Yeah, but when you go to apply for an entry level position and they ask you about the 3 year gap in between college and now, they’re going to look for someone fresh out of school not the guy who’s been forgetting everything he learned doing manual labor on an oil field.
$25/hour isn’t uncommon at all if you have a decent major. That 40 grand signing bonus will be paid back many times over by good career choices.
But like I said if you’ve got nothing going for you, like if you took a fluff major and now have nothing but student loans, a degree in communication, and an alcohol problem to show for the last 4 years then yeah, working an oil field in the Canadian tundra might not be a bad choice.