Realization of a field engineer

Salam w.b.t and hello all,

This time, I will write about the reality of working in the Oil and Gas (O&G) industry as a field engineer.

I find that, it is time to write about it as I am field engineer, working in this upstream business for nearly 5 years. For senior professional will think 5 years is nothing when you are in this business. It is nothing, and I agree with them. However, I am not here to discuss about seniority in the oilfield. I will write down based on my experience as a field engineer.

Salary is high, life is low

When I was recruited, and started in UK back in 2016, the starting salary as a trainee was approximately USD5000 per month, before tax. So, after tax with other reductions, it was closed to USD4000, exact number I don’t remember. Still, looking at this figure, it was still higher than starting salary in Malaysia. After conversion, can range between RM15,000 to RM19,000.

My first salary, I paid off my student loan, my mother's credit card, debt, and family expenditure that was backlogged for  months.

It was a relieve 💓

On the low-side, I gave up my life since then. Living away from my family, disconnected from my friends, missing all the important events back at home. I was not there when my grandmother passed away. I was not there when my sister went through operation. I was not at home when my mother had to deal with hardship.

I was not there.

Upskilling, I should have started it earlier

Schlumberger offered excellent training program and career progression. None denied it, great in teaching you how to do your job properly and professionally. Over time, it is no longer relevant and I should have known this back then. It did not click in my head until last year when I was over it, thinking of switching my job. (I am still looking for another job 😄 )

You know, when you want to put your resume to the recruiter, what skills you can bring to the table? Soft skills - good team player, leading, perform well under pressure, etc. This is fine.

Then, come the questions, what are the technical skills that can fit you to the job profile? I reflected all the training I attended at Schlumberger and jobs I have done.

• Drilling the well from top section to TD without failure or NPT
• Fastest and best ROP
• Logging while drilling
• Programming tools - TeleScope, EcoScope, adnVISION, etc..

And many more jargon words that recruiter + outside SLB + different sectors, they don’t understand any of the bit I talked about. Looks like "Wow", then so what?

Thus, I am struggling in this part. I should have not rely solely on the in-house training provided by the company. When you joined the company, the training they gave you is how to fit into the company, do your specific job as you are hired for it, and it was very specific to your job. During the first 2-3 years, you will not get any formal skills that you can sell it to other employers. I should have broaden by knowledge and skills, so my resume can fit anywhere required in any industry.

Yes, after Grade 11 (G11), you can probably sell your resume to other employers as G11 is now considered as employee in the Management/Office group, no longer Field population.

I should have positioned myself where I can get the best from each part of the job - field, technical, management, soft skills.

Save money and invest it wisely

It is easier to forget yourself when you have a lot of money in hand. Imagine, you have let say USD10,000 untouched in your account. I said untouched because you are busy working, don’t have time to spend the money right….

And at one point, you will have your vacations or days off, that’s when your desire to spend so much money come. Without calculation, you will buy this, that, spending on things that you don’t actually need, but you buy it because, of course, why not? Who have been working your ass off so you deserved it, right?

That’s true and not true as well. Yes, you are deserved to get the benefit from your money after you worked so hard for it, but be wise. Have some saving as well.

If you want to invest, you can do it as well however make sure you do it with knowledge and aware of the risks coming with it.

Look, right now the world is going to recession period and unemployment rate is unbelievable. From US reports, the US employment is closed to 1930 Great Depression period and 2.6 million people has seek for state unemployment aid. The future is full of uncertainties. The oil price dove down to negative, never seen in history and yet it happened.

Yes, O&G sector offered you a lot of money when things are all wine and roses. However, you can lose everything when things gone sour. This is especially true for these groups;

• Not spending the money wisely
• Tied to unnecessary commitments
• Investments with high risks
• No backup plan or saving
• No side hustle or additional side income
• Many more..

I am not saying, don’t invest, not spend your money, etc. No! I don’t mean that, I mean be wise, things can go haywire in this industry. O&G sector is no longer a gold mining industry, it is easily affected by external and internal factors.

It is very vulnerable, please bear this in your mind.

Slowly losing control of my life management

As an employee, we have a lot of benefits offered by the company and I am grateful for that. Different employee groups, have different benefits. Therefore, all of us are not the same. Let me share with you some of the benefits I received as my current seniority working at the company.

• Housing
• As I am based in Qatar, it is part of government rule to have housing provided by the employer. Yes, so accommodation are provided by the company. Accommodation, utility bills, internet bills, housekeeping, transportation are all taken care of by the company and provider. You must think, "That’s really great! You are lucky". Yes, it is great and yes I am lucky.
• However, over time, I realised I have lost control some part of my life. I am no longer taking care of management of my life. This way has make me too dependent on the external party, in this case the company. I can no longer make decision on what kind of house I want to live in, why? Simple reason - company has arranged it.
• Vacation allowance
• Even we got the vacation travel allowance and we are not worried about how we can save money to travel. We have allowance for travel! So, when the company reduce it for the cost saving it, people are losing their mind. Why does people losing their mind? Because we are depending on it for travel.
• Health insurance
• This is good actually for everyone who is working. As it is provide protection. For this part, I am happy. At the start I was very comfortable and I thought no need to get another insurance protection. Slowly I realised, my family is depending on me and I have many responsibilities pending. If something happen to me, it will be tough for each of us. Therefore, with this realization I started having the insurance coverage for myself as for now.

Female at the rig

95% of the time, I am grateful I am female working in the field because it has many advantages.

However the other 5%, sometimes I wished I am a male. So, I don’t have to worry of changing the clothes, praying room, using the bathroom because all the facilities are completed - for male employee.

For female, 9 out 10 rigs I have been to, no facilities for female employees. So, I would consider myself lucky if I can get my own room, without sharing with any female personnel on the rig. This is because, you can enter your room, get change, use bathroom, relax at any time you want. If you are sharing with another female, you cannot disturb them as they are off shift. If I got a roommate who is understanding and willing to tolerate, I am lucky. So we will make each other life easier.

Sometimes, when the bed spaces are limited, I will need to share with a male. So for the last 4.5 years since I am here in Qatar, I am lucky I just shared twice and it was really awkward. It was my colleague, but still I don’t feel free.

Working as a field engineer, not everything is bad. It has both pros and cons, similar as other profession. I think I will share it in another entry, more about the positive side.

That’s enough for now. Thank you for reading and take care people. Stay safe and Ramadhan Kareem.

Salam w.b.t

P/S - I am doing day shift, still at Lovanda Rig. Day #3 of fasting.