Bill Nobles ⋅ Basking Ridge, NJ Exxon ⋅ 30 years experience

John, thank you for your service. The low cost/free self-assessment ideas in my 4/23/13 posting “What are best tools for veterans to self-assess their aptitude, capabilities, and interests?” may help explicitly define the personal characteristics underlying your intuitive interest in the oil and gas business.
Good luck, Bill Nobles

George Wilhelmsen ⋅ Rochelle, IL Sargent & Lundy ⋅ 38 years experience

Hi John,

If you are looking for an industry in Illinois with outstanding opportunities to move, I have two words: Go Exelon!

I work for Exelon, which is one of the largest utilities in the United States, with 6 operating reactor plants (Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle, Quad Cities) in Illinois alone. We are regularly hiring people with your skills and are looking for future leaders.

We have several positions open in Illinois, and those offerings change. More importantly, you have the opportunity to move up, or change organizations if you'd like. One engineer who worked for me at LaSalle transferred to ComEd, which is our energy delivery company.

Please consider checking our web page for jobs, which is at https://exelonjobs.ceco.com/psc/HRPC_TAM/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL?&;

You can also find this by going to www.exeloncorp.com, clicking on careers, then on the left side of the web page, clicking on Opportunities, then on the right side of that page, click on "view jobs" under the Apply Now logo.

Jobs that may appeal to you and apply to your skills:
Procurement Supervisor, Clinton Station
Mechanical Maintenance First Line Supervisor, Byron Station

Currently there are 294 jobs open and posted, with many in Illinois. Give them a look - surely there must be one that you might be interested in. We also post on Monster.com.

Go Exelon! We pay well, have good benefits, and it's a company that reasonably speaking sells a product that everyone needs.

Let me know if you need any help.

Sincerely,
George Wilhelmsen

John DeNoy ⋅ Ridgewood, NJ Neudesic ⋅ 20 years experience

John, Thank you for your service. Your UAV operator experience will become more valuable and in high demand as this means of surveillance and transportation is becoming mainstream in professional industry. Have you considered working for a Defense contractor? Most of the larger firms have contracts with the Department of Homeland Security who are leveraging drones to patrol our borders. L-3 Communications, SAIC, DynCorp all have a need for someone with your background and skills set.

Gil Almeida ⋅ Warren, NJ AIG ⋅ 17 years experience

Hi John - Although I am not in the 'Oil & Gas' industries, if that is where your interest lies, you should continue to pursue that avenue. Having a career in a field that you enjoy is the ideal goal, don't be discouraged by what you hear, but it helps to understand that it will require some effort and dedication.

As a starting point it may be of help to research jobs in that industry (regardless of whether you are qualified or not) to get a sense of the specific skills, requirements and education that are asked for. From the education perspective, you are still at a point where you could make some adjustments to gear your studies to be more specific to what would make you more attractive to a potential employer. You may also be able to enter the industry via an avenue that gives you some experience in the field even though it may not be the ideal long-term job right away (i.e. part-time, consultant role).

As far as pursuing jobs in general, networking with professionals/colleagues can be very valuable, including a sharp cover letter with job submissions, gearing your resume so that it emphasizes the transferable skills that you gained from your military experience and less on what you did should help to point out the value add that you would bring to the employer.

Hope this is helpful. Keep researching too!

Edward Marchelitis ⋅ Berkeley Heights, NJ AIG ⋅ 15 years experience

Hi John,
Thank you for your service.
A wise person once said “Do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” I recommend taking an inventory of what interest you. You mentioned the Oil and Gas industry. Have you looked into opportunities with your local utility companies? Many utilities provide a reliable source of work, excellent on the job training and the potential for advancement within their organization.

Josh Brooks ⋅ Tyrone, GA U.S. Army ⋅ 17 years experience

John,

If you haven't found the answer to your question yet, feel free to give me a call.

V/R,
Josh
928.420.4035
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/josh-brooks-phd/63/bbb/142

David Eastman ⋅ Gresham, OR Gamma Therapeutics, Inc. ⋅ 35 years experience

John,

The truth of it is, and I tried to get my 26 year old son to become an UAV pilot, I think this area of work is going to explode and those of you that have prior UAV experience are going to be the developers and the leaders in this field.
Think outside of the military. Drones are being used to assess farmlands, to track the growth of grape orchards, to track illegal aliens crossing the border, to track drug traffickers and many, many other diverse applications. And so I think any and all industries are open for some one like you who can immediately launch a UAV program for them. Contact Google, that is trying to figure out how they can use UAVs in the city environments to deliver small packages. Also, again outside the context of the military, immerse yourself in the state of the technology of drones, UAVs and the emerging regulations coming out of the government to control and regulate the drone industry.

Be the expert you already are and the jobs will come your way, fast and furious.

Regards,
David,
US Navy, Avionics, P3C Orions

Keith Fulton ⋅ South Orange, NJ ⋅ 24 years experience

It's probably worth mentioning that with the price of oil and gas tanking 50%, these companies are hurting and many will shrink, close or go bankrupt. I don't think it is a promising area for a job search right now. The suggestions about utilities do seem like good ones though. Good luck!

Charles Willoughby ⋅ Paradise Valley, AZ First Financial Equity Corporation ⋅ 30 years experience

Hi John, This is Charlie, former Marine, and retired from the Air Force Reserve. 33 years military reserve, 30 years in the private sector.
Some suggestions: 1. Try to stay active in the reserves. Think about Army reserve, National Guard, Air National Guard, AF Reserve, and units close to your home. Also, the IRR is a possibility. Google up "IRR". Go to the library , and ask for the reference desk. There is a reference book, the top 100 jobs for the 21st Century, and the top 300 jobs for the 21st Century, and something along that line. Read about these careers and see if you get ideas. Read, "What Color is your Parachute?" Read and research in the library.
You need a target. You need a goal , a dream, an action plan. Some ideas: Federal Air Marshal; Police Officer; Air Traffic Control; Cyber security (very hot right now); Corporate security/ facility management; banking and finance; sales; Veterans Administration/ Federal Government. Remember, you can google how to do anything, like getting a job or career in the above fields. Do your homework and stay in the military reserve , including the individual ready reserve, if you can. Good luck. Make your own luck. Go to work on your research. Network and think big, as they say, outside of the box. Suggest you get the business degree, and find a career in the business field.

John Meikle ⋅ Taylorville, IL U.S. Army, Sergeant ⋅ 4 years served

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses. I'm going to message a couple of you privately in order to seek further information. Happy Holidays.

Kimberly Smith ⋅ Chicago, IL AT&T ⋅ 30 years experience

Hello John. First of all I want to thank you for your service. One thing that I would suggest is a growing industry with lots of opportunity is telecommunications. AT&T has a significant number of positions in Illinois and has a great training program for techs when it comes to programming, installing, testing, etc. There are also great opportunities in retail. Given that many of the technologies are new, there is not as much of an expectation that someone would have the experience going in so the focus is more matching the personality and apptitude. AT&T is also a huge advocate of the military. It is all about re-tooling yourself and skills to be marketable as the pace of technology.
http://att.jobs/