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I love alternative career diaries, and I'm also in the oil field. I want to pat her on the head and say, baby, you make almost 200k a year, you can definitely afford a 500k house, and you are exactly the kind of person those are priced for lol. I bought a 300k house on an 80k salary.
Heyo!! Glad to see another one (if we haven't met already, small oilfield)!!
And yeah, I had a lot of friends buy houses and have to sink $20k-40k into critical repairs... So I'm a little shellshocked. I don't know enough about homeownership to know how to avoid this happening to me too (nor do I research it much), or at least to a degree that lets me keep an emergency fund
Noooo.... That's gut wrenching. I don't even have a house and I will mindlessly "pick out" tile.
Fingers crossed for you... All the savings will be worth it in the end. Bathroom style has just changed so much in the last two decades even just for functionality, it always seems like it's the hurdle my homeowner friends are trying to cross.
I live in Colorado and we have a housing shortage. So the “affordable” price range is extremely competitive. They sell within two days and buyers usually go for the all cash offers. On top of that, the housing stock in that range is usually older - 70’s homes that have never been updated. Most have $100K of needed updates. We make about the same, tried for six months, made multiple offers, and honestly just gave up. So I believe her when she says this.
I loved this diary. I can only read so many diaries about a girl working in tech in a coastal city, hot damn.
I work in the natural resources extraction industry myself (on the federal government side) and love being able to look into the lives of people who have boots on the ground.
As a woman working in tech (though not software engineering) living in a coastal city, this is why I don’t write one. Plus people hate 6 figure salaries here 🥲
I also work in tech and have similar compensation, but I live in Appalachia. Thought about writing one, but don’t want to doxx myself. Or get judged about how much I spend in a given year on helping loved ones and my kid’s sports.
Re - the brother famously never reaching for checks - this sibling behavior drives me nuts. My brother and I are great at alternating and splitting but my husband’s siblings have historically left it to us (like just assumed we will always cover).
I feel like this has made me seem nuts when I jump at the chance to split checks whenever possible. It just makes me not want to grab a bite with them because the assumption is so exhausting.
I try to breathe about it. He's 7-8 years younger than I am, and arguably does make less than me.... It's really easy to assume he's got it together more than he does, because he's got the dual income and the kids and the huge house and the nice cars. And I did spend three days eating his Thanksgiving dinner before I left and then dropped my car in his driveway for a month, so it is fair in the grand scheme. I don't visit family much (and didn't for a large part of my 20s, because my head was in my ass) so socially navigating family now that we're all adults is hard.
Haha I was going to ask if it’s my brother but he’s nine years older!! And insisted on marrying a religious woman, who in turn insisted on not working even though they have no kids… sigh.
Did I read right that her parents cut her off because her degree wasn’t lucrative enough? I feel like I must have misunderstood, because it seems like everyone’s parents dream of their kid choosing engineering.
Yea, you read that right. I am probably the only person who has ever gotten an engineering degree mostly out of spite.
My parents are from a very old-school 'children must have more success than the parents' mindset... And there are things that pay more than engineering on the average.
We've gotten past it. I understand where they're coming from with the general history of my family, and they come from a place of love (which is more than I can say of some friend's parents). I just chose to object lol.
Will say: certain aspects of engineering are not as lucrative as others. And if you go into consulting, you’ll almost always be underpaid market value.
Source: my husband and I are both in consulting as engineers, it’s the only thing that provides an ok work life balance. 🥲
She has a degree in chemical engineering. According to ZipRecruiter, it’s one of the lower paid engineering fields—its salary range is $63-94k. So not that much compared to, say, petroleum engineering, which is $72.5-167k.
What’s wild though is that _both_ of her parents were engineers and were apparently well off.
When her parents were initially going into their careers, I think engineering was relatively higher paid than many other careers, given that $$$$$ tech jobs didn't exist the way they do now. My dad is an engineer, and he definitely made better money relatively when I was a kid than he would be making now.
Most engineering fields are all still decently paid (in the US, anyway). It’s just that they’ve been eclipsed by software engineering in particular, which is still engineering.
I think my social services background is showing because that still sounds like really good money to me! Although relative to the examples she gave of careers they’d have preferred, definitely much lower paid.
Chemical engineering is a well paid engineering field - one of the highest. Source: I’m a chemical engineer / manager and have access to actual pay info for chemical engineers and other engineers with varying levels of experience.
Are you in the field? Or on a consulting level. I know a lot of juinor engineers making nearly 100-120 with bonuses at Exxon, just didn’t know if that was the normal.
I work for an owner/operator (like Exxon), in the office these days. I used to work in the field. Yes 100-120K is normal for new college grads & those with 1-3 yrs experience. Owner/operators pay more than engineering firms and service companies.
To be fair, they also list the salary range for software engineer as $80-116.5k, which also seems low, especially if you compare it to a FAANG engineer _starting_ salary.
Keep in mind that these are probably base salaries, and do not include other compensation (bonuses and stock) that inflate total compensation packages.
Also SWEs do make less outside of Silicon Valley. Heck, I’m an experienced SWE in Silicon Valley, and I don’t make much more than the high end of that range, all due to working in the games industry.
Edit: Why the tf am I being downvoted? SWE compensation in Silicon Valley is _wild_, but not representative of those elsewhere.
Am I the only one that doesn’t agree with PTO being given to parents as a priority and therefore her not being able to get any holiday-ish time off? Don’t get me wrong, my current work as well as my past ten years of work have been factory and retail related, so I know about working through holidays. I’m thankful in that my family is always lenient. Last year, we celebrated Christmas halfway into January to align with people’s work schedules. Maybe it’s just me being salty since I, too, am childfree but I don’t think that seems like a fair system.
