Hi guys,

I just got a Masters in Petroleum Engineering from Adelaide Uni end of 2013. Came back in January and have been in the hunt for jobs till now.

My degree is in Aerospace from 2009 and then I worked 2.5 years in semiconductor and took a loan for a 1 years coarse in Petroleum Enginering coursework at Uni Adelaide which has a good school in petroleum engineering. We learned the essential stuff such as drilling,completions,WTA and reservoir engineering with some geology. Essentially this Masters Degree is equivalent to a second Degree.

Can the experience guys recommend the companies I should apply to in my position?

I have started applying for non OnG and even tried to go back to manufacturing but during some instantaneous interviews at the Jobstreet fair with some semicon companies some were seem put off by my Masters degree and told me to apply for OnG and when I went to Petrofac booth at UTM the HR people say I am overqualified for graduate positions.So far no response from the big players like Petronas, SLB and halliburton keeps rejecting and Ive even applied to small vendor companies.

Has a girld my senior who did her degree UiTM, manufacturing work experience in factory and did he Masters in Petroleum at Adelaide in 2012 and she got a skype interview with Halliburton and sent to US for drilling training, some are so lucky..maybe just not my luck.

This post has been edited by forrestcat: May 17 2014, 04:57 AM

Seems a bummer, alot of my friends who used to work in manufacturing fortunate, one who use to work at TI got the aker solution grad subsea programmme and sent to Norway and a QA engineermat my old factory got a Technip position, seems the good old days were in between 2010-2012.

This post has been edited by forrestcat: May 17 2014, 11:43 AM

Texas Instrument = TI.

Its not so much about pay but about career progression.

Aker does pay better, my friend from Penang worked in OSRAM now work in the riser production line in Klang and her pay increase significantly plus the job is easier than her days in semiconductor to the extent she said she was bored . My acquaintance who used to work at TI Ulu Klang is now based in Norway permanently after training for 2 years designing sub sea components for Malaysian projects that beats stuck in a clean room 9-5 and being on call even during weekends with no OT and 3% annual pay rise.

For technip it depends on your level, entry level 2k plus but have good job security and perks and bonus.

My acquaintances say its hard job but they do have job satisfaction and they can be very mobile in the OnG industry and go work abroad, even if malaysian oil habis there are oil in other place, but true the industry wants experienced workers, and only big operators and service companies like SLB,halliburton,Shell and Petronas willing to take grads and train them, the small companies will hire specialists or experience people only.

This post has been edited by forrestcat: May 17 2014, 01:56 PM

I met my TI friend last time at a wedding in June 2011,he was still at kilang TI then, we talked he was finding lobang to get out of TI coz he hated the job with not so good management, that September he got the Subsea Engineer Graduate Program from Aker, and straight flew to Norway. I guess he applied at the right time. Now he is Norway and comes back to Malaysia from time to time to visit wife and baby, but I think eventually Aker will move the subsea design dept to Malaysia possibly to Klang and that building at Jalan Ampang, thats why my fren still in Norway to bring train and develop Malaysian expertise, he is now a Senior Engineer. He had Mechatronic Degree.

My Penang friend say almost top up RM2k over her kilang job, sorry to say she says she got problem at Penang plant which hamper her career progerssion plus quite low salary although she enjoyed being sent to Germany for 3 months, she loved the job and passionate making the sapphire substrate but the office politics not good, which is typical in kilang environment.Anyway she has a Chem Eng degree.

This post has been edited by forrestcat: May 17 2014, 11:41 PM

Both got the job via aker website.

The subsea engineer graduate programme is still on, I applied but rejected and cant apply for it anymore but i think im overqualified with my masters and possibly too old. .Dont need PE, engineering degree is enough

The Penang friend applied via online too for process engineer for riser production. She got the job when I was in Australia, she even contacted me that she is leaving kilang job coz she been confiding in me whether to leave OSRAM or not since we both worked in similar industry. The process is just an interview and thats it, she even told the scandinavian manager that she has no idea what a riser is . Aker gave the salary she asked for but the pay at OSRAM was low to begin with so probably to Aker her salary request is reasonable by OnG standard .

My two friends are not first class grads, but they are street smart,english so-so but they speak clearly and give confident answers, so not surprised they got the jobs and happy for them.

Anyway aker is going to merge or split so something, so my friend who worked in riser says aker may not be activelily hiring people but just keep applying .

Anyway Id like to thanks to the contributors for their info and inspirational story, I got to know quite some more companies via this thread and applied to them, now feeling optimistic.

Basic of engineer in OnG may be the same as other industry but they get lot more due to offshore jobs allowances due to hardship,safety and risk. Onshore OnG engineer earns less than offshore engineers, thats what my lecturers told me.

