Best Place for Oil & Gas Engineers:Aberdeen or London?

[fmaher]

I am piping designer planning to move UK on mid-January. As I recognized, there are two major city with the most job opportunities: Aberdeen and London.

My first Plan is to move Aberdeen directly, because:

1. More than 70% of open positions are in Aberdeen
2. Finding job is more easier than London for two reasons: Item 1 and engineers prefer to select London for the first try
3. Expense of living are much lower than London, My estimation is something around 35% lower than London, so with a fixed deposit I can stand out more if I couldn't find a job.
4. The air pollution is lower than London and the city is less stressful.


My second Plan is to move London, because:

1. The salaries are Higher than Aberdeen, around 30%
2. The weather conditions in London are much better than Aberdeen
3. Public and entertainment Facilities are better than Aberdeen
4. For a non-European migrant communicating with British accent is much easier than Scottish accent.
5. I can find a job in Aberdeen even if I was in London with a relocation fee which is considerable (Around 1000 GBP monthly)


I would like to invite professionals and experienced friends to share their information's with me and advise me which plan is better and what is their reasons, Are they agree with my argues and assumptions?

[fmaher]

No idea?!

[Idea]

I am piping designer planning to move UK on mid-January. As I recognized, there are two major city with the most job opportunities: Aberdeen and London.

My first Plan is to move Aberdeen directly, because:

1. More than 70% of open positions are in Aberdeen
2. Finding job is more easier than London for two reasons: Item 1 and engineers prefer to select London for the first try
3. Expense of living are much lower than London, My estimation is something around 35% lower than London, so with a fixed deposit I can stand out more if I couldn't find a job.
4. The air pollution is lower than London and the city is less stressful.


My second Plan is to move London, because:

1. The salaries are Higher than Aberdeen, around 30%
2. The weather conditions in London are much better than Aberdeen
3. Public and entertainment Facilities are better than Aberdeen
4. For a non-European migrant communicating with British accent is much easier than Scottish accent.
5. I can find a job in Aberdeen even if I was in London with a relocation fee which is considerable (Around 1000 GBP monthly)


I would like to invite professionals and experienced friends to share their information's with me and advise me which plan is better and what is their reasons, Are they agree with my argues and assumptions?

I work in Piping field., working in uk since 05 - so i could give you my views based on my experience

overall your assesement is more or less right
Plan 1
1. agree. But if your experience is predominantly offshore i would say aberdeen is a better choice.
4. again not a factor for a beginning
Plan 2
1. agree. but you never know where your offer'll come from. it might be reading or middlesborough or newcastle. I would say if you have some contacts in london or aberdeen , it would be useful to start from there.
2. I would not decide on a city based on this. If you had 2 offers with one from london and the other from aberdeen, then it might be a factor to consider...but for a start i would not think so
3. It depends on your age group and your lifestlye. If you are into clubbing and pubbing may be london can offer more...but aberdeen also has enough of clubs and pubs
4.Accent again is a factor surely, but if you are technically good...you can overcome in a short time

In general i can tell you things on the oil and gas, chemical industries are looking up ...compared to 6 months back it is a big improvement ....

so good luck!

[fmaher]

Thank you for your advice. I am majored in onshore piping design. I do not have any experience of offshore design. I had offers both in Aberdeen and London. What is your advice? Is it more chance to find onshore job in London?

[Idea]

If you have 2 offers - I would look at the company profiles, your position etc. first before looking at the city.
Personally I have stayed in london for a few months and worked near aberdeen...I like aberdeen better than london, because of the commute and expenses. I think its a personal choice and dont think anyone can help you with that. I like scotland because of the quieter life( 20 min drive and you can enter the countryside)

Having said all that I know of only 1 company that's in central london (bechtel) most others are in the suburbs of london like sussex or reading or darlington etc. which might be better central london for the expenses...

[mfwales]

I am an engineer in oil and gas sector. I have been in UK since mid 2006. From my experience most of the jobs in Aberdeen are offshore / subsea related. A lot of them needs offshore survival and medical. Unless you have similar experience / background, I would suggest you to live near London.

[Yarlie_uk]

I am an engineer in oil and gas sector. I have been in UK since mid 2006. From my experience most of the jobs in Aberdeen are offshore / subsea related. A lot of them needs offshore survival and medical. Unless you have similar experience / background, I would suggest you to live near London.

Dear,
I want to know whether there are any openings for civil/structural engineers in oil/gas or any other sector. I am having 6 yrs exp in power sector (civil/structural eng) and relocating to UK (Stockton-on-Tees) on 13/01/2011 in search of job. plz help me...