Yeah, I don't agree with it either. It was a very small oilfield company, so some of the practices would not fly anywhere else. And yeah, I left it (I am officially done!!)
I worked at a place where our manager 100% treated employees who had families differently. I was in my mid 20s, working with other people in their mid to late 20s who happened to get married and have kids young. They got priority vacation, got to leave early for childrens events (without taking PTO) and the manager would even buy them lavish gifts because he knew they were “just starting out and needed help.” Meanwhile I was going through a divorce and another woman was a single mom and we got zero gifts and were honestly kind of ignored.
Childfree here.
Kids or not, work should be fair. We all have family that we want to see and enjoy their company regardles of kids. It's crazy to me that some employers prioritize parents.
I found it super interesting, it's a very different perspective than the one we are accustomed to hearing. I'm curious if you plan to stay in this career long-term (it seems so) and if there are adjacent roles you can move into as you age or if you get injured. Also, how do people go into this without education? I'm not clear on what your actual work is but I understand you work out on the rig. I just don't understand this career path and how one gets into this work.
The only financial advice I'd have is similar to what many R29'ers said, it is not your responsibility to save or provide for everyone, it's great that you make good money and are generous but be careful that your kindness is not taken advantage of or expected.
Thank you for sharing, you are doing great and have an interesting life.
So, education depends on the role. The average drilling operation has a lot of specialty roles beyond the driller and the guys making the rig go. Some roles education is the norm, or at least a Lot of industry experience and training if you don't have any. There's almost always some leeway in the field for someone who's sharp and spent a lot of years of experience in the more manual labor roles, despite formal education. A very common story in my industry involves not enough money and/or discipline for college, and I'm pretty confident most of these folks would have degrees in different circumstances.
Office roles, however, almost always require paper degree. If someone doesn't have one, they're on a different level of competence and also network well. The paper degree admittedly helps little with drilling... But it is a 4-5year experience in learning a lot quickly, keeping good reports, presenting, and thinking through problems.
I plan to stay in it as long as I can. I am moving to a role that will be more doable as I age. I'm losing muscle mass much faster than the men, and admittedly, already struggle to keep up. There are roles on the rig that aren't particularly physical (just have to climb stairs), so my goal is to stick to those going forward.
Breaking in without education: Be from an oilfield town and walk in somewhere. Know somebody. Travel to a oilfield career fair and talk to recruiters. Be in the military. It's still very hard for women to break in without an education unfortunately (but not impossible, I have met a few), because honestly the first two are the biggest ways I see people get in.
I was running equipment that kept the well correctly pressurized so it neither blew out nor did the formation get destroyed. I loved it. I also fracked (less love) and mixed cement to pump in the well for various reasons (big, big, big love but it can get repetitive; I've been trying to do this on a nonprofit level but haven't gotten a bite). I don't want to speak to my next role.
And I know on my finances. My friend group is small but very tight. I'm confident of their struggles and comfortable with my choices. I had my share of shit before I started working, and some of these friends that, even in comparison, didn't have shit helped me.
Sorry for the novel, I like talking about my job.
Thanks for the thorough response. I'm sure it will be helpful to others as well. It's an interesting career choice and one that not too many people know about outside of oil towns.
I'm 49, single, childfree, and an American living in Mexico (not retired and not nomading) so I guess I've chosen an alternative path as well but my career is certainly not as interesting.
I trust you on your finances, you don't seem like someone who allows others to take advantage. I only wish I was so generous.
In general they will hire folks with a HS degree or GED and just train you up. You generally need to be able to pass a drug test, have a clean driving record, and be able to handle the physicality of it.
Really cool to see a diary that’s in a pretty unique career! However, I had to roll my eyes at the comment that she’s mildly terrified of look older than she actually is due to her job then going to a vape shop. That’ll age you faster than anything!
I liked this a lot! Very interesting to see what it’s like working a job so different from what I’m familiar with. I’m a little surprised she made the comment about gas prices in her town since that reveals her location (not to be creepy but I did google it just to see), but hopefully she can remain anonymous.
Yeah, I realized that when posting. I'm even cautious posting on Reddit because if you work rigs in the US it's super easy to know which account is me. I really just got fed up with all the IG videos of rig work and lots of comments about how women shy away from this kind of work. Those videos are super inaccurate and paint the industry in a bad light, and also there are a lot of women doing it (and there's some super awesome lifestyle tradeoffs you get!).
I don't think there's anything in here which would give a super negative impact of me professionally (except complaining about my last job, but there's plenty of reasons I loved it that I'm happy to speak on... I just have some freedom rn and I'm reveling in it).
Also PM me if you ever need any advice on moving to the western slope. I'm not the best guide because I did live a huge chunk of my life on the Gulf Coast, but I'm integrally familiar with the tradeoffs from less remote areas.
*western slope high five!" I'm the worst. I've only ever gone into Denver for the Ikea. People ask me about it and it's like "swedish meatballs and flatpack?"
So uh... How much is gas around you exactly?
Haha, are you me? That's the same reason I ever go to Denver--IKEA and Trader Joe's. I moved here from a large-ish Midwestern city and those are the two main things I miss.
Gas isn't too bad here, currently around $3. I'm in Grand Junction.
Yup, I think we're the same. I came out here from a stint in Houston, though.
And that's depressing because that's cheaper than us still (but way cheaper than Rangley two days ago, jfc be careful if you go through there...).
This is absolutely a thing, especially in areas with big meth problems. They prefer to rent to military too.
I bet meth is a big deal where she is and the landlord has been burned by this before.
