1Q 2010 Job Market Report

The first quarter started out slow and picked up steam once March rolled along. There are more jobs this year than last year, but there are also more engineers on the market. In short, the market is extremely competitive. Our clients with job openings are being extremely selective in who they interview. Another factor that has made these market conditions difficult is the lack of urgency on the part of hiring companies. The market seems flooded with talent, but in reality the talent is still hard to find. The companies that procrastinate on making job offers are losing the best candidates as they take other offers. If you are a good reliability engineer with several years of chemical/refining industry experience and are willing to consider any geographic location in the US you should receive multiple interviews. In January and February, Mechanical Integrity was the hottest skill. Now, machinery/rotating equipment jobs are hot as well. In the last two weeks we have had many previous clients call us with new opportunities.

Jobs filled in 1Q 2010

• Turnaround Mgr – Rocky Mountains
• Machinery Engineer – Houston Refinery
• Sr. Reliability Engineer – Houston Chemical Plant

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4 Q 2009 Job Market Report
The Houston market improved and several Reliability Engineers received job offers. Overall, Houston salary offers are down almost 10% from the last two years. The market remains tight and we expect 2010 to be to be better than 2009 but still slow in terms of actual hiring. Hiring in manufacturing sector generally lags the overall economy by 6 – 9 months. We are seeing refineries close down and additional layoffs that indicate poor market conditions for that segment. We are making adjustments to find new clients and sources of business. We are encouraged that some of our established clients are telling us they plan to hire new reliability engineers in the coming year.

Jobs Filled in 4Q 2009

• Reliability Engineer in Houston Chemical Plant
• Reliability Engineer in Rocky Mountains
• Maint Supt in Rocky Mountains

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3 Q Job Market Report
Although additional job openings became available to us in the 3 Q and we had several interviews, we did not fill any positions. Many companies held off on hiring decisions or wanted to see additional candidates. The market conditions remained very challenging as companies remained extremely selective and opted to leave jobs open much longer.

Jobs Filled in 3Q 2009

• No jobs filled

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2Q 2009 Market Report
We have been actively working a respectable number of reliability engineering jobs through the second quarter and have set up many phone interviews. However, our clients remain very select and are moving forward at a slow pace in evaluating candidates. We expect the 3 Q to reflect better results as the job market began to pick up towards the end of the second quarter. We have several current needs for fixed equipment and machinery engineers across the US.

Jobs Filled in 2Q 2009

• Machinery Engineer in a major chemical plant in the Beaumont/Port Arthur area
• I and E reliability engineer in Houston

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1Q 2009 Market Report
The first quarter of 2009 felt the impact of the financial sector meltdown. Many companies stopped hiring all together and started cutting staff. We focused our recruiting efforts on niche skill positions which companies still needed despite the slower economy. As companies tightened up their job specifications, we were also challenged to find exact matches for our client’s needs. Although the market is much slower than last year (we are running about 25 % of last year’s job volume), we have maintained a solid book of business and continue to have job openings for machinery engineers, reliability engineers, fixed equipment engineers and inspectors. We are usually able to present multiple job openings to engineers who meet our profile and who are willing to be flexible on their geographic location.

Jobs Filled in 1Q 2009

• Machinery Engineer in refinery in LA
• Machinery Engineer in refinery in Houston
• Reliability Engineer in a chemical plant in Houston

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4 Q 2008 Market Report

The job market began to soften for all engineering disciplines in 4 Q. The impact of the credit market began to effect the hiring of engineers in both the chemical and refining industries. Despite these market changes, the reliability market held its own and we filled more positions than in the third quarter. Our clients still hired, but they were very selective in hiring specific talent matched to critical business needs.

Positions filled in 4 Q

• Machinery Engineer – Major Refinery in Upper Midwest
• Senior Reliability Consultant – Asset Management – Reliability Consulting firm in Houston
• Reliability Engineer – Reliability Consulting firm in Houston
• Fixed Equipment/Corrosion Engineer – Refinery in West Texas
• Manager of Business Development – Turn Around/Vessel Services – chemical/services firm in Houston

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3Q Job Market Update

The job market began to slow over the summer but it still remains active. We experienced more demand for CHE’s in 3Q but are already seeing a switch back to Reliability job openings as is reflected by our 9 current interviews underway for a variety of reliability opportunities. The big news in 3Q was the Hurricane that hit Houston and the Economic Meltdown that hit the US economy in October. Both of these events have impacted hiring. The Hurricane effectively shut down hiring in certain geographic areas for the month of September. We had 8 interviews put on hold during the month of September due to the storm impact. The economic scene has created uncertainty in the market and a couple of companies have decided to delay any hiring until next year. How is the market outlook going into 4Q? We remain very optimistic going into the 4Q. Keep an eye on our website and you’ll stay informed! Also, see our new article on the website – Is it dangerous to change jobs in a slowing economy?

Jobs Filled in 3Q

• Global Reliability Director for a Major Chemical Company
• Reliability Engineer for a chemical plant in Houston

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2Q 2008 Job Market Update

The Mechanical and Reliability Engineering job market in chemicals and refining continues to be a strong market. There are a wide variety of openings across chemicals and refining from East Coast to West Coast in the United States. In 2 Q we noticed a dramatic increase in the number of managerial positions that came open. We have several clients seeking ME’s with leadership experience that can direct and manage a maintenance or reliability program in a plant. We are also seeing a continued need for high level machinery engineers for major oil companies in Houston. The uncertainty in the economy does not seem to be adversely affecting the job market.

