and tend to bring it up quite often. I find it kind of stupid to work in oil/gas and refuse to take an expense paid trip to Dubai. Sign me up! But some people do. I've traveled to both coasts, Calgary, and Edmonton in my career so far. Ajob I recently interviewed for told me that travel overseas is a definite possibility, and needless to say the chance to go to Japan, or Korea, or Iceland on the companies dime is pretty damn sweet. So yeah, travel. It's a great thing. A lot of people will tie a day or two of vacation, and stay over in say, Italy, and have some nice trips of their own.
  3. As far as company reputations go I can only speak first hand for a small number. Technip - 50/50 chance of really enjoying it. Lot of communication issues with their teams in my experience. People do seem to be knowledgable. Mustang - Have quite a few friends/family members at Mustang and for the most part they seem to really like it. Mustang used to have a reputation for hiring huge numbers, and firing at an even faster rate. I don't think that's the market right now, as I said companies want to hold onto their good people. Total - Unless someone can come and speak up for Total, I say run like hell. I've been working with them for 2 years, and it is absolutely the most disfunctional organization I have ever come across. Fluor - I have worked a handful of Fluor projects, and have always been a great company. Keep in mind there are always the oil/gas agencies that will hire you direct, and contract you out. You can make a bit more than as a direct hire like this sometimes, as they will contract you out for 2.5-3 times your salary.
  4. My experience (just shy of 10 years in oil/gas/pipeline) is send it through a known friend/associate any chance you have. Lots of reasons for this. First, Houston oil and gas is a good ole boy industry, and knowing someone helps a ton. You'll always come across the same people, even when they move from company to company. Second, most companies have pretty nice recruiting bonuses, and you can split that with your friend. My small/medium engineering company currently offers $2500 for non-engineering recruits and $5000 for engineers. I am sure that larger companies offer more. I saw earlier comments about hourly rates and such for contract workers. Contract workers make up a fairly big chunk of the workforce. There are also companies that you may work for direct that you get your insurance/401K etc through that will contract you out to their clients as needed. Nice compromise there. As far as hourly rates, different for each company. Smaller companies have lower hourly rates obviously. I'll use myself as an example. I currently work in procurement/inspection services. I was recently asked to come interview with a dedicated inspection firm that is familiar with my work. They did not blink to offer me 30-35% more starting salary, with an additional 10% bump in 6 months if the clients liked my work. If I was to go purely contract I could easily ask for 40-50% more per hour, but there is the lack of 401K, insurance etc that needs to be considered. I am sure as a geologist with experience you could go to a mid/major and make somewhere in the ballpark of $90K without putting up a fight, granted that you have a bachelor's, which I'm sure you do. And if you tell them up front that you're interested in staying with a company and taking advantage of their scholarship/education programs it can boost their offer. Companies are desparate to keep their people these days, and someone telling them out front they are not interested in jumping around can go a long ways.
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