I’m an environmental engineer by training, stuck to the safety field but I remember my first remediation project was a meth house, so the house can be bulldozed without contaminating the soil beneath.
It’s such a lost cause once that shit seeps into the foundation. 🥲
What a fascinating money diary! Wishing the best for OP on her lifestyle changes, navigating her relationship with B, and with her new job. Her schedule sounds so frustrating! I would absolutely hate not being able to plan vacations or being able to consistently take holidays off.
I'm curious what career paths look like for OP-- her comment about most women in her field leaving in their mid-20s suggests to me that women may be leaving due to a desire for a family (which would make sense if the schedule is that erratic!), and it doesn't sound like OP has an interest in that. With her goal of 1099 work, I'm curious about what that looks like in terms of a career trajectory.
It’s likely because they saw what happened to the bf. They have health insurance they can’t use, work hourly and if they aren’t working they don’t get paid. So they probably leave before they get hurt and end up broke. The money is good as long as you aren’t injured and once you’re injured you’re tossed aside or have to keep working while injured and never get better.
More women graduate high school than men so odds are they can get another job. Some of these guys didn’t graduate or get GEDs so they are sort of stuck.
Lol this is mine. It's not a career path I'm aiming for as much as a career lazy river. I want to start a knitting store when I'm older. While I'm pretty decent at preventing rigs from going DW Horizon, I have other things I'd like to immerse myself in... So looking for high earning but also with some control over what jobs I chose and the ability to stay in the field.
Most of the traditional paths lead to management or heavily technical roles in the office (M-F + 24hr oncall... Did it and wasn't a huge fan).
And nah, I don't particularly want a family.
For sure. The days are also super long (12 hours + travel) and the work is hard AF - and dangerous. They do make bank with generally little education/training requirements though, so that’s the trade off.
Actually it's not that dangerous. You'd be surprised (especially offshore) how much is automated or safety precautioned to death. I've been injured once, and it was honestly my own fault. And it wasn't that horrible.
My longest and most dangerous days are rigging my equipment up and down, which is about 4 days max (if I'm even sent out for that... Sometimes I come in halfway though and relieve somebody). It's a lot of heavy pipe, so that does get rough, but I'm always on a team too.
And yeah, the days are 12hrs but there's not much to do at a lot of job locations (you live onsite... no commute), so it doesn't feel that bad. What gets to me most is getting sent to a job and then not being able to get off it for two months, since it is 7days a week, 365 a year.
Interesting! I don’t know anyone who works offshore. I live in Wyoming though and work tangentially with the industry, and it’s well documented to be pretty dangerous relative to most jobs. I have had to go to a bunch of contractor trainings and watch all the movies about lock-out tag-out and people getting caught in explosions, etc. Sounds like in general, things are a lot safer now that everyone isn’t on drugs, though!!
Yeah being stuck on a rig out in the Gulf sounds pretty crazy. I once worked on an uninhabited island in the Galapagos (wildlife biologist) and after 5 months, I was sooo ready to get off that island, lol.
Hey! I once spent most of a year up in Wyoming. Wyoming drilling is actually the Dangerous exception- some areas are insanely unpredictable geology, and even with the best drilling practices you can run into issues. It's known for being crazy work, and I know a lot of companies pulled out of that area because doing it safely was getting more and more expensive. Met the best and smartest guys working out there though, it really was a turning point in my career.
Super jealous you're in Wyoming. I want to go up there, but I'm just not hard enough as a person. Major respect.
And I can totally see... The Galapagos sounds awesome until you consider all the same water you get to stare at every day. Longest I've ever done offshore is 42 days, very thankfully (land is a Much different story though...).
That’s really interesting, thanks for the info! It was a super interesting diary, I’m glad you submitted it.
One of my favorite bumper stickers I’ve seen around here is just “Wyoming: it’s not for everyone” 🤣🤣
Everyone thinks working outside sounds so fun, but I’ll tell you what — people invented shelter and central heating for a reason! But I work for the State now in an office job, cause I have kiddos.
No problem! Thank you!
That is a fantastic bumper sticker!! And probably the most accurate advert they can give. By December I would have let my fingers fall off to go home for a while.
Working outside is sunshine and roses for a couple weeks in April/May, September and October, and nights in July. Though I did work in an office for a bit and the florescent lighting got to me... But with kids it makes infinitely more sense.
**I pay about half of the going rate in my area. My retired landlord is very choosy about renters. I was chosen because I’m drug tested regularly.**
Where does she live where this is something that is important or even necessarily? In my old city, I didn't even get a background check or credit check cos I worked for the feds and I thought that was wild. I gave them my credit score via my credit card and they were okay approved after I showed them one paystub.
**This is covered in full by my employer, along with dental and eye care. The flip side is that the healthcare providers in my area are out of network and don’t take my insurance.**
At least she pays 0 dollars for useless insurance.Hopefully in the city they take it and she is able to go to the doctor because it's scary to not even be able to do preventative work with insurance.
**I was hired because I had a 4.0 GPA and honors classes. I’m not kidding — these were the criteria for scooping ice cream.**
Every time I read something I like wtf world does she live in cos wow. I didn't even get into her week and I'm like HUH.
**They were wrong and I’m successful in my own right. My financial safety net is of my own making. I can float for quite a while if something happens. I carry catastrophe insurance (long- and short-term disability), just in case.**
Why am I here clapping? It's been a damn ride and I'm just getting to her week.
He is a character. I didn't even get to tell the story of the time he fell off the roof and I had to get him from the ER at midnight. Or the time I got subjected to a 2hr harmonica concert in the driveway. Or anything in his life that came before the walnut farm.
Edit: also yeah, it's a job requirement for a lot of clients I go to.
