Too old to start as Pete Eng?
Too old to start as Pete Eng?
(OP)
Hello, I'm new to this site and found it while doing a search for info. I am currently in the USAF and will be retiring soon. I have been accepted to and I'm currently working towards my degree in Pete Engineering. But I will be 46 years old when I enter the job market. With oil prices hitting the lows they are and hearing about new grads having issues getting jobs I am wondering if I should changing fields. I have 20 years experience in aviation maintenance and worked 4 of those years in a job along side engineers. So I know this is a field I want to enter. But I'm just concerned about the job prospects after graduation. Any advice anyone is willing to give would be great! My second choice is Electrical Engineering. I appreciate any and all help!





RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
I have always thought that the people who entered Pet Eng programs during the various collapses were the smart ones. Nothing lasts forever, and the need for petroleum products is only increasing, so if I was a 42 year old with my 20 in I would consider both my age and the current downturn to be positives and go for it.
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
I know when Amoco had a district office in Anchorage (working the offshore wells in the Cook Inlet off the Kenai Peninsula) it was the hardest district to get transferred to. I was working in the General Office back then and I had no problem traveling from Tulsa to London, Calgary, Trinidad, or Argentina, but I had to submit a request to an executive VP before I could go to Anchorage. Fairbanks may be a very good choice, I just don't know.
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
As it's not the best of times for oil, so at least you won't lose the first 3-4 years. With the price of oil (jet fuel) set to come down, I'd be buying up av stocks. There is a US Forest Service, Fish & Wildlife, EPA, etc. as well. Alaska must need some looking after the environment and seems like you want to live up there for some reason. Not a fit? Alaska had aviation before oil, and it'll be there afterwards too.
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
When I got out of the Navy I treated college as a job, I already knew how to drink, was married, and I'd come to grips with dealing with my hormones. I got my BS in 33 months. It is quite doable, you just have to convince your adviser that 19-24 semester hours is a fraction of the work you did in the service. I never once felt overloaded, in fact I was able to get hooked on a soap opera while in school (that really sucked when I got a job in the pre-DVR days) while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.
Getting your first job out of college, your grades matter (even though they will never matter again, they really matter for the first job) the cut off for most Major Oil & Gas companies is a 3.8 out of 4.0, second tier companies usually will look at applicants with a 3.6 (smaller companies rarely hire new grads), below that you are pretty much limited to service companies. Service companies work you to death, but at the end of 2-3 years, all of the producers are interested in you. That is really the most common path to a production company these days (when I started in 1980, the path was reversed, the service companies and smaller producers poached from the Majors--there were something like 150 engineers that started with Amoco the day I did, 10 years later there were 3 of us still with Amoco, most of the rest were doing quite well at smaller producers).
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
I suppose putting a more optimistic view on things is, since Alaska obviously holds roots for you , do your university education up there but be mentally prepared to move back to the lower 48 upon graduation if necessary. ANd I too have been nose to nose with caribou so can speak with some authority on the Canadian north. In general terms, society is putting increasing restrictions upon all activity in the Arctic, and until we start suffering blackouts or gas shortages in San Fran, or Toronto, or New York, I cant see it changing for the better. You probably already know this, but you need to do a pile more research and if you're restricted to the Internet, I don't know how you do this effectively.
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
I'm expecting to see some means to export gas from Alaska within the next 5-10 years. It may be to bring gas to a new LNG plant in Valdez or it may be a pipeline to tie into the lower 48 transportation grid. The economics are not there yet, but Alaska is so damn big with so much natural resources that if gas gets back to $6/MSCF (my guess is 2017, but what do I know) folks will start going after the abundant coalbed methane and shale gas/oil. Getting the gas to market is the HUGE stumbling block. At today's prices you can't spend the money.
In short, someone graduating with an engineering degree in 2018-2020 from Fairbanks would likely be in a pretty reasonable job market. Joining SPE was a really good first step (I've been a member for most of my career). When you get on campus become active in the Student Chapter. It is a good organization with some great new-entry resources.
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
Fracking next to markets is making all this semi-stranded oil & gas (North Slope now included) hard to sell. Saudi pumping all out and potentially Iran coming online very soon, don't make a long term picture look very pretty. There's a lot of $50 oil out there and the price is $40. Do the math. Will anybody be drilling anytime soon when looking at that. Shell thinks there's a chance for $90 to be seen again but not until around 5 years from now. Alaska Gas wasn't economic at $100.
There is a very large number of unemployed North Sea folks here and now. The only bright picture I see anywhere right now in O&G is my not so early retirement. Fracking isn't helping the upstream side of the argument very much either. Good for cars, refineries and oil power burners, but not good for oil & gas upstream. Pipelines will be busy, but not those long imaginary ones from ... Alaska. And the TAPL oil PL has considerable excess capacity right now.
Most guys that get out of the military that get into engineering do so when they're 25. It won't be easy standing in line behind them.
That's reality as I see it. Anyway it's just my opinion there. What I really mean to say is do a lot of serious thinking first.
Economics of fracking itself? See this one,
http://law.case.edu/journals/lawreview/documents/6...
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?
One point I haven't heard much on is this: an Engineering discipline is no walk in the park. Obviously you have discipline from the military and age, and anyone is capable of learning if their desire is strong, but a four year curriculum can really knock your wrench in the dirt if you're not ready for it. The hole digging, geology and reservoir classes will be very interesting and even enjoyable, but you also have to go through the foundations of basic engineering: calculus, differential equations, thermo, heat transfer, etc. which can be fairly dry especially if taught by grad student with an incomprehensible accent. No disrespect to your ability, but there have been many spend a couple years before realizing they just don't like those subjects and then change or quit. Just sayin....
RE: Too old to start as Pete Eng?