Are they going to cut new grad engineers? I'm thinking people with less than 3 yrs experience. I fall into this group. what a time to lose a job - don't have much of an emergency fund, don't have the specialized experience to fit into a role at another company, and the few job postings at other companies require minimum 5 yrs experience. I believe I am effed.
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The last post is helpful. The last post noted 5 months between layoff and a part time job. 2-6 month between layoff and job is not out of the ordinary. Layoff on Monday and new job on Tuesday is out of the ordinary. And unfortunately in excess of 6 month between layoff and job is a reality for quite a few employees. For a large percentage of the individuals involved in the layoffs severance and unemployment benefits will cover the bills for 6-12 months.
Got laid off in '82 with 1 years experience. Rotten company even laid off kids in the damn training program. Was able to hook a part-time job in about 5 months that turned into a 9-yr run before 2nd layoff. Then switched careers for 10 years. Came back to O&G in 2003 and now my current employer is in Chapter 11. LOL. It's a great industry but brutal in the downturns. If it's in your blood, you will find a way to stick. Good luck. Oh, if you are under 30 living check to check with a 50k truck and 500k house, you are lucky to be learning a hard life lesson now. Sell the truck and house, start over.
Damn Apple Phone! Couple of errors in my post. I wasn't payed off but layed off! The company was taken over and I was layed off. Apologies for the errors!
This down turn seems similar to the one in which started in 1982/83. Was working with less than 3 years out of college, when the company was taken over and was later off. Took about 3 months to find a job and worked for an independent for a little over a year then their money ran out and payed off again. Took about six months to find a new job. What I learned in the process, never give up and your job is to find another job! About 6 months ago was cleaning out boxes and found my calendar for 1984. I knew that I worked hard to find a job but it was nice to see my daily activities to realize that I did not remember that I worked that hard! A book that I recommend is "Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do" by Dr. Robert Schuler. It is very encouraging. Note it is an older book but worth the read! Amazon has it and can be bought for less than $10. USD
Yep your fu**ed
Hang in there. File for unemployment ASAP it takes 5 minutes on line. It's not much but something 1600 a month to help. Will be thinking of you!
@170855, New Grad - scroll down and look at the post yesterday (Thursday) by Gone Fishing, "Was Let Go From Calgary Today." Follow that attitude. It's the people around you that matter most, including on the job. There are some other great posts too. I like that one. I learned from it. There are some throwaway comments here, and then some angry ones--their right; and then there are some real gems.
1 issue with new hires at ConocoPhillips, the adversarial relationship with the new employees and the old employees.
Yes, everyone is expendable outside the executive suites. Good luck to you all. Boom and bust is the nature of the energy business. Lance and company apparently forgot this. Plan A was $100 oil, and there was no Plan B. You are a lot smarter than Lance. If you survive then learn from this. Cut your expenses and figure out how to live on whatever you think you could make outside the energy business, even if that is a $10 an hour job at Home Depot. Pay off your debts now and try to live as much as you can on cash. Set aside a 6 month emergency fund - a year would be better. Max out your 401k contributions so you can retire in your 50s. Have a plan for what you would do in the event you lost your energy job. Update that plan every 5 years or so. Thank you for your service - however long it was!
Same boat. I have a little over two years. I think if you've spent your time effectively here contributing to the company in some form or fashion you'll be able to find a job. You still have an engineering degree. You should have some money saved up. If you haven't learned much and you haven't saved much, then this is the reality check you needed. The company is full of people who miss out on the real world because we came on at a time where you could get a 3 for being to work on time and doing what you're told. Reality check - you can't slide by in life. If that's not you, trust me you'll be fine, provided you're willing to work in a different role and move.
170883 would probably have never gotten a job in the first place if he had to compete with the kind of graduate Conoco currently recruits.
@170883 - the New Grad is not being arrogant. Easy there. Maybe some are, but he's not. He's scared. How about better advice for him, instead of kicking the puppy.
Not all of us are that irresponsible. Personally I have been saving as much as I can. No new car, cheap apartment, etc but still don't have much of an emergency fund after 8 months of work. What's more is than an emergency fund does us no good because we don't have the experience to get on at another company right now in this market. Time to change careers I guess.
I hope you all are on the list. We don't need your arrogant new hire liability fresh out of college. You all can't deliver results immediately we should have never hired you originally. I'd rather see new hires terminated, they have more resources to recoup than someone with a family, seasoned who can come to work and deliver results the second they walk in for the day.
New grad engineers have $100,000 of student loans. New grad engineers were promised wine and roses. New grad engineers were not worried about oil prices; new grad engineers were worried about the new car, the new home, the new wife and the new child. New grad engineers were worried about fitting in with the middle age white men managing the company.
New grad engineers make at least 100k in salary and bonus. How is it that y'all don't have a 6 month emergency fund if you have worked for at least a year? Unless you have a family, you don't need more than 3000/month and should have been able to save at least 20k...
Yep, if you're not on the list, it's because you're an outstanding performer and irreplaceable.
Depending on your field, you should look outside the energy sector. Happened to me some years ago, and I landed a spot at a major EPC firm within a month. Where I went wrong was going back into Oil & Gas.
Try Chemicals, Refining, or even commercial.
If you're a geologist, your best hope is to contact as many head hunter agencies as possible and be willing to travel as much as they want. With every E&P in the world cutting back, they will need cheaper, short term contract staff almost immediately. Maybe even COP.
Same boat. All my coworkers talk about how they could take a couple years off, but for people like us with no experience and still basically living paycheck to paycheck it is definitely different. Good luck.