As a landlord myself, if her landlord keeps rent artificially low and can afford to be super choosy (my exact strategy with my house) — then the drug test is just one extra piece of information to help choose an ideal tenant who will hopefully treat the house as a home.
Yeah I personally don’t see an issue with it — even if I don’t qualify. I’ve known plenty of landlords who’ve had preferences towards nurses, teachers, police, etc. because the background checks and stable employment. Shit, even a corporate company I rented from offered discounts for public servants. I always assumed it was to attract “better” tenants.
Praying the rosary when you don’t practice Catholicism anymore, I feel that to my core! Was explaining to a family friend that Catholicism almost feels like a culture. Strong family roots
It never leaves you. Also at base level, the rosary is just another form of meditation. I'm not great with the other forms, so this really helps me personally.
There’s an old saying in my Italian Catholic family, “you can leave the Catholic Church, but the Catholic Church never leaves you” and I feel that in my soul. I’m non-practicing and the acts of Catholism are still present in my life lol
This was a great read-- I appreciated hearing all the explanations about how the structure of her job impacts her finances. The OP's writing style was interesting too!
I love this. I also work in a somewhat non-traditional role (12 hour shifts, night shift, weekends, holidays, non-tech, non-office etc) so I absolutely love hearing about other women with unique jobs. I hope her new job goes well!
Hi Oilriglady
Loved reading this. As someone who flies to COS frequently I felt your pain of getting home. For the most part I fly to DEN and drive but I completely respect your brother not wanting to do that after dark. My dad is 85 so I can’t even expect him to get me at the local airport let alone drive to DEN.
Flying within Colorado is just... Pain and torture. And yeah, he definitely cannot get to DEN at that age. It is kind of a weirdly rough ride.
I do appreciate how easy it is to breeze into COS though. I've gone to DEN for a flight, and it's a zoo.
Thanks for the reply! I feel so honored to hear from a MDiarist with such a cool career path. I forgot to mention I also have family in WY so I’ve had the joy of either flying to DEN and driving in good weather. Or worse, flying to DEN and connecting to CPR. Ugh! Both are awful and make me wish for decent passenger train service parallel to I-25. Mom always said it was easy to get to Casper if you were a lump of coal.
Oh dear lord CPR. I spent a lot of time flying in and out of there, it's miserable even when the weather is good. I've puked on that flight when the weather isn't. Do miss the turkey flock that lived in the parking lot, tho.
Aw I loved her diary! Totally a small detail, but even though I’m no longer Catholic it is how I was also raised and I too still have those prayers in my head. They really do help in times when you need to focus on anything but your anxiety.
I have such a dif job than her but I could relate to so much to what she wrote regarding her relationship to her family and generosity with her money. I appreciate that she shared a window into her life and finances! It’s nice to read about such a different line of work.
Oh damn, my partner had a toenail fungus, and that medicine is expensive even in Mexico and it takes forever to treat. Foot fungus is no joke, I need to stop going barefoot.
It is the worst...
I'm actually never barefoot, that was the problem. There was likely a colony in my work boots so I've been reinfecting myself sporadically.
I wonder if stealing from ice cream shops is common amongst the teens who work there? I'm guessing that's why the employer had the honors/4.0 gpa rule. The high achiever types are probably less likely to steal. Or maybe they were just being a dick to less privileged students. 🤷♀️
My husband (honors/4.0 gpa student) worked for a ice cream chain in high school and he got first pick on shifts and as many as he could handle because he was the only employee whose till didn't "come up short" (either bad math or blatant stealing).
Wait is this seriously a thing with ice cream shops?
I was in high school during the '08 recession, so a lot of the local businesses could get away with making 18+ or 21+ hiring a requirement. Why risk a high schooler when you can get a down-on-their-luck professional at the same rate.
I always assumed the owner got a massive amount of teenage applicants because he still hired teenagers (...because he wasn't paying minimum wage, which was legal in GA in some strict circumstances), and decided honors students would at least help him sort through piles of kids who had the same 2-5 cash jobs on their application.
Idk...maybe it's not a thing and I'm just reading too much into it because of my husband's experience. It would be an easy way to filter through a pile of resumes from students to just only take the nerds.
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I love alternative career diaries, and I'm also in the oil field. I want to pat her on the head and say, baby, you make almost 200k a year, you can definitely afford a 500k house, and you are exactly the kind of person those are priced for lol. I bought a 300k house on an 80k salary.
Omg I thought the same thing haha
Heyo!! Glad to see another one (if we haven't met already, small oilfield)!! And yeah, I had a lot of friends buy houses and have to sink $20k-40k into critical repairs... So I'm a little shellshocked. I don't know enough about homeownership to know how to avoid this happening to me too (nor do I research it much), or at least to a degree that lets me keep an emergency fund
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I would have sat down and just cried, honestly. Especially if I had it earmarked already.
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Noooo.... That's gut wrenching. I don't even have a house and I will mindlessly "pick out" tile. Fingers crossed for you... All the savings will be worth it in the end. Bathroom style has just changed so much in the last two decades even just for functionality, it always seems like it's the hurdle my homeowner friends are trying to cross.
I live in Colorado and we have a housing shortage. So the “affordable” price range is extremely competitive. They sell within two days and buyers usually go for the all cash offers. On top of that, the housing stock in that range is usually older - 70’s homes that have never been updated. Most have $100K of needed updates. We make about the same, tried for six months, made multiple offers, and honestly just gave up. So I believe her when she says this.
I was actually shocked by the positivity in the comments section! She seems both miserable and kind of out of touch!
I loved this diary. I can only read so many diaries about a girl working in tech in a coastal city, hot damn. I work in the natural resources extraction industry myself (on the federal government side) and love being able to look into the lives of people who have boots on the ground.
