“Nothing bound us to the firm but what had enticed many of us to apply: money and a strange belief that no other jobs in the world were worth doing.”
-Michael Lewis, “Liar’s Poker”
Quite an interesting quote, I would say. It brings to my mind the mindset many of my peers and myself felt when we had graduated college. We were green petroleum engineers, not necessarily looking to change the world but certainly feeling like we were well equipped to do so. And in a matter of a couple of years, we were slapped in the face by reality.
We knew people before us who had bad timing: great grades and awesome training for a declining field. Such graduates were subject to varying realities themselves: anything from job opportunities to rejected applications to leaving the country for a bartending opportunity on a tropical island. Of course, we thought it might happen to us, but we were optimists: we expected the oilfield to turn back positive and we could all find great jobs which we were prepared for.
Imagine some of our reactions as we took lower jobs on the metaphorical totem pole as others who came from great universities but were also almost universally under-prepared for the work compared to ourselves. It drove us to animosity to the companies who employed us, animosity towards the others in more important positions, of course tempered by our professionalism because we did-and still do-love the field we studied.
In my experience, I wanted to immediately go offshore. In this respect, I was aided a bit by the good fortune that our recruiters either did not know what they should have or blatantly lied to my recruiting class. Either way, I was very much happy to have the opportunity I received. To me, this was my strange belief of the one job worth doing. How wrong I was.
Alas, I still find myself wanting a job that cannot find stability, and drives away anyone with the good sense to get out. I have had dreams, almost 9 months after leaving that offshore job, of the work that had to be done. Maintenance, testing, and (believe it or not) calculations. Such calculations in my dreams are done correctly, down to the units.
I don’t want to go back to being a cementer. I also do not want to completely abandon the idea of working in the oilfield as an actual engineer. Many people just like me spent four years getting a degree that marginally helped them get a job which had a lifespan of maybe two years.
That being said, I have found a new job (besides running this website) which may be just as worth doing as being a petroleum engineer. Only time will tell, of course, but the mindset needs to be reset to even give the new job a fighting chance. And that has been my focus.
We all have a calling. The discerning of such a calling is not easy. On that note, we must all consider that the “job worth doing” is the discernment itself. So that being said, I’m armed with a Louisiana license to sell some types of insurance. If you find yourself not happy with the voluntary benefits your company offers you, let me know. I would be happy to make a deal. Help me make my new job the one that outshines all the others.
Bayou Observant 