I'm surprised nobody mentioned trading so far. Trading is buying & selling of crude oil, gas etc. If you're really good, expect to be a millionaire before you're 40.

To start, get hired by one of the big guys first and get lots of experience there. Shell, Exxon-Mobil, Petronas all have trading in this region. There may be a lot of travel involved so those who enjoy travelling around the world in business class will have some fun here. Once you have experience the sky's the limit!

Trading of the actual goods themselves, oil, gas etc. You buy and sell them, the physical stuff, not just at the stock market or futures level. Most trading companies will have oil terminals, the big ones will have ships.



This post has been edited by tishaban: Dec 5 2007, 08:49 AM

Search for what I posted earlier...
But yes, to echo WildChai you need experience.

I know a few engineers in Shell and Schlumberger, based in Miri and outside Malaysia. For the most part their family goes with them eg. in Vietnam, Egypt etc. although the family doesn't go offshore obviously.

There is a possibility of family life once you're more experienced, although you will be away from family for days at a time when you're offshore. On the other hand I also have a friend attached with Shell Nigeria, families not allowed at all due to security reasons so he's away from his wife and kids for months.

I got an offer from Shell within a day of the interview. I did tell them up front that I had another offer waiting (which was true). If it's been a month then I would not put my hopes up too high, but I'd certainly bug HR to give a yes/no answer ASAP.

RM2.70 is only for retail which typically has very small margins, big fat bonuses have been around for awhile since the price of oil per barrel has shot skywards since ~1 year ago

I've done my fair share of interviews and it's true, sometimes a good interview doesn't guarantee a performer. That's what the probation period is for.

Critical thinking alone may not be enough, you must be able to communicate as well. What's the point of having ideas if you can't tell people what they are.

So analytical + soft skills = Shell/energy company employee?

I don't think so. There's a difference when you're presenting to an audience who have an engineering background and there's a skill to presenting technical data to a non-engineering audience. I still believe that just because you know how to think critically does not mean that you can present it well.

Second, I also believe that thinking critically only from an engineering standpoint is not sufficient in a Shell interview. I've gone through the Shell interviews and you do have to think from other aspects as well including safety, human factors, commercial factors, asthetics etc which many people straight out of engineering school don't have. They say think globally and they judge you by that. I personally found the case studies to be fascinating, maybe I should open a workshop on how to do well in Shell's interviews

If I recall it was 3.8k a few years back. It's a bit more now since they've revised their salary structure quite a bit.

Follow the SRD discussion for more info.