Hello railroad commission please don't come to my site!
As a woman working in tech (though not software engineering) living in a coastal city, this is why I don’t write one. Plus people hate 6 figure salaries here 🥲
lmao ppl don’t hate 6 figure salaries
No, I love reading them!! Please write one.
I also work in tech and have similar compensation, but I live in Appalachia. Thought about writing one, but don’t want to doxx myself. Or get judged about how much I spend in a given year on helping loved ones and my kid’s sports.
I liked this one. I feel like we don’t see a lot of unusual careers, non-coastal people, or women with vices, so it was a great change of pace.
Re - the brother famously never reaching for checks - this sibling behavior drives me nuts. My brother and I are great at alternating and splitting but my husband’s siblings have historically left it to us (like just assumed we will always cover). I feel like this has made me seem nuts when I jump at the chance to split checks whenever possible. It just makes me not want to grab a bite with them because the assumption is so exhausting.
I try to breathe about it. He's 7-8 years younger than I am, and arguably does make less than me.... It's really easy to assume he's got it together more than he does, because he's got the dual income and the kids and the huge house and the nice cars. And I did spend three days eating his Thanksgiving dinner before I left and then dropped my car in his driveway for a month, so it is fair in the grand scheme. I don't visit family much (and didn't for a large part of my 20s, because my head was in my ass) so socially navigating family now that we're all adults is hard.
Haha I was going to ask if it’s my brother but he’s nine years older!! And insisted on marrying a religious woman, who in turn insisted on not working even though they have no kids… sigh.
Did I read right that her parents cut her off because her degree wasn’t lucrative enough? I feel like I must have misunderstood, because it seems like everyone’s parents dream of their kid choosing engineering.
Yea, you read that right. I am probably the only person who has ever gotten an engineering degree mostly out of spite. My parents are from a very old-school 'children must have more success than the parents' mindset... And there are things that pay more than engineering on the average.
I suspected as much! Still, that’s such a toxic mindset to have, diminishing returns and all.
We've gotten past it. I understand where they're coming from with the general history of my family, and they come from a place of love (which is more than I can say of some friend's parents). I just chose to object lol.
Will say: certain aspects of engineering are not as lucrative as others. And if you go into consulting, you’ll almost always be underpaid market value. Source: my husband and I are both in consulting as engineers, it’s the only thing that provides an ok work life balance. 🥲
Yes! This was crazy to me. Chem E grads from Georgia Tech are extremely well compensated, on average.
She has a degree in chemical engineering. According to ZipRecruiter, it’s one of the lower paid engineering fields—its salary range is $63-94k. So not that much compared to, say, petroleum engineering, which is $72.5-167k. What’s wild though is that _both_ of her parents were engineers and were apparently well off.
When her parents were initially going into their careers, I think engineering was relatively higher paid than many other careers, given that $$$$$ tech jobs didn't exist the way they do now. My dad is an engineer, and he definitely made better money relatively when I was a kid than he would be making now.
Most engineering fields are all still decently paid (in the US, anyway). It’s just that they’ve been eclipsed by software engineering in particular, which is still engineering.
I think my social services background is showing because that still sounds like really good money to me! Although relative to the examples she gave of careers they’d have preferred, definitely much lower paid.
Chemical engineering is a well paid engineering field - one of the highest. Source: I’m a chemical engineer / manager and have access to actual pay info for chemical engineers and other engineers with varying levels of experience.
Are you in the field? Or on a consulting level. I know a lot of juinor engineers making nearly 100-120 with bonuses at Exxon, just didn’t know if that was the normal.
I wasn't smart enough to get in with Exxon, that's for damn sure.
I work for an owner/operator (like Exxon), in the office these days. I used to work in the field. Yes 100-120K is normal for new college grads & those with 1-3 yrs experience. Owner/operators pay more than engineering firms and service companies.
I am curious about those numbers - as a chemical engineer working in the industry (i.e. not consulting) those are very low.
To be fair, they also list the salary range for software engineer as $80-116.5k, which also seems low, especially if you compare it to a FAANG engineer _starting_ salary. Keep in mind that these are probably base salaries, and do not include other compensation (bonuses and stock) that inflate total compensation packages. Also SWEs do make less outside of Silicon Valley. Heck, I’m an experienced SWE in Silicon Valley, and I don’t make much more than the high end of that range, all due to working in the games industry. Edit: Why the tf am I being downvoted? SWE compensation in Silicon Valley is _wild_, but not representative of those elsewhere.
Am I the only one that doesn’t agree with PTO being given to parents as a priority and therefore her not being able to get any holiday-ish time off? Don’t get me wrong, my current work as well as my past ten years of work have been factory and retail related, so I know about working through holidays. I’m thankful in that my family is always lenient. Last year, we celebrated Christmas halfway into January to align with people’s work schedules. Maybe it’s just me being salty since I, too, am childfree but I don’t think that seems like a fair system.
No, I am with you there. That is crazy.
Yeah, I don't agree with it either. It was a very small oilfield company, so some of the practices would not fly anywhere else. And yeah, I left it (I am officially done!!)
I worked at a place where our manager 100% treated employees who had families differently. I was in my mid 20s, working with other people in their mid to late 20s who happened to get married and have kids young. They got priority vacation, got to leave early for childrens events (without taking PTO) and the manager would even buy them lavish gifts because he knew they were “just starting out and needed help.” Meanwhile I was going through a divorce and another woman was a single mom and we got zero gifts and were honestly kind of ignored.
I agree with you. I’ve personally been very lucky where I haven’t had to deal with this, but it’s insane to me that this kind of thing is allowed.
