Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices, the houston boom is over

I should actually write down the pros/cons instead of just thinking about it.

Also just to clarify, when I said "not going anywhere". I meant layoff wise, not career ladder rise. I do feel like I can continue to rise at my current employer albeit slowly

 

Seems like the new job is the best route for you to take...because being unhappy as **** is probably the worst case situation. And with the new job, at least you get new experiences and more money.

 

I don't really want to disclose the company name but it's in IT.

 

That's true, plus I imagine it will seriously stand out on a resume. My only issue is I'm worried the current company will counter-offer and tempt me to stay. I'm pretty young and never dealt with this before so it's all new to me. I've always been pretty loyal, but hear a lot of people say that loyalty to companies does not always pay off.

 

Oh Ok. That makes it a tougher decision then. What field in IT are you in?

 

But better efficiency is mitigating demand, as well. I've been hearing about demand growth in China and India for a decade now...it's already in the market. And yet, here we are. And meanwhile, you have a whole bunch of countries that produce oil that aren't remotely interested in cutting production.

The bigger issue for the local economy is, so what if the oil goes to $50 at this point. Banks aren't lending on oil for a while here...they're already getting killed. Try getting a loan as an oil field service company right now. They're cutting lines and trying to move those guys out. Private equity won't touch them either...they're busy explaining to partners or shareholders why they sunk so much in this and are taking huge losses now.

I don't see this as a quick recovery.

 

I made a decision a few months ago to leave a job I was miserable in for a job I wasn't sure if I would like or not. It was a good decision as it opened my eyes to something completely different. I'd say if you are young go for it, you never know what's truly out there until you try, you might regret not trying.

 

Be wary of counter-offers. It's just as common as not for people who accept them to not remain with their organization for long. Some places even begin passively looking for a replacement even after the counter offer is accepted.

If you accept a counter-offer, do it because you know that the organization that you're currently at is the best place for you. If you have any questions at all about your current organization, it's probably best to move on to what you believe to be a better opportunity elsewhere.

 

IMO, being young is the time to take some career risks, before you have kids and need the stability. In my view, you'd like to be around your ideal position and salary by the time your kids are say 8-12, that way you don't have to take any more big risks while you have an entire family to support and things like kids cars and college looming ahead.

Being unhappy at your current job makes it an easy decision. Loyalty is a factor but not to the point that it stunts your career. As long as you aren't job hopping every year or two it doesn't look bad IMO.

 

I have always been one to think that, if you've gone through the process of looking for a job, interviewing, and getting an offer - then it means you don't really want your current job. If you accept the offer you got, it means in your mind you want out.

If you accept a counter offer, you're almost automatically the black sheep. Probably get asked to do more work or other things because hey "you're making more money now".

Just my personal opinion. I recently switched jobs (both energy, from Oilfield Services to Offshore Driller). Both companies had negatives and I ultimately felt like my previous job was more risky, so I took the new job (also thanks to better location, hours, and pay).

If you know that you have the potential to stay at your current employer, it may be a good idea to just go ahead and talk to them and say you're looking, because of XYZ, but if that can be fixed, you'd think about staying. Wouldn't mention the offer.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Remember that severance packages are usually pretty good and most of these good companies approve unemployment benefits right away too. That usually buys you plenty of time in a worst case scenerio.

 

Also, it's not good business to hire someone to just fire them unless it's for poor performance. You'll have more security than most.

 

You know, I haven't really thought about it that way. I didn't think of the risk involved in them keeping me around for a bit while they begin to look for a replacement, and then I get fired or something crazy like that. That type of behavior wouldn't surprise me.

True that, I'm only 23 right now and I just have a car note, apartment lease, and very little credit card debit. Might as well do the risk now I guess before I start reproducing

Definitely wouldn't want to be the black-sheep, but yeah as HR Dept pointed out, it's a possibility it can back-fire on me if I decide to stay after letting them know of my intentions. I guess I'm just scared that either I'll hate the job, or get laid off in a year or so if oil prices continue to decline.


I've built really good relationships with my current employer, I'm very cool with all of the C-Level executives so that's mainly what has me wary of it all. Since I know I can continue to climb up the latter but they seldom give raises, and the current assignments I am doing are long-term and I hate it.


I'll probably end up making my final decision over the weekend. Heavily leaning on leaving

 

Good luck man. All I will say is consider all the pros and cons and make a decision based on that and not on emotion or empty promises. The grass is not always greener on the other side.

I know of people recently who switched to another company that they thought would be better for them and also had a good pay raise. They got let go. Same within several O and G companies. You can move within the company to other departments for a better role or an increase in pay but when **** hits the roof, a lot of the time it is the first in, first out policy. As in the recent hire, gets booted. Heck it happened within our department. Two of the more recent hires (hired from another company within the past year) were let go.

 

If you do take the higher paying O&G job, please use this thread as a warning to sock away some spare money as the industry is very cyclical and you could be downsized at any time. Don't blow all of your new money and use some of the new cash to start a 6 month rainy day fund

 

This is one of things I'm really worried about. I have it cush right now in terms of job security, but I'm unhappy and pay is meh.

New job will be very cush in terms of money, and I have a few friends there who say they're much happier than working similar job as mine currently.

Overall, getting canned 6 or 7 months in is what I'm worried about since O&G companies are crazy unpredictable.

 

It really depends on how this company has positioned itself. Is it an operator or a service company? How many drilling / intervention rigs does it have onshore and/or offshore (and where are they)? Is it a major? Does it own a refinery? Does it trade energy commodities? And on and on.

 

Yeah you are probably better off telling us who the company is so we can tell you how safe it is.

 

There are plenty of companies within the energy sector that are doing well or may not be affected at all. Downstream companies like CVR Energy. Supply & Trading companies are also not tied to commodity prices. Some of the services companies performed very well in 15. "O&G" is a vague term but I understand why some people wouldn't know any better if they haven't worked in the industry.