I'm 23 (turning 24 at the end of the year), earning about RM14K a month. It's pretty much a no brainer that I'm in the oil and gas industry. And yes I do work offshore but not on an oil rig.

Somebody said earlier in this thread that ppl in the oil and gas industry 'don't have a life', well I really take offense with that statement. You make us out to be like a group of zombies working for an evil corporation.

You're forgetting that we have our rotations.. I spend 1 month offshore (working regular 10 hrs shifts) and then I get 1 month vacation time.. and the paycheck keeps coming in even during vacation. During my time off I spend time with my family, I go traveling, I hang out with friends, and live my life. Also I get the satisfaction of being able to take care of my family financially. So yeah if that's not 'a life' then I don't know what is.

So if anyone out there is considering a career in the O&G industry.. I say go for it! See what it's all about first and don't just dismiss it as one of those jobs that you think you're not cut out for.

You could always learn the management side of oil and gas industry after a couple of years offshore. But early in your career.. if you want good money.. you kinda have to go offshore.

My company has a very structured program where field engineers are expected to transition to an office based job after about 5 years working in the field. Of course there are people who chose to stay offshore because they just prefer too. So yeah there's a lot of options for later in life. What is important is the field experience, you have to get a good idea of how the operations are run in the field before you can become a project manager for example. Experience is important because an offshore facility cost about $500K per DAY to run.

If you take a look at the requirements for a lot of the managerial posts in Oil and Gas companies.. such as Petronas, Shell or Exxon Mobil, all of them want somebody who has at least 5-8 years in the industry and is familiar with oil and gas exploration, production etc. These are the position that will definitely earn you the big bucks. My project manager onshore is a 34 year old guy who was a field engineer for about 5 years. Now he works in a nice office near KLCC and goes home to his family by 6 o'clock (depending on the traffic jam lah).. owh and he drives a BMW M5.. so I don't think he's having much financial trouble even though his doesn't get any offshore allowances anymore.

But of course you must factor in some honest hard work into the equation as well.

It all depends on the company needs, I'm a graduate in Mechanical Engineering and I work as a seismic engineer! You'd think with the 'seismic' connotations that my company would only hire graduates that majored in geology or something like that. But my job is to maintain the equipment that they use to find oil and gas deposits. It's very mechanical in nature. Anyways some of the navigation guys have EE degrees and they deal with things like differential GPS, float tracking systems and radio navigation system. If you're in telecommunication I'm pretty sure you're kinda familiar with them right?

So yeah there's a lot of different engineering fields involved in the Oil and Gas industry, it's not just for petroleum engineers, geologist, petrophysicsts. Some of my colleagues have degrees in applied physics, statistics and even marine engineering! You just need to maybe look a bit harder for the job openings.. or if you're like me.. just send your resume to Oil and Gas companies and let them decide if they might need someone with your degree or not.

Heheh.. I hadn't thought of that. Maybe I'll just ask him just how much he gets paid... when I work up the guts that is..



Man.. I never win anything with those scratch and win contests... gotta ask the boss for tips then.

Owh someone said earlier that the Pharmaceutical industry is a cash cow... that person certainly got it right. If you can get a job researching a new drug especially for AIDS, cancer or any of the terminal diseases... you'd be raking in the money man.. plus there's always the satisfaction of knowing you're making the world a better place.

This post has been edited by enkadirmainbola: May 16 2007, 02:01 PM

Boooyaaa.. you got that one right! Plus oils is gonna run out in about 40-50 years from now.

I think renewable energy is going to have a major boom in the near future. All the major energy companies are beefing up their renewable energy division with General Electric leading the way.

That's called getting older....people tend to not goof around so much when they're getting older..plus there could be other factors why he changed.. can't blame it solely on his job.

Can one... I worked in Sony for a bit before joining oil and gas. Worked as a product design engineer.. my head of department (DVD Design), he's probably about 33-35 y/o.. someone told me, he earns about RM5.3K before taxes.

