Getting Oil & Gas Job: What Else Do I Need to Do?
Good day Mr. Jarus,
For too many times, I’ve felt absolutely awed by the level of depth that has come to be a part of every comment and post you make on Nairaland especially those bordering around personal and career development. I therefore deem you capable of helping me out of a fix that I am in at the moment.
I am a recent graduate of engineering. My paper qualifications place me above average. I am equally very confident of my ability to turn those to value addition in any business.
I am prospecting for a career in the oil and gas industry, and I have, ever since completing youth service, channeled all resources and energy into applying for jobs in that business area. I have couriered over 30 hard copies of my résumé (with cover letter) to my choice employers, while not neglecting the act of sending applications by emails.
In spite of these, I don’t look like ever going to get that opportunity of selling myself in an interview.
I feel increasingly worried considering that my résumé has been reviewed by a few professionals, each with his opinion effected as instructed.
I kindly request that you offer a honest and pragmatic expert advice to overcoming my challenge.
My résumé is attached. I count it a privilege writing to you in person, and I hope you know I do not take same for granted.
Thank you in anticipation of a reply.
Best regards,
J.O
*****
Dear J.O,
Thank you for the generous comment about me and your trust in my modest judgment.
First, from your questions and what I read on your CV, you appear to know your onions. Your strategy also speaks of seriousness and I am impressed.
However, like I have mentioned several times, while there is absolutely nothing wrong in making up one’s mind to want to seek employment in the petroleum industry, one should always bear in mind too that it hardly comes on a silver platter. In fact, I will say there is an element on luck in this thing.
You read the right course(Chemical Engineering), you finished with a good grade (Second Class Upper), you appear smart, and you are doing what you should be doing: aggressively circulating your CV.
These are the first steps one should take.
I can see that you graduated in 2011, and finished your NYSC last year, let me not deceive you, oil and gas job doesn’t come that easily, you have to be patient.
The industry is experiencing some lull. International Oil companies like Shell, Chevron are even laying off. Although the indigenous and other independent operators are expanding, the unfortunate thing is most of these companies don’t have time to train at this phase of their development, so they prefer to poach experienced staff of these IOCs, rather than bring in fresh graduates. Just no time to train. In fact, where I work, an Independent, I know of only 1 entry level employee. Every other person, myself inclusive, was recruited from other companies with experience. This trend is similar in many independent oil and gas companies. In other words, there is low demand for entry level positions in the industry now.
The IOCs – Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total – are the ones that have structured graduate recruitment programmes and they are even downsizing now. Some, like Shell, have backlog of successful entry level applicants that are on their waiting list.
That is the reality today. It is very tough. The demand for inexperienced hires in the industry is very low now.
Most of these companies have structures and have standard graduate recruitment window, so circulating unsolicited CVs may not be too helpful. They will advertise when there are entry level openings.
That is the situation in the industry right now.
Now, what should you do?
Keep trying, keep circulating, keep networking, but more importantly, look out for adverts for graduate recruitment in these companies (which unfortunately are not so common these days). And you just have to be patient if you really want to break into the industry.
I have checked your CV, it is very okay. Your CV is not the issue, it is the industry reality. Demand for entry level graduates in the industry is at its all-time low.
I wish you all the best.
Jarus
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In addition to the advice already offered, I suggest you target Nigerian O&G companies that are not necessarily known but are nonetheless solid. Try to either network your way into these companies and sell yourself aggressively or push your CV into the companies, via any means, and then hope that it gets to someone who can at least give you a chance to sell yourself. In my own industry, I take it as a point of duty to assist anyone who desires job opportunities if I sense that the person has the skills that will help him/her do the job at an above average level. Don’t discount smaller O&G companies. Any O&G experience is experience, irrespective of the tier of O &G company from which one obtains the experience. Also, as the blog owner has advised, patience is needed in all these oil and gas job things.
As a direct example, I have a friend who studied petroleum engineering and graduated in 2007. He served in 2008/2009. By March 2009, he was ready for a full time job. One of the international oil companies put out an advert for trainee petroleum engineers. This guy applied and successfully completed the first stage of the assessment. He went ahead to successfully complete several stages and assessments as required by the firm. The success earned him a place on the firm’s training programme which was held in PH. The training began in 2010/2011 and spanned years. Professionals from the firm‘s offices in Nigeria and overseas were invited to teach the trainees at the training school. University professors from Nigeria and overseas were also called upon to train them.
