Quote:
Originally Posted by Teh Prof  Why? |
What triggered me to post what I did is that I am not a big fan of spending long hours in the tundra.
But, since you asked, here are my top reasons for being grateful I didn't get the oilfield technology job:
1) It was a field engineering position, not an R&D position
2) The work schedules suXored. The intervals varied, but they were something like 7 days on, 2 off, or 14 days on, 5 off, etc. On teh days on, I would have been on call 24/7, with most of teh work taking place between 11 pm and 5 am. This amounts to sometimes working for 30 hours straight and workweeks in the 60 - 80 hour range.
3) Being an electrical engineer, what attracted me to the company was their R&D. In order to get into that type of job, I would have had to pay my dues out in the field for 3 - 5 years, doing stuff that had nothing to do with my field.
4) The work locations were in the middle of nowhere -- desserts, tundra, or other really hot, really cold, or really isolated (e.g. off-shore platforms in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico) places.
5) The company's expectations don't change once you get off the field -- they still want 60 hour workweeks from their employees.
Instead, I now work for one of the top semiconductor companies in the world. We constantly are named as one of the best places to work by publications such as Fortune, which just last week named us the most admired semiconductor company in the world. I get to work in my field right away, work normal hours, don't need to wear a hard hat, coveralls and steel-toed boots to work, and get to live in the fourth largest metro area in the US. Did I mention the vast number of my coworkers who drive BMWs already? I guess that's gravy. The other day, as I was leaving, I noticed that I was teh head of a row of 4 or 5 BMWs heading out of the front gate. Oh, and I get better pay here too, which may be enticing to some.
I am really happy about the way things turned out. I hope Ryan has fun in Siberia.
Oh, yeah. Nice ///M3. I hope teh n00bs enjoy paying $20k over sticker for it.
