Is online MBA any good to enter big oil companies.

Gents,

I am an experienced drilling engineer from India. I have 5 years of international work ex and 6 years of local work ex. I prepared for 4 months but could not score good. I am thinking of online MBA from following institutes and find full time job.
1. Thunderbird SGM online MBA
2. University of texas at permian basin online MBA
3. Imperial college online MBA
4. Warwick online MBA
5. University of liverpool online MBA.

My target industry is oil and gas but I want to apply for MBA development programs. I have been confirmed from other members of WSO that such programs of chevron and exxon hire only from USA not europe. But I am unsure whether online MBA with work ex of 11-14 years in core engineering is accepted? I understand that there are issues for companies to hire from Asia or other places but I am just working towards strengthening my profile. Also the big oil companies development programs keep trainees rotating all around the world. (I never unpack my bags)

Fees is not an issue. I can't continue to invest time in GMAT. I have already taken one year off from my career to decide how to progress ahead and I can't continue to wait for another year. I chose these institutes solely on the basis of alumni who are working in senior positions in big oil. Also these courses require 2-3 weeks on-campus attendance in 3 years course or none for UTPB and thunderbird. But I am not sure whether thunderbird, UTPB and liverpool is a good choice. Please comment.

The best choice could be Northeastern online MBA or UT at austin Navin Jindal School but they don't have any alumni in oil and gas. I know that big oil companies hire mainly full time students. But still, I want to confirm my options. And WSO is a right and only forum who has members of oil companies.

Regards,
Narendra

 

I know virtually nothing about the O&G industry but an online MBA usually isn't worth the paper it is printed on for development programs or finance roles. You might get away with one in an operations role, but there are very few times I would say it's something to consider. The ONLY exception would be if it was from a notable university and obtained while serving in the military (clearly not your case).

I'm concerned that business school may not be the best fit for you if you spent 4 months studying for the GMAT and did not score well. Also, not working for a year while you figure out what you want to do is a long time to be spinning your wheels. I'd focus on getting a job in something that is at least a step towards what you want to do (even If you have to go down a level to make it happen). Sometimes there are tradeoffs and my fear is that right now your resume is seriously hurting. From there it will buy you some time to figure out next steps.

 

Hate to give you clichéd advice, but its really not our decision to make what value a degree would have for you especially from programs very few people on this site have any real experience with (everyone here focuses on FT MBA programs ranked in the top 30). Call the schools admissions departments and obtain their employment stats to see how many candidates make it into big oil. If you feel like you have other things going for you to get into big oil and just need the letters MBA, well you would know if its a good choice for you better than us.

 
Best Response

What he said plus:

  • Take a BLUF approach by determining your end goal

  • Work from alumni at your finish line backwards and backtest

  • See if there is still viability in current market

If you can't validate on current market based in admission staff or LinkedIn recent hires, run. Someone is selling you hard on marketing.

From my experience at ExxonMobil, I know how they valuate their employee's annual salary. Degree is a very minor factor and prestigious Universities are worth as much as State schools in the South (I.e. MS, OK, AR, LA, GA, NM, TX). Harvard or MIT grad gets the same as that of Ole Miss. We have a lot more state schools here than brand name because of this and also the conservative culture here vs prominent Universities.

Never bid down, always bid up, and skip brand name and go for hard cash today vs. the promise of a golden future tomorrow (carrot on a stick game).

I can start a thread on how to get into OG from various roles if anyone is interested. S&T, Engineering, and as a supervisor/manager. Now all the career paths at my company and other firms.

 

I have experience with big oil. I'll give some insight. I am a petroleum engineer...

No one cares where you went to school or what your GPA was after you graduate. It's not like this forum at all. You can go to ULL (shitty Louisiana state school, worse than LSU) get a 2.0 and barely graduate and get a job in the downturn over the 4.0 Mines grad because your cousin works at the firm.

A family member's friend has had 3 wives, first kid at 19, cajun as they come, and is an alcoholic. He pulls in 1mm yr+ as an oil exec. Straight up cajun good old boy. Half of this forum would think he was some washed up old man by his appearance.

Nepotism wins in this industry. Right now your best bet is to network and find someone who can get you in.

Other option is to go to a school that the big oil companies actively recruit from and get around the recruiters. Doesn't matter if it is LSU Shreveport or a top energy school in Texas. As a result online MBAs are relatively useless.

This is also a bad time, there is still a downturn in the industry.

So ways:

  1. Network your way into the old boys club.
  2. Go to a school that the companies actively recruit from (most likely)
  3. Get lucky with an online job posting (very doubtful)/be part of a firm that gets bought up
  4. Work for a client and convince the oil company to bring you in house full time.
 

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