Been rough here lately. I never felt bad about the sob stories of people getting laid off and having to do anything to make it but damn it sucks. Got laid off last thursday and think im having a mid life crisis already at 25 lol. I went to school for drafting and design and got an associates for that. Went and started working for turner as a fitter helper/fitter. Then went to an engineering firm for drafting, started to get into the design side as i got more experience and wham at my two year anniversary the office is shutting down. Now as im sitting here drinking my beer unemployed i'm thinking i may not want to get back into that field. Due to at a larger firm ill be a number, in a damn cubicle, and never see the light of day like i did at my old firm. Anyone got any suggestions of a career path i wont have to completely start my life/school over on. I was looking into operator at a few plants and cant seem to get the dang job, wish i'd gone to a ptec school rather than for drafting. just looking for some advice or maybe a path to head down. Supposed to be getting married in about a year so need to figure this shit out. I know some of you older folks will prolly have some suggestions. Im in the hammond/ponchatoula area so anything in the hammond, baton rouge, covington, mandeville area is good if yall know of anything

River boats! 15yrs and only layed off once.... In 2009


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Now is a good time to get in the oilfield. They will be hiring like crazy as soon as it picks up.

River boat lol that would be a big cut and pay for the guy ! My advice is use your degree or go back to school .

How do you know it will and if so how do you know OPEC won't drop oil prices again ? They showed ther control the market.
I hope to god oil prices go up and stay up. I like buying cheap gas lol, but the oil industry is a huge part of outlr economy in my neck of the woods. I work in the industries not oil but I understand how important it is to my area.

I'm just being optimistic. I don't know. Just speculating like everyone else. The supply will eventually go down when new wells stop coming online. Then demand will take over causing a mad dash for oil. It works in cycles.

If you enjoy the design and drafting work why give up on it already? Things happen, I think the average person switches jobs a half dozen times in their life. Being unemployed sucks but be aggressive and try to stay positive in your search

My advice is get far from the oil feild as you can go back to school try medical feild something versatile so it really won't matter where you wind up you will always have a job being laid off sucks happened to me when I was 18 but you seem like a smart guy you will be fine .

Keep trying to get on at the plants its tough to do but you gotta stick with it. I had been applying to every plant operator, electrical/instrumentation job i could find in SETX for about the last year and a half. I just got hired on at Dupont December 1, but only got called for testing or interviews 2 times in the hundreds off apps I put in. I know the oil side maybe down but look into some of the chemical plants.

Since your background is in electrical design, you could consider working for a company on the construction side. MMR in BR and Ardent in Covington come to mind. You could get your foot in the door working with Estimating doing material take-off or something along those lines. Don't be scared to throw your resume around those places as well...worth a shot

Thanks fellas. Not giving up or getting down just seems like everyone I talk to with design and field work is laying off or about to. Trying to find something before the market floods even worse

At 25 you still have plenty of time to head in a different direction. Get a contractors license and build shit yourself. Start your own business. Start small...limited residential. You'll starve for a while but in the end you'll be rewarded. If you're not ambitious and a hard worker, forget this advice.

http://www.contractorschoolonline.com/csolouisiana/

You might also want to look at power generation. We built our company to specialize in that industry. I cut my teeth in the oilfield and got out in 93'. The way I look at it is everyone will pay their electric bill before they put gas in the car for a joy ride.

Not sure if they have anything near you, but if you are young, willing to move around and thrive on being challenged, Cargill can be a great company to work for. Stay positive and look at the upside, you are being pushed out of your comfort zone and you will learn a lot from the whole experience. I went through a really tough time during the recession with my business being tied to new home construction. It really sucked at the time but it made me much more disciplined with my money and my business has come out he other side smarter, more profitable and stronger.

Yes, I have. It sucks.

Best advice I can give ANYONE is to prepare for it BEFORE it happens!! Don't think it "can't happen to me." Live WAY below your means. Save 25% of your income. Make sure you live in an area where you can apply to a bunch of different companies (i.e. don't live in a one horse town). If married, make sure your wife works full time to save more money and have access to two health insurance plans at all times. Oh, did I mention save the crap out of your money?

Apply to anywhere and everywhere and try not to get discouraged.

Thanks for the advice fellas. Looks like I may be getting a qc job. Still in the works but looks promising