<p>I am a senior chemical engineering major about to graduate with a b.s…(in may). I have two job offers on the table: Operations Analyst for Goldman Sachs (GS), and Field Engineer for Schlumberger (SLB).</p>
<p>Both of these jobs are not the ideal kind that I was hoping to get, but here I stand with these two offers in my hands. They are “second best” in their respective industries, in my opinion. But they are not bad either. They are also very different in nature. I have to make a decision within the next week.</p>
<p>so, pros and cons as i see them:</p>
<p>Schlumberger:
pros:</p>
<ol>
<li>better pay</li>
<li>related to chemical engineering</li>
</ol>
I get to live in a large city (i actually really like salt lake)
big name
Potentially good work experience since I’m considering business school (I’ve heard people say that this is actually not true, please help me understand whether this is right or not)</p>
<p>cons:
Long hours
position is “lower” tier per se, a back office type job
Less pay</p>
<p>These offers have torn me into two equal pieces. Regardless of where I work I only want to stay with the company/firm for 3-4 years. Then I want to go to business school or law school.</p>
<p>Which of these would you recommend? Anyone out there who has worked for either company? Any advice would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Since you specifically said that you want to go to business or law school I would go with Goldman Sachs as that will probably help you more in terms of skills and the name-brand.</p>
<p>^^ Not necessarily. People go to business and law school from all sorts of professions. Sometimes, having a technical background like engineer can make you very attractive to a business school and, later, to an employer. You could easily wind up in a management position in a technical company. With the engineering background, you’d be golden in that environment.</p>
<p>The only information I can add is that the job at Goldman really is, as you already noted, a back-office job. The important people who make money for the firm are in the front office. Some of them will be your peers in terms of age, and after a year or two or three they’ll be making gazillions more than you.</p>
<p>In addition, back-office is just not where it’s happening. </p>
<p>Whereas with the Schlumberger job, you’re a chemical engineer; you’d be one of the people making it happen in that company. You’d have a specialty that they want to keep happy.</p>
<p>And, congratulations on having two job offers!! That’s fantastic.</p>
<p>First…Let me congratulate you on getting two fine offers. Since you have possible plans to attend business school some thing tells me the Goldman job might be a better choice. Be well aware that you will be putting very long hours at Goldman…they are known for this.</p>
<p>GS has two tracks. This is not the “right” track for you. You can go and work for goldman after you get your MBA, if that is your choice. You really don’t want to start with them on this track or they will never re-track you, even if you do get your MBA. Tell them, thank you for the opportunity, but I’m going to pursue engineering for a few years to see where it leads.</p>
<p>Take the other job and go back to grad school if you want in a couple of years.</p>
<p>Of course, if the other job seems unbearable, you can always go to work for Morgan or somebody else after you get your MBA.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your offers! May I ask, what is the ‘first best’ job at Schlumberger? </p>
<p>In the energy industry, field experience is highly valued and often a prerequisite for advancement to management at many companies. When he graduated, my husband turned down offers at corporate headquarters in Houston to take a job in Lafayette, Louisiana specifically because he feared he wouldn’t get enough field experience, fast enough, at corporate. I realize your long term goals are not necessarily to become a Schlumberger SVP, but management experience looks really good on an MBA application.</p>
<p>Of course, only you can decide what’s best for YOU, but here are my two cents. If you spend a few years working as a chemical engineer and then get a JD, your work experience could be a plus if you decide to enter the field of patent law (which you should be able to do since you have the right background and coursework in chemistry and physics). Plus the extra money you will be earning at this job (vs the other) can be saved to fund your future graduate or professional studies. Congratulations on the offers!</p>
<p>OP-By when do you need to decide to accept or reject either or both of the offers? To be sure, having a choice is an enviable position but it does sound like you have your heart set on a third, to be disclosed, opportunity. Since I am assuming you won’t be graduating until May, perhaps you can negotiate a longer time period before one or both of your existing offers expire to enable you to pursue your preferred option.</p>
<p>Given the 2 options you currently have on the table, if you did all that work to earn a degree in Chemical Engineering it does not make sense to me to work in Operations at any bank. I mean maybe if you were doing say Crude Oil scheduling or something like that, then ok maybe but even then only because its GS. Otherwise, I’d say get some experience in your field first, then if you decide to go into banking you’ll be able to leverage that field experience with a graduate degree and end up in a position more appropriate for your background and education rather than operations.</p>
<p>NB: I’m not necessarily saying a position in operations is a bad place to start for some people, but for a Chem-E it isn’t unless as I say its in some specialised area that requires the Chem-E knowledge like Commodities but I’d still go for the 2 years in industry + Masters = Project Finance/IB Banking/Structuring role.</p>
<p>Edit: Wait Wait did I read your GS position is in Salt Lake City??? That’s like saying you work for JP Morgan-in Delaware…not really the same as NYC…</p>
<p>Get thee to Houston if you want to combine the 2…</p>
<p>I think you already know which one you’d prefer. GS is a good name, no doubt, but is that the field that interests you? Come to think of it, you actually have many reasons why GS wasn’t as favorable. </p>
<p>Here’s one factor that you may seriously want to consider: who is paying for your next degree? Often, companies allow for educational expenses, so it’s possible that one or the other will pay for courses while you go to school.</p>
<p>It appears that what you would do on a daily basis would be more interesting - the GS job is less interesting AND more hours, which could be an unpleasant combo (not fun to work long hours if you don’t love what you are doing).</p>
<p>I’m glad the consensus is for Schlumberger. I really think that’s what you should be doing.</p>
<p>And I agree with whoever mentioned the possible third job offer still to be received. If I were in your shoes right now, I’d ask Schlumberger how long you have to get back to them, and then I’d tell GS good-bye. </p>
<p>You’re in a very good position, especially in this economy.</p>
<p>Many Chem E’s never step foot in engineering and do go directly into banking from college. The banks love engineers because they know they could think and are capable of learning just about anything. If you want to remain in engineering than that is another story but there is nothing wrong with wanting to change career paths.</p>
<p>What division of Schlumberger? Pumping Services or Wireline? Be prepared for the longest hours you ever imagined as a field engineer for Big Blue. But it will be absolutely great training, among the best in the industry. </p>
<p>Schlumberger is also known to give young engineers a lot of responsibility at an early stage in their careers. I advise young engineers to go to work for the major service companies like Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker because those companies provide many opportunities for training and diverse experience. They also have been known to help young engineers with their graduate school plans and process. </p>
<p>Furthermore, IMO, field work in our great industry is a fantastic way to learn how the real world works, and will give you a great appreciation for the hard working people that are the backbone of every industry. That experience will ultimately serve you well as a manager, businessman, or lawyer.</p>
<p>I would vote for Schlumberger. Having hands on engineering/field experience will make you a more interesting candidate if you do apply to business school. Down the road it will also make you a more interesting candidate for a ‘front office’ (i-banking or securities research) if you want to make the move to Wall Street.</p>
<p>thanks for the responses everyone! After much thinking I have signed with Schlumberger…now i just gotta focus and finish my last semester at Rice!</p>
<p>Whenever GS or another big investment bank is mentioned, posters always get excited about a job in “banking.” yet most of the employees at GS are not bankers, they support bankers. This would have been the case here. I think the OP made a good choice.</p>
<p>Be careful with Schlumberger. I’ve known more than one person hired by them who thought they would be doing Chemical Engineering when, in fact, the job had very little to do with it.</p>