So the big salary in OnG is due to offshore base work. The only onshore OnG jobs that reap $$ more than offshore engineer are geologists and geophysicist, who look at maps and seismic doing static model and cause headache for engineers with their wild guesses.

This post has been edited by forrestcat: May 18 2014, 11:59 PM

Hi guys,

The recruitment executive at Onyx IES requested my CV today.

Its stated at its website its a manpower and energy solutions company. But frankly, Im vague what are its operations as its not a familiar company to me although in its website it does advertize for drilling engineers and such. I also suspect its a consultancy company.

Can someone provide some info of this company if you dont mind? Thanks

The Onyx guy is based in KL. I just sent my CV to the guy today, and see what happens.

I just wonder, since I have a masters degree in petroleum but non oil and gas engineering experience on top of a mechanical degree, companies may be reluctant to hire me even though I dont ask much on top of my last drawn kilang salary .

I understand that MD holders tend to be hired by consultancy firms.

Does anyone have any list of consultant companies in addition to below?
-Onyx
-Leap Energy
-Petrotel

There are a plethora other small vendors and services companies but not sure if they do provide consulting services.
I am browsing through v3-v5 of the this thread to dig more info, but Ill appreciate it if anyone can give additional info even if its just one company .

This post has been edited by forrestcat: May 21 2014, 01:53 AM

Thanks for the input. Already registered with Randstad previously and ive just sign up with velosi and walter, ill also try to find other manpower sites, already checking the major OnG websites everyday. I am also revamping my resume and have decided to make it more concise and short base on several online example.

Ive actually given some resume to my friends already in OnG but the feedback is that their HR tak layan or their companies not hiring, but ive tried.

There were seven Malaysians in our masters course, so far two already work and thats because they have strong cable in family and friends. Unfortunately, my cable not so good . Four others like me with Masters in Petroleum also still looking ,two is like memwith no OnG experience and two continued the Master programme after finishing their Chemical Degree, so seems employers are not noticing even fresh grads with Degree and Masters. Another girl used to be field engineer with SLB but took Masters in geophysics using her own money in Adelaide also have not found a posiiton in Geology/Geophysicist. Seems having Masters degree from Ostolia also hard to sell.

To clarify our Master Degree is a coursework and not MSc with research, we take electives in the Petroleum Degree in total 8 subjects,so the masters is like a second degree, malula nak cakap high class master , not when im still in the dark in the job market . Looking for a job in my conditij have its up and down, some days you feel certain someone is gonna call and sometimes you feels so demotivated..but life has to go on and im still grateful to have a Masters after all which worse cme to worse can open door to Phd.

This post has been edited by forrestcat: May 21 2014, 10:21 PM

Something interesting occurred,I found CGG website and applied for the subsurface imaging geophysicist position as it does not seem to require any experience and asked for engineering people and a HR officer actually sent an email and asked for a phone interview. I seriously didnt expect a response.

'I would like to invite you for a phone interview session to discuss about your background and career interest.'

I hope she doesn't think Petroleum Engineering=Geophysicist. I only know the geophysicist do static models.

Hi guys,

I got an interview for the position of reservoir user support engineer with Exxon mobil after a chit chat with their HR. The interview will be this friday.The job description says that the main role is provide support for users of Eclipse, MBAL and prosper and seems to require an experienced user with 3-5 years experience. Since i am sure that the HR knows that i am in many a sense anfrsh graduate with no working experience in the industry, will Exxon mobil provide extensive training?

While i have a masters in PE, we only used Roxar, Eclipse and MBal for simple case studies and may not be an expert user although i find using Eclipse and Roxar very straight forward. I have no experience in prosper.

Does anyone have any tips what to expect and prepare for during the interview? Should i read more on reservoir softwares that is required?

This is my second proper interview after CGG(waiting for result of the second phone interview after which there will be a face to face interview), id like to get well prepared and any feedback and tips would be appreciated.

the HR called me, it was a simple chit chat and she said I passed the screening. I checked the exxon mobil career account and i did apply for the position she said I applied for.

Hi guys,

The Exxon Mobil HR rescheduled my interview to Monday as she was considerate over the friday prayer issues, so more study time for me.

Does anyone have any idea of the structure of Exxon Mobil interview in malaysia. i have looked up at glassdoor and it ranges to normal chit chat to technical interviews and group interviews but most of glassdoor reviews are in the US.

The interview is for a position that will focus on the usage of Eclipse, mbal and prosper softwares in a support and training role.

Thanks for the insight, i understand Exxon Mobil interviews are apparently more relaxing than Shell base on glassdoor reviews, but I am not going to underestimate the process.i am feeling very neutral with regards with the eventual outcome of the interview because ive been jobseeking for 5 months . But itd be an interesting experience for me though.

Just got the official email invitation after confirming with the HR via phone. The interview will be a face two face session with two persons, both are Exxon Mobil senior engineers related to the position i appliedmto.