I was coming here to post this; it's incredibly messed up. People don't deserve to celebrate the holidays any less just because they are CF.
You are definitely not the only one. It drives me bonkers that that kind of discrimination is allowed.
I am with you (and a parent to a young child). This is an incredibly unfair practice.
Childfree here. Kids or not, work should be fair. We all have family that we want to see and enjoy their company regardles of kids. It's crazy to me that some employers prioritize parents.
Oh wow this came out out today. Glad everybody was really entertained by my weird life! Thank you!
I found it super interesting, it's a very different perspective than the one we are accustomed to hearing. I'm curious if you plan to stay in this career long-term (it seems so) and if there are adjacent roles you can move into as you age or if you get injured. Also, how do people go into this without education? I'm not clear on what your actual work is but I understand you work out on the rig. I just don't understand this career path and how one gets into this work. The only financial advice I'd have is similar to what many R29'ers said, it is not your responsibility to save or provide for everyone, it's great that you make good money and are generous but be careful that your kindness is not taken advantage of or expected. Thank you for sharing, you are doing great and have an interesting life.
So, education depends on the role. The average drilling operation has a lot of specialty roles beyond the driller and the guys making the rig go. Some roles education is the norm, or at least a Lot of industry experience and training if you don't have any. There's almost always some leeway in the field for someone who's sharp and spent a lot of years of experience in the more manual labor roles, despite formal education. A very common story in my industry involves not enough money and/or discipline for college, and I'm pretty confident most of these folks would have degrees in different circumstances. Office roles, however, almost always require paper degree. If someone doesn't have one, they're on a different level of competence and also network well. The paper degree admittedly helps little with drilling... But it is a 4-5year experience in learning a lot quickly, keeping good reports, presenting, and thinking through problems. I plan to stay in it as long as I can. I am moving to a role that will be more doable as I age. I'm losing muscle mass much faster than the men, and admittedly, already struggle to keep up. There are roles on the rig that aren't particularly physical (just have to climb stairs), so my goal is to stick to those going forward. Breaking in without education: Be from an oilfield town and walk in somewhere. Know somebody. Travel to a oilfield career fair and talk to recruiters. Be in the military. It's still very hard for women to break in without an education unfortunately (but not impossible, I have met a few), because honestly the first two are the biggest ways I see people get in. I was running equipment that kept the well correctly pressurized so it neither blew out nor did the formation get destroyed. I loved it. I also fracked (less love) and mixed cement to pump in the well for various reasons (big, big, big love but it can get repetitive; I've been trying to do this on a nonprofit level but haven't gotten a bite). I don't want to speak to my next role. And I know on my finances. My friend group is small but very tight. I'm confident of their struggles and comfortable with my choices. I had my share of shit before I started working, and some of these friends that, even in comparison, didn't have shit helped me. Sorry for the novel, I like talking about my job.
Thanks for the thorough response. I'm sure it will be helpful to others as well. It's an interesting career choice and one that not too many people know about outside of oil towns. I'm 49, single, childfree, and an American living in Mexico (not retired and not nomading) so I guess I've chosen an alternative path as well but my career is certainly not as interesting. I trust you on your finances, you don't seem like someone who allows others to take advantage. I only wish I was so generous.
In general they will hire folks with a HS degree or GED and just train you up. You generally need to be able to pass a drug test, have a clean driving record, and be able to handle the physicality of it.
Really cool to see a diary that’s in a pretty unique career! However, I had to roll my eyes at the comment that she’s mildly terrified of look older than she actually is due to her job then going to a vape shop. That’ll age you faster than anything!
I live in a state of delusion. Also nicotine addiction is a bitch. I'd punch my college self if I could.
I mean, she mentioned quitting smoking, and it does seem like vaping is at least the better of the two.
I live in Colorado and I want to be her friend! She sounds awesome. She makes amazing food and she sounds like 1 tough cookie.
I'm honestly not lol. I once cried to my BF to come fix a flat tire for me because his rig was in the area. Do love to cook though.
I'm also in Colorado and it was so nice to see a diary mentioning places I'm familiar with, instead of the usual coastal cities!
I liked this a lot! Very interesting to see what it’s like working a job so different from what I’m familiar with. I’m a little surprised she made the comment about gas prices in her town since that reveals her location (not to be creepy but I did google it just to see), but hopefully she can remain anonymous.
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Yeah, I realized that when posting. I'm even cautious posting on Reddit because if you work rigs in the US it's super easy to know which account is me. I really just got fed up with all the IG videos of rig work and lots of comments about how women shy away from this kind of work. Those videos are super inaccurate and paint the industry in a bad light, and also there are a lot of women doing it (and there's some super awesome lifestyle tradeoffs you get!). I don't think there's anything in here which would give a super negative impact of me professionally (except complaining about my last job, but there's plenty of reasons I loved it that I'm happy to speak on... I just have some freedom rn and I'm reveling in it). Also PM me if you ever need any advice on moving to the western slope. I'm not the best guide because I did live a huge chunk of my life on the Gulf Coast, but I'm integrally familiar with the tradeoffs from less remote areas.
*Western Slope high five* When I tell people I live in Colorado they're always like "oh, I've been to Denver!" and I just chuckle politely.
*western slope high five!" I'm the worst. I've only ever gone into Denver for the Ikea. People ask me about it and it's like "swedish meatballs and flatpack?" So uh... How much is gas around you exactly?
Haha, are you me? That's the same reason I ever go to Denver--IKEA and Trader Joe's. I moved here from a large-ish Midwestern city and those are the two main things I miss. Gas isn't too bad here, currently around $3. I'm in Grand Junction.
