Seize the Career Change!
I have written this blog for those who are currently considering a career change given their current circumstances. I completed a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering at the end of 2015. In 2011, at the start of my college career, Petroleum Engineering was upon the top-paying fields. This was not the primary reason why I was set on this career path, but it surely wasn’t a drawback when I was weighing my options. For some people, however, its profitability was that career’s only appeal.
When my petroleum engineering cohort graduated in 2015, the oil and gas industry was in the middle of one of its many busts, one of multiple changes the industry saw between 2011 and then. I was eager to put my newly-earned-degree to use and I decided to take any job I could get, which luckily landed me a position as a field engineer. I held multiple positions at the same company, and I was part of the industry until the beginning of 2020, when arguably the worst oil and gas downturn in history occurred. I am now part of the hundreds of thousands of people from the industry that are unemployed. Not everything about this situation is negative, though!
I was fortunate to have worked long hours with some of the hardest-working people on Earth. The people from the oil and gas industry are renowned for their resilience, ability to adapt, problem solving, and resourcefulness. The lack of open positions in the oil and gas industry does not change the fact that the professionals in that industry are capable of transitioning into any industry and being successful in that new environment. You are the only one that can stop yourself from bringing any and all experience you’ve acquired through previous work experience and transferring into a new position or industry. You may be afraid of making the wrong decision, but trying is the only way to find out if you made the right decision. More than ever, this is the perfect time to think about any hobbies or activities you’ve enjoyed in the past and whether or not they make for potential careers.
“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ― Mark Twain
At the beginning of my short career in oil and gas, I performed or encountered repetitive tasks every day — this is not an exaggeration. These tasks are ubiquitous in most industries, but I believe any industry would have a hard time competing with the oil and gas industry in this regard. I was always interested in finding ways of eliminating or automating these tasks through the implementation of apps or code, but I arrived at the conclusion that I did not have enough coding knowledge or the time to learn enough coding to do it myself. Later on, I found myself in a position where I did have the time to learn coding, and a valid business reason to finally eliminate some of those tasks. I was able to achieve the goal of eliminating a few of those tasks with a minimal amount of Python code.
This was when I realized how much I enjoyed coding! Sadly, I was unable to continue what I had started due to the fact that I, along with my whole team, was laid off a week later.
This is why I am now pursuing a career in Software Engineering. I decided that it was time for me to invest time and effort into something else that I enjoy doing. This does not mean I intend to leave that industry forever, but I am learning a new skill that might bring me more happiness and job security. I do not think I would have pursued this career path if this downturn had not occurred. I am currently, however, eight weeks into a 15-week, full-time software engineering course and I am happy to say that I am learning at an incredible rate and all the struggles have been worthwhile.
“To have done anything just for money is to have been truly idle.” ― Henry David Thoreau
I’ve learned it can be challenging to pick the correct career path on the first try, but you must not be afraid to pursue a new career if you are given the chance. If you have tried a career path solely because of the earning potential that it may bring, you are probably going to be very unhappy as you will spend most of your time at work. It is too early to tell if pursuing a career in the Tech industry is the right move for me, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the coding bootcamp thus far. I know I will give it 100% of my effort, but if it does start to become just work, I will not be afraid to pursue something new.
Here’s some humor: I tried to refrain from using the phrase “carpe diem” in this blog, but I did find a hidden message while attempting to google translate “seize the oil and gas downturn” to Latin. I translated that phrase from English to Latin and then reversed the direction to see if the translation remained the same. To my surprise, it did not. Here’s my interpretation. Google seems to know that if you enroll in an undergraduate oil and gas related degree, you might have to seize one or more downturns. I sometimes wish I would have found this easter egg back in 2011. All jokes aside, I would consider other career paths if you are a just starting college in 2020. Best wishes regardless of your career choice!
