Career Advice

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by 1stLand

If you love what u do, the money will follow.

BS. I loved working with people with disabilities. The money never followed because social service work doesn't make anyone a profit.

[steve9981]

..

[Hack&Lube]

Sad to say it, but I know many people who have hidden their higher education on their resumes. It really can be an impediment to getting your foot in the door.

I remember going to highschool with Calf. IIRC, he made a good choice to get a business/finance/accounting type degree. I got a pretty useless liberal arts University degree and the path also seemed to always be "more education" to get a economic policy, research, government, or legal type job but the jobs were always sparse and the pay was bad.

I wisened up a few years down the road and went to SAIT instead.

There, more jobs and opportunities than I had ever seen in 10 years opened up immediately. Now I have great job and could change my career path by doing an after-hours MBA or something. Getting in entry level, getting experience, and then laying on higher education is the way to do it, not the other way around.

As far as practical advice to getting a job, go to job fairs at the U of C, SAIT, MRU, etc. and ask questions, ask for business cards, and hand out your resume even if you aren't a student.

[kmart]

I'm an accounting major in my third year with limited connections. Any tips on networking?

[gladaki]

Originally Posted by AcGold

I'm right there too, graduating geophysics now and there's nothing unless you are the top 4% of the class.

Every company wants people with minimum 6-8 years experience. Probably going to have to head up to Fort Mac or intern/volunteer and get a second job, seems like you have to get your foot in the door then work your way in through the back a lot of the time.

Its not about being top 4 % of class any more. Its more about how many summer jobs you have done during your undergrad and grad school. There are tons of geophysicist in market with exp of 4-5 years looking for position. I know one guy who got laid off from Encana took a massive pay cut for a job in service company.

[gladaki]

Originally Posted by kmart

I'm an accounting major in my third year with limited connections. Any tips on networking?

Join Groups like YOGP (Young Oil and Gas Professionals)..They keep organizing networking meets.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by kmart

I'm an accounting major in my third year with limited connections. Any tips on networking?

You need to secure a job this year in the summer, co-op term or at the very least get involved in some of the accounting clubs at the University.

Accounting majors w/ no experience are a dime a dozen in this city, and they all apply for the exact same job.

[gladaki]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

You need to secure a job this year in the summer, co-op term or at the very least get involved in some of the accounting clubs at the University.

Accounting majors w/ no experience are a dime a dozen in this city, and they all apply for the exact same job.

Exactly summer job is need of the time. My prof in grad school didnt allow me to do one.

[AcGold]

I was thinking about making this it's own thread, will if I don't get responses;

I have a mentor and he's in oil and gas, he is the sole operator of a consulting company and a partner in another large company that he also runs. He is going through a very stressful time right now, the government and another company he was working with are having money disputes (ie. one of them won't pay up).

Basically, being his assistant/someone he trains would be an invaluable experience for me. I am leaving University as an undergrad in 3 months and I desperately want a job with him, the market is horrible and hardly any of my classmates have jobs lined up. So I need advice on how to get him to hire me. I have some business experience and want any advice on how to persuade him to hire me, how to act, how to ask, what to say. I will tell him to use me to help him make himself more money, that way it seems more of a good idea, but I need advice just to increase my odds.

[gladaki]

Originally Posted by AcGold

I was thinking about making this it's own thread, will if I don't get responses;

I have a mentor and he's in oil and gas, he is the sole operator of a consulting company and a partner in another large company that he also runs. He is going through a very stressful time right now, the government and another company he was working with are having money disputes (ie. one of them won't pay up).

Basically, being his assistant/someone he trains would be an invaluable experience for me. I am leaving University as an undergrad in 3 months and I desperately want a job with him, the market is horrible and hardly any of my classmates have jobs lined up. So I need advice on how to get him to hire me. I have some business experience and basically want any advice on how to persuade him to hire me, how to act, how to ask, what to say. I will basically tell him to use me to help him make himself more money, that way it seems more of a good idea, but I need advice just to increase my odds.

I know a guy he worked as a volunteer with senior consulting guy for 3 month just to add some experience in his resume. Proposing an idea of doing volunteer work to get some training will be a good idea.

[nik-]

Whenever someone tells me they have a BA and are an "analyst" I assume they work for CSIS or the CIA.

[gladaki]

Originally Posted by AcGold

I was thinking about making this it's own thread, will if I don't get responses;

I have a mentor and he's in oil and gas, he is the sole operator of a consulting company and a partner in another large company that he also runs. He is going through a very stressful time right now, the government and another company he was working with are having money disputes (ie. one of them won't pay up).