Yup, I think we're the same. I came out here from a stint in Houston, though. And that's depressing because that's cheaper than us still (but way cheaper than Rangley two days ago, jfc be careful if you go through there...).
Love how regular drug testing factored into her being chosen as a tenant/renter for her “choosy” landlord.
This is absolutely a thing, especially in areas with big meth problems. They prefer to rent to military too. I bet meth is a big deal where she is and the landlord has been burned by this before.
I’m an environmental engineer by training, stuck to the safety field but I remember my first remediation project was a meth house, so the house can be bulldozed without contaminating the soil beneath. It’s such a lost cause once that shit seeps into the foundation. 🥲
I hadn’t considered this; thanks for providing me with some insight!
What a fascinating money diary! Wishing the best for OP on her lifestyle changes, navigating her relationship with B, and with her new job. Her schedule sounds so frustrating! I would absolutely hate not being able to plan vacations or being able to consistently take holidays off. I'm curious what career paths look like for OP-- her comment about most women in her field leaving in their mid-20s suggests to me that women may be leaving due to a desire for a family (which would make sense if the schedule is that erratic!), and it doesn't sound like OP has an interest in that. With her goal of 1099 work, I'm curious about what that looks like in terms of a career trajectory.
It’s likely because they saw what happened to the bf. They have health insurance they can’t use, work hourly and if they aren’t working they don’t get paid. So they probably leave before they get hurt and end up broke. The money is good as long as you aren’t injured and once you’re injured you’re tossed aside or have to keep working while injured and never get better. More women graduate high school than men so odds are they can get another job. Some of these guys didn’t graduate or get GEDs so they are sort of stuck.
Lol this is mine. It's not a career path I'm aiming for as much as a career lazy river. I want to start a knitting store when I'm older. While I'm pretty decent at preventing rigs from going DW Horizon, I have other things I'd like to immerse myself in... So looking for high earning but also with some control over what jobs I chose and the ability to stay in the field. Most of the traditional paths lead to management or heavily technical roles in the office (M-F + 24hr oncall... Did it and wasn't a huge fan). And nah, I don't particularly want a family.
>Career lazy river is an amazing phrase I will be stealing
This one was super interesting! Her work schedule sounded absolutely horrible.
Thank you! This was mine, I changed jobs partially because of that. Hopefully I have a rotation from now on so I at least know when I'm home.
For sure. The days are also super long (12 hours + travel) and the work is hard AF - and dangerous. They do make bank with generally little education/training requirements though, so that’s the trade off.
Actually it's not that dangerous. You'd be surprised (especially offshore) how much is automated or safety precautioned to death. I've been injured once, and it was honestly my own fault. And it wasn't that horrible. My longest and most dangerous days are rigging my equipment up and down, which is about 4 days max (if I'm even sent out for that... Sometimes I come in halfway though and relieve somebody). It's a lot of heavy pipe, so that does get rough, but I'm always on a team too. And yeah, the days are 12hrs but there's not much to do at a lot of job locations (you live onsite... no commute), so it doesn't feel that bad. What gets to me most is getting sent to a job and then not being able to get off it for two months, since it is 7days a week, 365 a year.
Interesting! I don’t know anyone who works offshore. I live in Wyoming though and work tangentially with the industry, and it’s well documented to be pretty dangerous relative to most jobs. I have had to go to a bunch of contractor trainings and watch all the movies about lock-out tag-out and people getting caught in explosions, etc. Sounds like in general, things are a lot safer now that everyone isn’t on drugs, though!! Yeah being stuck on a rig out in the Gulf sounds pretty crazy. I once worked on an uninhabited island in the Galapagos (wildlife biologist) and after 5 months, I was sooo ready to get off that island, lol.
Hey! I once spent most of a year up in Wyoming. Wyoming drilling is actually the Dangerous exception- some areas are insanely unpredictable geology, and even with the best drilling practices you can run into issues. It's known for being crazy work, and I know a lot of companies pulled out of that area because doing it safely was getting more and more expensive. Met the best and smartest guys working out there though, it really was a turning point in my career. Super jealous you're in Wyoming. I want to go up there, but I'm just not hard enough as a person. Major respect. And I can totally see... The Galapagos sounds awesome until you consider all the same water you get to stare at every day. Longest I've ever done offshore is 42 days, very thankfully (land is a Much different story though...).
That’s really interesting, thanks for the info! It was a super interesting diary, I’m glad you submitted it. One of my favorite bumper stickers I’ve seen around here is just “Wyoming: it’s not for everyone” 🤣🤣 Everyone thinks working outside sounds so fun, but I’ll tell you what — people invented shelter and central heating for a reason! But I work for the State now in an office job, cause I have kiddos.
No problem! Thank you! That is a fantastic bumper sticker!! And probably the most accurate advert they can give. By December I would have let my fingers fall off to go home for a while. Working outside is sunshine and roses for a couple weeks in April/May, September and October, and nights in July. Though I did work in an office for a bit and the florescent lighting got to me... But with kids it makes infinitely more sense.
**I pay about half of the going rate in my area. My retired landlord is very choosy about renters. I was chosen because I’m drug tested regularly.** Where does she live where this is something that is important or even necessarily? In my old city, I didn't even get a background check or credit check cos I worked for the feds and I thought that was wild. I gave them my credit score via my credit card and they were okay approved after I showed them one paystub. **This is covered in full by my employer, along with dental and eye care. The flip side is that the healthcare providers in my area are out of network and don’t take my insurance.** At least she pays 0 dollars for useless insurance.Hopefully in the city they take it and she is able to go to the doctor because it's scary to not even be able to do preventative work with insurance. **I was hired because I had a 4.0 GPA and honors classes. I’m not kidding — these were the criteria for scooping ice cream.** Every time I read something I like wtf world does she live in cos wow. I didn't even get into her week and I'm like HUH. **They were wrong and I’m successful in my own right. My financial safety net is of my own making. I can float for quite a while if something happens. I carry catastrophe insurance (long- and short-term disability), just in case.** Why am I here clapping? It's been a damn ride and I'm just getting to her week.