Jobs filled in 2 Q (8 jobs filled)

• Senior Machinery Engineer with Refinery in Houston
• Senior Machinery Engineer in Corporate Office in Houston
• Reliability Engineer for a Chemical Plant in Mississippi
• Junior Reliability Engineer with Refinery in Houston
• Electrical Reliability Engineer with Houston Chemical
• Machinery Engineer with Houston Chemical Plant
• Electrical Reliability Engineer with a Los Angeles Refinery
• Maintenance Superintendent at a Houston Refinery

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1Q 2008 Overview

Now that we are nearing the end of the first quarter, how do the results look? As I review the trends news update I wrote in February, the same market conditions are prevailing.

1. Demand for reliability talent remains strong and we are seeking no sign of a slow down.
2. Just this week we have received 5 new Fixed Equipment jobs in a major refinery in Texas and 2 new Reliability jobs in another expanding refinery in Texas.
3. We continue to stay busy with plant and corporate level positions in chemicals and refining.

Jobs filled so far in 1Q 2008:

• 2 Senior Machinery Engineers in San Francisco in Refining
• 1 Reliability Engineer in Los Angeles in Refining
• 1 Senior Machinery Engineer in Houston in Chemicals
• 1 Machinery Engineer in Houston in Chemicals
• 1 Reliability Manager in Houston in Chemicals
• 1 Corrosion Engineer in New Orleans in Refining

Over the course of the first half of the year, I have observed several stalled or mishandled job searches. Here’s how to avoid the common errors:

Be Open Geographically - Be willing to consider smaller towns and new locations that are farther from home. A particular city may not have an abundance of jobs, but if you are willing to consider a broader geographic area you will hear about many more job opportunities. Also, if your personal finances are in order and you can move with less relocation assistance from the hiring company, this can also help you get more interviews and be able to seize opportunities that others may have to pass by. Discover the good things about an area that you have never considered before!

Be willing to listen and investigate – When you hear of a new opportunity outside of your career comfort zone, be sure to listen and gather facts on the job, the company, and the area before you say “No thanks”. You may find some compelling reasons to consider the job such as – the city has an almost zero crime rate, the company is willing to buy your house on the relocation, the job has excellent promotion potential, etc.

Don’t wait - many people target a specific city and then open up their geographic parameters after spinning their wheels for several months. Instead of this approach, consider points 1 and 2 above while you are focusing on the local market. The interview cycles are taking months now instead of weeks like in 2008, so if you don’t put your name in the hat immediately when the job first becomes open it may be too late to try later. Also, if you are targeting a specific city such as Houston, be aware that companies are receiving over 100 qualified engineering candidates. You may find yourself waiting a long time to get an interview and then competing against 10 All Stars candidates for the same job. Put your resume in on the jobs you are qualified for immediately and seriously consider any interest from the market! Do not turn down plant visit interviews while you are waiting for a job to come open in your ideal city! Once you cancel a site visit they will NOT consider you again.

Know your niche – Keep your resume current with industry buzzwords and make sure your resume clearly communicates your technical abilities to reduce cost and make money for your employer. Give examples. Consider customizing your resumes for different jobs to fully highlight your abilities in the key skill areas. You must be clear in your resume as more often resumes are being read by digital image processors or human resources personnel who are searching only for a few key words! Your resume needs to stand out based on solid technical content. It is no longer good enough to be “qualified” for a job, you now must be competitive for the job. In other words, it is a given that companies can take their pick of qualified candidates – to get hired you must be more competitive than the other candidates. You must be a better technical match, have a better track record of success, and be a better interviewer than the rest of the qualified candidates. You are most competitive when you interview on jobs that require your exact skills in terms of equipment you have worked on and the type of processes you have worked in. If you know the company’s maintenance management software or the ASME or API codes that affect their plant, these insights will make you more competitive. Look for anything that gives you an edge to help the company that other candidates won’t have.

References – If you know people in common with your prospective employer try contacting those people and ask them if they would be willing to be a reference. It can be a small world out there and a good word from an in-house reference can give you an edge in a competitive job market.

If I am the last one hired will I be the first fired? A slowing economy often produces fear and uncertainty that drives emotions to overshadow patience and logic. It is not necessarily a dangerous career move to take a new position heading into a down period in the market. In some ways it may be safer to move during a down point than at the freewheeling high point of a hot market. If you are approached by a recruiter regarding a job in a slow economy, keep in mind that this particular job opening must be of high importance to the company. If they are willing to a pay a recruiting fee and hire in a slow market you can be assured that this position is of importance to the business. Critical jobs get filled during a slow down, non-essential jobs get left open. Also, companies that hire in an economic slow down are often the more proactive companies that are in a better position to grow after the downturn. Conventional wisdom says to ride out economic slowdowns by hunkering down at the job you have due to the uncertainty of the market. However, a down market can actually highlight the good opportunities in the market that are important to a company’s success.