Well, since someone actually pmed me to ask me which side of the OnG biz he should join and I have spent a fair amount of time writing my response, I think its good to post my response to him/her here to see what other forumners think.

Like I said earlier, it totally depends on what you want in life. If you want to earn ridiculous money while you are still young, then aim for the field service/drilling/survey side of the OnG biz. Those in this line of the biz are like Schlumberger, Wheatherford, Haliburton, Baker Hughes, Transocean, ENSCO, WesternGeco, Fugro and etc. But be warned that it's a hard and stressful job and the working hours will be so disruptive that it's hard to have a meaningful social/family life. And at 35 - 40 when you are bored of doing the same shit after more than a decade, then what? Switching to the client/consultant/vendor side is almost impossible so you gotta carry on doing the same job untill you have had enough of it. If you can stomach it, then by all means go for it. You'll probably be a millionaire before you hit 35.

The next option would be to go to the client side like Shell, BP, Exxon, Petronas and frens. They pay extremely good money especially if you are posted overseas. If you are on their technical side, the learning curve is relatively mild (Except for the geology/petroleum/reservoir fields). You do not need to know in details the technical and design aspects of for e.g. a floating platform. The consultants are there to take care of it. You are just there to approve the design documents given to you by the consultants. Your job would be more towards the planning and scheduling of a project. I'd say the job is pretty easy and you can go home early everyday but there's not much in terms of job satisfaction as you'll learn very little on the technical aspects. If you are on their operation side i.e maintenance and operation of offshore facilities like platforms and FPSO, then you'll earn even more than the technical guys. The job routine should be pretty much the same like the drilling/field service guys i.e. disruptive working hours.

Now, almost at the bottom rung in terms of pay in the OnG biz are the consultants/EPCI contractors. They are companies like Technip, AkerSolutions, Subsea7, Saipem, Fluor, J.R McDermott and etc. Their pay is pretty standard and the increment is pretty standard as well. This is off course if you are just the average joe working there. But if you are the truly capable one and the company notices it, then you'll lead a good life there. Oh btw, I heard Technip is paying RM3k for graduate engineers. The consultants work hand in hand with the clients as most of the clients do not have the design/technical/construction capabilities to develop a field on their own. You'll learn an amazing amount of knowledge here. Trainings and overseas posting are a norm and you work with colleagues from different parts of the world especially if a project if very challenging. The client really appreciates those experienced workers from the big consultant/EPCI firms and would be happily absorbing them into their organization as they'll bring depth and technical knowledge to them. If you stick with the consultant side and managed to rise to become the lead engineer or head of department then your pay is enough for you to lead a truly comfortable life. You'll have lots of money, family, nice car, big house, >35 days annual leave, job satisfaction and you work in the relative comfort of your office.

I'll skip the vendor side.

Off course, please take whatever that I have said with a pinch of salt. I'm only describing the OnG biz in general and based only on my perception. I may have oversimplified some aspects and I could also be totally wrong in some aspects. I'm not God afterall.