The Beauty of A Small Shop - First Full-Time Offer

Hey guys, so I haven't made it 'per-se' but I have secured my first job offer and wanted to walk you through 'the process'. I am a December 2017 graduate.

Coming into this, my last, summer my experience was quite lacking in energy or any commodity space. I didn't really have a network in the space and I was feeling a bit down on my luck as I had interviewed at a bunch of places but still had no internship. At this point I was about to hang it up, and join the Army. Right before this however, my mom kept telling me to contact my uncle, and I just kept saying "He's a (type of) engineer, he's not going to know anyone etc.."

A week or so later I texted him and he told me to send him a resume, what exactly I was interested in, and just like a quick one liner he could tell people about me. Turns out, he was just put into a new role a few months back as site manager of a large plant here in Texas and with that came a lot more 'business meetings' and interactions with people from a variety of different industries that provide services to the plant.

Long story short, the company that handled all of the plants power procurement and other energy services offered me an internship. Another interesting tid-bit, my uncle didn't meet the guy, my new boss until four days before I texted him, so a lot of this boiled down to sheer luck, and timing. After two phone interviews and about a month of radio silence, I was offered an internship, a week from the day.

My internship is great and as it is winding down I was getting nervous on how to approach a return offer, I even reached out to a few people on here I have gotten close with to get their opinion. Turns out, as much as I appreciated all of their advice, I didn't even end up needing it. My bosses last day in the area for the summer was last week, so we played golf with my uncle. We have been really busy at work lately so I asked him what the worst his workload has been and if they ever felt the need to hire someone desperately and he said it's never been that bad, but it does get rough. Then he said something along, "Hey I wanted you to know, we want you back here in January, so keep looking around apply for other jobs, I'll help you, but just know there is a home for you here. I'll have (name) put a rough contract in your inbox for you to see what we would be able to offer."

I was honestly so taken back by what had happened I didn't even know what to do because it was so informal, much like most of what happens here so I shouldn't have been surprised. I came in today and there was a contract sitting in my inbox.

All of that being said, I want you guys to know I came from a christian school far from Texas that you've likely never heard of, with a 58.7% acceptance rate(Googled it), and a 3.3 GPA, so if I can make it happen so can you. I'm not going to sit here and tell you I didn't have a leg up because of my Uncle but one lesson I took away from this was to never underestimate your network.

The company I intern for now has about 25 employees between their two offices in Texas and before me, has never had an intern. Working for a small shop has been awesome, I really walked into a situation where the work coming across my desk was that of an actual analyst, and with the same work load. I haven't interned anywhere large so I can't speak to that, but I would not underestimate the beauty of a small shop, I couldn't have asked for a better experience work-wise because they actually needed value added instead of just your 'office intern.'

I would be happy to answer any questions if you guys in my similar situation have any, and I would also be happy to expand on my background a bit. I was actually fortunate enough to have found a mentor on WSO who I email quite frequently, so if I can give back to this community by helping someone out I'd be more than happy to.

(The company I intern for operates within wholesale and retail power/natural gas markets)

I will probably make a thread in the next few weeks seeking advice on budgeting; what percentage of your yearly income should be allotted for you car payment, housing etc. But if you guys wouldn't mind dropping some of that knowledge here I'd appreciate it as well.

Thanks for all you guys have done thus far. My journey is just beginning.