During the training, which was intense, many of the trainees had thought they were in. They thought they had been hired. They were understandably living their dreams, eating whatever they wanted on the firm’s budget and feeling like the oil big boys, big girls. Unfortunately, additional rounds of tests – based on what was learnt at the training school – were conducted. This led to a cut in a significant number of those at the training school. The pattern continued, with more ridiculous and baseless tests being conducted, just so the firm could maximally prude down those that would eventually receive job offers. My friend was among those spared.
The successful trainees were congratulated, released from training school and asked to go home. Few months later, they were recalled for some ridiculous WAEC-level test. These were the same people that had earlier been termed successful trainees. Who would have expected that this same set of people would be asked to come and take new tests on physics/chemistry/mathematics/English? Definitely not my friend! Before the news of the WAEC-level test was made known to the still-standing trainees, my friend was understandably basking in the euphoria of ‘I’ve gotten a job as an engineer at an IOC’. He would never have thought – in his wildest dreams – that they would be asked to come sit another test given the countless number of tests they had already done.
Anyway, the guy dusted his O’level Ababio, PN Okeke, Project 1/2/3 and English textbooks and jacked and jacked and jacked. By fire, by force, he recalled almost all he learnt in his secondary school days. Oil company business is no small business. Few days later, he headed for the test venue and took the test. Despicably surprising, very qualified people were once again dropped because they did not score as high enough on all parts of the test. Imagine! These were people that, by any standards, did well on all previous assessments and were, at the time, more than qualified for a job with the firm. Alas, they were shown the door. My friend scaled-through once again.
The lucky few that scaled-through this stage were sent emails and asked to re-fill employment application forms on the firm’s website. A deadline was set for the forms to be filled. Again, those that did not receive the email, or those that received the email but failed to act on the instructions before the deadline, were excluded from those being considered. Imagine again!!
Meanwhile, in-between this very long recruitment process, particularly in 2012/2013, my friend secured a 190K Naira job with an indigenous oil and gas firm. Yes, the pay was crap when compared to what the IOC was expected to offer. However, he took the 190K Naira job to build oil and gas experience and protect himself from the disaster that could occur in case the IOC decided to drop him just as they earlier dropped other well-qualified trainees.
The semi-final breakthrough came when my friend received a call and was asked to come for medicals. See happiness. He did the medicals in 2013 and was told, several weeks later, that he passed. See another round of Euphoria. A process that started in 2009 was about coming to an end, my friend thought. Meanwhile, only a minute fraction of those that started the process in 2009 eventually got invited for medicals. But what is important is that, people got invited for medicals. Solace should be taken from this fact.
We have since been waiting for that long-awaited final offer letter from the IOC. As things stand now, we have no reason to think that the offer won’t come. However, anything, they say, can happen, at any time. So, my friend still works for the local oil company, pending when the IOC makes him that much anticipated offer. The party we are going to throw will not have part 2.
Just to add, my friend is a BSc Petroleum Engineering with no graduate degree as of yet. The trainings under his belt were those received at the training school, which the IOC organized, and those currently being acquired at his present place of work, i.e. at the local oil company.
What can you learn from my friend?
1. Patience (forum owner already told you this)
2. Aggressiveness—try local oil companies too, just as you’re trying IOC
3. Resilience—you need plenty of this; you will be turned down several times
4. Luck and God factor— not all excellent people get top jobs. Some of the people dropped, while my friend progressed to the very last stages, had their BSc and/or Master’s from better places. My friend’s only university degree – BSc Petroleum Engineering – he got it from a Nigerian federal university.
Good luck.
PS: I’m no oil company worker. If I see an opportunity, I will not waste it.
I like your contribution. We share same views on the role of networking and hustling. Like you, I also always try my best to facilitate people in my networks getting jobs, either where I work or where I know people.
Thanks for that example. That is why I advised him to be patient. It requires a great deal of patience to secure IOC job. Your example also aptly captured the stiff competition I talk about. In any case, I have two friends that had done and passed medicals with a very popular IOC, and asked to hold on till there are openings, only to b sent email later that they were sorry, blabla….they didn’t get the job, despite passing all assessments and even doing medicals.
Not to discourage you, I also have examples of friends that got IOC jobs within few months though. One of my friends completed his NYSC in March 2008 and by August 2008, he was already employed by an IOC. All he had was Bsc Economics from a Nigerian university.
Hello J.O,
allow me add a few suggestions to Jarus’. You may try modifying your strategy a little. You could also aim at an entry level position in a small oil and gas design organisation to garner requisite experience. This wld put you in good stead to compete for a vacant position in any of the majors or indigenous E&P companies. You also don’t want to waste time doing nothing, thereby eroding the value of your qualification. In my own case, I followed the route of “very small engineering consulting firm – EPC contractor – IOC”.
I wish you best of luck.
he should study oil and gas related course