Can I still find work after I graduating with a Bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering, given that there are more and more people doing Master's degrees?

In my personal experience, petroleum engineering is one of those fields where getting a masters degree is 100% NOT WORTH IT. Let me explain why: 1. Unlike say economics or math, the absolute best and brightest in the field of petroleum engineering are in industry (working for oil and gas companies) and not in academia (researching/teaching at a university). Oil companies take mentoring and career development seriously, and they will ensure that you are continuously learning from the best engineers at the company. 2. Textbooks and classes can only take you so far, and the real learning (especially in oil & gas) occurs from on the job experience. I learned more in my first year at a major oil company than I did during the combined 4 years of my undergraduate education. 3. In a pure "return on investment" outlook, it is totally not worth it to spend 2 extra years in school getting a masters degree. I believe the difference in starting salary between a Petroleum Engineer with a Bachelors vs. a Masters is only $5k - 10k. You will never make up the two years of lost earnings ($100k per year) you missed out on while getting a Masters.

Yes, I think one can. Your knowledge is what matters to make it into a top notch firm. Give your best and leave the rest. Definitely a MS degree would be a topping on the cake. But nevertheless, if you really have clear concepts and are passionate about the prospective job then who knows maybe you will be performing better than a person with a post grad degree. Some jobs do require a certain experience so maybe there a simple graduation might not help.

Yes it is still possible and initially I too found it perplexing that companies would take those graduating with a bachelor degree instead of someone with a master's degree. It's commonly thought that you must have the best grades or the highest qualification in order to get into your desired role. It certainly helps, don't get me wrong, but in the petroleum industry companies are looking much more for that. One thing I've seen time and time again is that those who are active in their local SPE chapters are making it into the interviews and landing the jobs. I'm currently studying my master's degree in petroleum engineering and the last assessment center I attended had numerous young candidates that were chosen over several of my master's classmates from university. I was kind of surprised that this was the case. The difference? Involvement in SPE. These young undergraduate girls and guys were the presidents, vice-presidents and treasurers. Having these positions and responsibility really resonates with petroleum companies. Now you know what you need to do.