High bonus, yes.. but since it is based on your basic salary (which isn't that high, really).. it doesn't amount to much in the end.

Upstream is where the money and fun is, my friend. Work hard for 15 days, then play hard for 15 days lah!

Hrm? So eager to disclose the salary level for the engineers in PETRONAS?
Btw, the offshore hardship allowance is not RM30/day, it is more than that. And all engineers are actually earning the same starting salary, no matter the discipline. Of course, there are special allowances and adjustments...

Not really. If you are looking for technical career progression, consultants/contractors/service providers provide better opportunities. In client companies, you'll mostly be bogged down by management/supervising tasks UNLESS if you make the extra effort to directly do the work yourself. Of course as a client, you just need to review and approve procedures/drawings/specs/datasheets with occasional site visit, but how to gain the knowledge and experience to be 'qualified' to review and approve them? That's where the hardworking and lazy types are sorted out..

Ah come on now, you don't have go on and praise PMU until like that. I'm beginning to suspect that you're from there.
You should spare a thought for the PCSB guys who slog it out at fabrication yards, pet. engineers who sit at their PC reading the reservoir data in the weekends, offshore guys who spent Hari Raya out in the open seas. I haven't counted the downstream guys yet. Everyone also deserves praise what.

Agreed. Best that you move on early, unless if you intend to stay and move upwards in the company.

A common scare tactic which I encountered a lot lately. True, you will probably not be able to work with PETRONAS again once you resign, but look: If you've made up your mind to leave, why think about going back? The world is big, and there are more things out there than in PETRONAS.

This post has been edited by Ezra: Dec 27 2007, 03:08 PM

True and not true.

True = all oil/gas in malaysian soil belongs to Malaysia, and PETRONAS (specifically PMU) is the guardian of the natural resources. Thus it is required that for every barrel of oil that foreign oil companies take from us, they have to pay us back a certain amount. And let's not forget that PETRONAS is the piggybank of Malaysian government. To be honest, what happens to the money once it reaches the government's hands is another matter, but let's leave it at that.

Not true = A huge portion of PETRONAS revenue comes from overseas, not just from within Malaysia. So Malaysian oil/gas alone does not make PETRONAS rich.

Weird. What kind of services company were you browsing through? If you're talking about geoservices and seismic surveying, then of course la they won't use Mech. Engineering grads.

Mech grads are sometimes found in (and not limited to):
Drilling/Directional Drilling
Well Testing/Control
MWD/LWD
Wireline
Commissioning
Operations
Construction
Installation

You need to look harder. Hint: if the requirements say Petro. Engineering and equivalent, then you may try your luck.

Worked for me.

Well, if it's Halliburton, you've missed the boat. They were recruiting a month or two ago, for MWD/LWD Field Engineers. Requirements include a degree in Geophysics or Petro Engineering and equivalent. (Hint, hint) And Baker Hughes was recruiting too, on the same day in the same Classifieds.

I'm not too sure abut the special skills etc., but training is usually provided.

And your point is?

I'm not yet at the level where I can call myself experienced, so I'm just sharing what I know. What I can tell lah, of course.

This post has been edited by Ezra: Dec 29 2007, 06:27 PM

Just got my confirmation to join Big Red as a MWD/LWD Engineer today, going to be based in kl/miri.

Still considering it tho, since the basic salary is way lower than what I'd expected. For a fresh grad/new entrants, the basic pay is slightly lower than that of a fresh grad PETRONAS engineer.

I always assumed that service companies give more basic salary than that of operators, but guess I'm mistaken this time. Their HR assured me that the total monthly pay (basic + offshore allowance) will be much more than that, but I dunno. Can someone give me advice on this?

Decisions, decisions. Chances like this don't come often, I know. But somehow the basic pay issue doesn't sit well with me.

This post has been edited by Ezra: Jan 11 2008, 07:53 PM

I can't say about the amount, but it's in RM. I'm going to be based in KL/Miri after all. Offshore allowance, well, I don't have the figures. An employee inside told me it's at least 6x what I'm getting now, so it's all good

Shhhhhh!

Yeah, you're correct. To be honest, it is now or never, as they don't recruit regularly. And they seem to be picky since they rather hold 2nd round recruitment than just hire the numbers they need from 1st round. So I'm gonna close my eyes and take the plunge.

No idea. The cert is written as just BOSET, don't have weather classification also.

This post has been edited by Ezra: Jan 18 2008, 10:14 AM