Heheh... yeah I know some of the specialist guys like to spend their breaks sun tanning on the helideck. I'm stuck inside the instrument room most of the time..only occasionally get called to do some maintenance work outside.

(I guess I need to change my name and avatar.. so many ppl mistake me for a guy..but whateverlah)

I'm have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and I am a Seismic Engineer. I maintain, deploy and monitor equipment that are used to study the geological subsurface structure to determine how much hydrocarbon deposits can be extracted from the well.

Roustabouts are called field specialist.. most of them are diploma holders.

Aaaa... *speechless* sekejap..

You don't need super duper high GPA (although it does help a 'tiny tiny''bit).. however must have leadership/team player qualities. In your resume highlight all your extra co-curricular activities apart from your internship experience (if you have any). If you for example were a prefect at school/(part of Student council in Uni), president/vp/secretary of a club, represented your school in sports, active with campus activities (been part of a committee), member of school debate team, likes to go hiking/biking/exercising, have black belt in karate/tae-kwa-do...etc etc..etc.... list them all in your resume. Since you are a fresh grad with no working experience.. these are the things they are looking for in a candidate. Most companies will provide in depth training once you're hired.. so what they want is someone who is willing to learn and highly self motivated.

Also before interview... try to anticipate what *general* questions might come up. There's plenty to find on the internet. For example.. 'List 3 of your weakness' is a common question. Instead of just telling the interviewer what they are... try to include what you're doing now to overcome a particular weakness.

Fuh.. this is getting a bit long...but basically that's pretty much what I can think of. Anyways just PM me if you have any other questions.

Urmm no..

There's already a thread about working in O&G industry, try and find it first.

I have degree in Mechanical engineering.

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Added on July 15, 2007, 2:15 amAs far as I know... not really. IT ppl in O&G companies don't really go into the field.. they mostly stay in the main office and provide IT support to field personnel or get involved in software development.

Only ppl who do the 'dirty work' in the field get paid the high salaries...owh and also senior level management people.

This post has been edited by enkadirmainbola: Jul 15 2007, 02:16 AM

I have no idea.. but have not come across anyone in my company with an actuarial science degree.

For someone who's been in the O&G industry for almost 10 years.. USD 400/day is not really a big deal. The more experience you have.. the more employers are willing to pay for your expertise. Some O&G companies even pay fresh grads USD 200/day.

If you have some technical background then you should be eligible to apply for an offshore job. My colleagues all have diverse background.. ranging from mechanical and electrical engineering to industrial physics and geology.

This post has been edited by enkadirmainbola: Nov 1 2007, 12:07 AM

Not really.. most if not all companies will provide on the job training. What I mean by technical background is having a degree which has something to do with engineering.. or sciences such as physics or geology. I'm sorry if it still seems vague but I can't think of how to explain it any better. To make it even simpler... as long as you studied some form of physics during university then you have a pretty good chance of being qualified to apply.

I can attest that my work offshore does not include 'amusing' my male colleagues. I pull as much weight as anybody else out there.

But yes.. I've only mentioned the academic qualifications so far.. you must be a team player but also be capable to lead a crew.. must posses excellent communication skills since you will be working in a multinational environment. While on the job I must be able to understand whatever it is that I am required to do when given the instructions... a misunderstanding can cost potentially millions of dollars in lost production time, revenue and equipment. Believe me the working environment is noisy as hell, hazardous and there's plenty of distractions.. often times I can't even hear what my supervisor is asking me to do above all the noise.. you might have radio/walkie talkie but interference is almost always there and you end up listening so some garbled mess.

Haha.. It's not all that bad though.. after 5 weeks offshore I also have to work in the office for a few weeks.... I'm just not cut out for a regular 9-5 office job. Tried it with Sony and lasted only 2 weeks!

Plus for me - tons of fine male specimens to toggle at...mat salleh ada, mat gelap ada, mat body mantap ada juga..