[MotoSook]

A long time ago I got a call from a contract engineering firm that wanted me to fill a position for one of their clients under contract through them after they saw my resume on Monster. At about the same time, that client contacted me directly....and that's how I got into consulting (oil and gas).

Career Builder is another place where you'll see a lot of Houston firms post positions. Go looking where the big boys look...the candidates go there too...the ones that really know how to find a job anyhow.

There may also be engineers at operating companies who are looking to make a change and get out of the day to day operations....but you have to be careful not to steal from your clients.



Before I left consulting, the firm I was with had a difficult time finding qualified engineers to help with the work load. There are a lot of engineers out there, but few are of the consulting caliber IMO. If you have enough of those (narrow focused engineers with little actual experience) you can make it work, but then the salary load cuts into the margin and you start logging a lot of hours on a client's time without producing quality work. It's surprising to me that consulting firms can survive with mediocre engineers on staff....lots of loading on project managers and those engineers who do know what to do.

Now that I'm not at the consulting firm, and with an operating company....I see even more bad engineering by other firms. Industrial designs used for oil and gas facilites? Not efficient. Just terrible stuff.

We have engineering specs, and they just can't understand them or simply meet the spec without any thought to the operations of the facility...let alone longevity. The consulting firms are so lacking in knowledge (design and operations) that they allow the venders to effectively design facilities for them. The engineers and project managers then just become conduits for getting design on paper. I've noticed this since I got into the industry, but it's worst now because companies don't have engineering departments anymore and they rely too much on consulting firms.

It's a shame, and I'm quick to jump on venders who come in to present their latest ware with 1/2 or less of the technical knowledge they should have to sell the product. They pass it off as an engineered solution, and the less knowing design engineers and project managers jump right onboard. In the operating world, they do this to our techs and field folks..or engineers with less experience. I love busting those venders.

Anyhow...take from it what you will...make sure you hire qualified people, esp. as you start out...make sure you don't become the consulting firm that's cursed by techs and operators because you put something out there that was poorly designed or that you recommended a poor solution. Be sure your engineers consult the techs and operators...then give them what they want. The solutions that work best are the ones that the operators actually appreciate!