Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

Smart move. Just look at how they treat the people who are 50 or over. Pretty incredible considering they have survived decades of yearly PIPs and when they are getting close to retirement are told to leave early because they don't add value after decades of loyalty.

It is easy to get a career out of P.E. I did it. I am a Hospital Director of Facilities in a large, urban hospital in CA. I make $150K plus benefits.

You just have to enter a career that values your engineering degree, regardless of discipline. Bolster your resume with an MBA or add Certifications and Licenses. Many industries need a good engineer.

Your college degree does not matter after you had a few years of industry experience. I have biology major friend who is now a product manager at a FAANG company and another with physics major at MBB. You are an engineer, leverage the transferable skills like analytical data analysis, problem solving, communications... The sky is the limit, depending on what you want to do, take some free classes online to learn the basics to get into tech let's say. Create opportunities for yourself when there isn't a clear direct path!

Just start applying to jobs that interest you and are relatively close to what you’ve been doing. Program management is more generic in a lot of fields and they just want the skills. There’s lots of free training online or even through MyLearning be it project management, or data science/ analytics skills, or something else that interests you. See what jobs you think you’d want to do and then try to develop a few of the skills if you don’t have them and just apply, something will show up unexpectedly.

Start your own company, make a nice website, there are a lot of opportunities today. Even while I was at ExxonMobil I was building and developing things on the side on weekends and evenings. Now I am selling training simulators and software to both colleges and industry. Go to a quiet place, no noise, no cell phones and think what will you do if you had only 1 day to live. Think of the areas where you can provide services or products to the community by doing what you like. The opportunities in the world are exploding. For us engineers and scientists there is a lot that can be done. Don't be in an ExxonMobil prison. Don't be like a horse with blinders and focus in areas you went to college for. College makes you think analytically. But with the college training you can enter new areas that have nothing to do what you know currently. Keep dreaming, keep thinking, be realistic - don't enter fields or offer services/products in areas that are your favorites but the world does not care for. Believe me, I did this over 10-15 years and once ExxonMobil booted me out few months ago, I was ready. I am making a good living selling software and simulators. Also you can Google search technology companies around the world and be their value added reseller. The sky is the limit. The challenge is to stay away from negative nay sayer friends and relatives who want to drag you down to their level of non achievement. Columbus, Marco Polo left their homes and went on ships knowing 75% chance of dying by ship wrecked. Must be a dreamer, must go out of ExxonMobil prison and get out. Life is wonderful out there. I am so happy ExxonMobil booted me. I felt I was talking daily with escaped convicts from a mental hospital talking BS like LPO LPSA NLI QI and the zillion silly acronyms that added no value and partially created the company downfall.

Get into data science or scientific software

Petroleum Engineer, too. I wouldn’t be too worried about the industry, and would improve my business skills and digital skills.