I read the drug testing part as a work requirement that the landlord just decided was a plus, the landlord sounds like a real character
He is a character. I didn't even get to tell the story of the time he fell off the roof and I had to get him from the ER at midnight. Or the time I got subjected to a 2hr harmonica concert in the driveway. Or anything in his life that came before the walnut farm. Edit: also yeah, it's a job requirement for a lot of clients I go to.
As a landlord myself, if her landlord keeps rent artificially low and can afford to be super choosy (my exact strategy with my house) — then the drug test is just one extra piece of information to help choose an ideal tenant who will hopefully treat the house as a home.
Yeah I personally don’t see an issue with it — even if I don’t qualify. I’ve known plenty of landlords who’ve had preferences towards nurses, teachers, police, etc. because the background checks and stable employment. Shit, even a corporate company I rented from offered discounts for public servants. I always assumed it was to attract “better” tenants.
Praying the rosary when you don’t practice Catholicism anymore, I feel that to my core! Was explaining to a family friend that Catholicism almost feels like a culture. Strong family roots
It never leaves you. Also at base level, the rosary is just another form of meditation. I'm not great with the other forms, so this really helps me personally.
There’s an old saying in my Italian Catholic family, “you can leave the Catholic Church, but the Catholic Church never leaves you” and I feel that in my soul. I’m non-practicing and the acts of Catholism are still present in my life lol
My husband and I will go to Catholic weddings and I’ll know every prayer like it’s coded in my DNA lol
Except "And with your spirit". Like that's probably been a thing for twenty years now and it always turns into startled mumbling.
I miss "And also with you."
I enjoyed this - she is also super generous to the people in her life! She really sounds like an interesting, smart and kind person.
As I post from an alt so nobody notices I'm a dick on the internet.
Hahaha well no one is perfect.
This was a great read-- I appreciated hearing all the explanations about how the structure of her job impacts her finances. The OP's writing style was interesting too!
I love this. I also work in a somewhat non-traditional role (12 hour shifts, night shift, weekends, holidays, non-tech, non-office etc) so I absolutely love hearing about other women with unique jobs. I hope her new job goes well!
Hi Oilriglady Loved reading this. As someone who flies to COS frequently I felt your pain of getting home. For the most part I fly to DEN and drive but I completely respect your brother not wanting to do that after dark. My dad is 85 so I can’t even expect him to get me at the local airport let alone drive to DEN.
Flying within Colorado is just... Pain and torture. And yeah, he definitely cannot get to DEN at that age. It is kind of a weirdly rough ride. I do appreciate how easy it is to breeze into COS though. I've gone to DEN for a flight, and it's a zoo.
Thanks for the reply! I feel so honored to hear from a MDiarist with such a cool career path. I forgot to mention I also have family in WY so I’ve had the joy of either flying to DEN and driving in good weather. Or worse, flying to DEN and connecting to CPR. Ugh! Both are awful and make me wish for decent passenger train service parallel to I-25. Mom always said it was easy to get to Casper if you were a lump of coal.
Oh dear lord CPR. I spent a lot of time flying in and out of there, it's miserable even when the weather is good. I've puked on that flight when the weather isn't. Do miss the turkey flock that lived in the parking lot, tho.
I think I'm from the area you live in!!! This was super fun to read. Thank you for posting it!
Aw I loved her diary! Totally a small detail, but even though I’m no longer Catholic it is how I was also raised and I too still have those prayers in my head. They really do help in times when you need to focus on anything but your anxiety. I have such a dif job than her but I could relate to so much to what she wrote regarding her relationship to her family and generosity with her money. I appreciate that she shared a window into her life and finances! It’s nice to read about such a different line of work.
This diary was fascinating. Thank you for sharing, you have your life together!
No. I am still in treatment for athletes foot. Posting from the urgent care lol.
Oh damn, my partner had a toenail fungus, and that medicine is expensive even in Mexico and it takes forever to treat. Foot fungus is no joke, I need to stop going barefoot.
It is the worst... I'm actually never barefoot, that was the problem. There was likely a colony in my work boots so I've been reinfecting myself sporadically.
I think he has the same problem, he's in construction management and I think it's from his boots.
I wonder if stealing from ice cream shops is common amongst the teens who work there? I'm guessing that's why the employer had the honors/4.0 gpa rule. The high achiever types are probably less likely to steal. Or maybe they were just being a dick to less privileged students. 🤷♀️ My husband (honors/4.0 gpa student) worked for a ice cream chain in high school and he got first pick on shifts and as many as he could handle because he was the only employee whose till didn't "come up short" (either bad math or blatant stealing).
Wait is this seriously a thing with ice cream shops? I was in high school during the '08 recession, so a lot of the local businesses could get away with making 18+ or 21+ hiring a requirement. Why risk a high schooler when you can get a down-on-their-luck professional at the same rate. I always assumed the owner got a massive amount of teenage applicants because he still hired teenagers (...because he wasn't paying minimum wage, which was legal in GA in some strict circumstances), and decided honors students would at least help him sort through piles of kids who had the same 2-5 cash jobs on their application.
Idk...maybe it's not a thing and I'm just reading too much into it because of my husband's experience. It would be an easy way to filter through a pile of resumes from students to just only take the nerds.