Basically, being his assistant/someone he trains would be an invaluable experience for me. I am leaving University as an undergrad in 3 months and I desperately want a job with him, the market is horrible and hardly any of my classmates have jobs lined up. So I need advice on how to get him to hire me. I have some business experience and want any advice on how to persuade him to hire me, how to act, how to ask, what to say. I will tell him to use me to help him make himself more money, that way it seems more of a good idea, but I need advice just to increase my odds.

http://www.nexencnoocltd.com/en/Care...sk=usext&lg=EN

[Crazy Bacon Legs]

If I were a betting man, I would wager you probably want to work with elephants. Have you considered a job involving elephants? They are large, friendly, and less likely to be lost than a hamster. I know a man who was a hamster wrangler (mostly for motion pictures) and he had the darndest time keeping those acting hamsters from disappearing. He had those little plastic balls (hamster balls) and would let the hamsters roam about the park, but often the little critters would scatter in different directions. It was almost as if it were on purpose! I came up with a theory that when a sufficient number of hamsters (>3) are in the same immediate area, their brainpower is boosted by several orders of magnitude. "Enough to plan their escape from a thrice-certified hamster wrangler?" you ask incredulously. Yes, that's exactly what I mean.

I'll give you an example: my friend and I placed thirteen hamsters in those plastic balls in a park that is a perfect circle. The hamsters milled about for a few moments, and then, with a brief glance at one another, they suddenly darted outwards in different directions at the same moment. We reset the project and let them mill about again. The average time was roughly 4.86 seconds over 12 trials, and the hamsters NEVER ran in the same direction. Then, we added four more hamsters, created a barrier out of pudding, and ran the experiment again. This time, the hamsters almost immediately (2.23 seconds!) darted around the pudding barrier, and sprinted for freedom. When we added six more hamsters, they began drawing up blueprints plotting their escape. We continued to add between 4-6 hamsters with each iteration of the experiment and repeated it late into the night. Soon enough, the hamsters were planning cities, designing heavier-than-air flying machines, protesting war and genocide, etc. The experiment ran for several weeks. When we had reached 2482 hamsters, the police were finally called. We were arrested and charged with performing science without a license.

Now you may well reason that these hamsters were just a particularly intelligent brood. Perhaps you think you figured out our little game. But we RANDOMIZED THEIR PEDIGREE. They were from various hamster families from a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds. We have faced these and other questions during the peer-review process (we recently received a revise and resubmit from the Quarterly Journal of Hamster Wrangling, an accomplishment of which we are quite proud) and I am am quite pleased with how we have handled our critics. We have responded cordially for the most part, and with minimal violence this time around. I do not want a repeat of the Helsinki incident.

So really I would not recommend getting a job in hamster-wrangling. Those little buggers are up to something, and I know it. I now have an intricate set of traps established around my estate, in order to prevent a random occurrence of a critical mass of hamsters. All the hamsters that have escaped over the years have to end up somewhere, and I dread the thought that "somewhere" could mean ALL THE HAMSTERS, simultaneously in my home. I will not be responsible for society's downfall.

Anyhow, good luck with the elephant thing. I don't know much about them, but I know they don't manufacture hamster balls that big. I sent several inquiries, as there is a very interesting experiment I wish to run. But I suppose I shouldn't lecture you about working with elephants as you're the expert! When do you plan on applying?

Good luck!

[iggy_oi]

^^^ so much win in that post

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by gladaki

http://www.nexencnoocltd.com/en/Care...sk=usext&lg=EN

wait, how did you know what my degree was in? And thanks for the advice

[para transit fellow]

∆∆∆∆∆∆∆
Speechless....

[Ozy_Flame]

Crazy Bacon Legs should have been the quality High School Counsellor I never had.

[gladaki]

Originally Posted by AcGold

wait, how did you know what my degree was in? And thanks for the advice

Well, I just realize that opening was in UK. There are lot of openings for environmental geophysics. Not sure How much they pay. Geophysics for Oil and Gas industry is on downhill for now.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Reaper

BS. I loved working with people with disabilities. The money never followed because social service work doesn't make anyone a profit.

You love being the smartest guy in the room. Money follows someone with the will to make sure that's always the case.

[JD]

Originally Posted by AcGold

I was thinking about making this it's own thread, will if I don't get responses;

I have a mentor and he's in oil and gas, he is the sole operator of a consulting company and a partner in another large company that he also runs. He is going through a very stressful time right now, the government and another company he was working with are having money disputes (ie. one of them won't pay up).

Basically, being his assistant/someone he trains would be an invaluable experience for me. I am leaving University as an undergrad in 3 months and I desperately want a job with him, the market is horrible and hardly any of my classmates have jobs lined up. So I need advice on how to get him to hire me. I have some business experience and want any advice on how to persuade him to hire me, how to act, how to ask, what to say. I will tell him to use me to help him make himself more money, that way it seems more of a good idea, but I need advice just to increase my odds.

This one's easy... Ask him!

Further on in your career, you will discover that hiring good people is as hard as job hunting, perhaps more so in this city. That's why networking is so valuable; managers are much more likely to hire someone they know and perhaps even like a little bit. If he's your mentor and you have some sort of personal history, you have a head start on anyone else he may consider. And if he doesn't have a position, he's likely going to suggest one he knows of. In oil and gas, everyone knows someone that needs a good employee. Good luck!