Pros
- Very cool to be working on such large-scale efforts (billion-dollar projects, some of the largest downstream processing units in North America) - Smart, friendly co-workers (I personally haven't seen any increased competitiveness due to ranking system; even when I interned, people were willing to set aside time to teach me / answer my questions) - Very willing to listen to / address safety concerns
Cons
- Very procedure-based, without much emphasis on creative problem-solving and engineering innovation; it seems like this may be starting to change, but it's definitely not there yet - Poor work-life balance at sites. It seems like site folks are over-worked, while others at the Houston Campus don't have enough to do, yet they're (mostly) all engineers... - If you start at a site, it seems very difficult to get a job either at another site or in an office. Starting at refineries seems to give fewer career options than starting at the Houston Campus.