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GEES - Employability, Employer Engagement and Enterprise. July 2008. Graduate Perspective: Petroleum Industry. A little bit about myself. Name: David Bailey Age: 26 2004 : Graduated Edinburgh University (BSc Geology) 2004-2005 : Worked for HBOS
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GEES - Employability, Employer Engagement and Enterprise July 2008 Graduate Perspective: Petroleum Industry
A little bit about myself.. • Name: David Bailey • Age: 26 • 2004: Graduated Edinburgh University (BSc Geology) • 2004-2005: Worked for HBOS • 2005-2006: Summer ‘Student’ → Technical Assistant for Cairn Energy • 2006-2007: Graduated Aberdeen University (MSc Petroleum Geoscience) • 2007- Present: Exploration Geologist at Cairn Energy
Qualifications and Skills Required • BSc (good pass) in a geoscience related subject = Technical Assistant. • MSc is considered as minimum preferred qualification for most other geoscience roles. • PhD is rumoured to be minimum qualification required for a geoscience role at some companies. Relevent Experience • ‘Recent extensive seismic workstation interpretive skills 2D & 3D’. • ‘Experience in hydrocarbon exploration and development’. • Industry experience is highly thought of. • 4 month placements as a summer student often available.
Qualities Sought for an Exploration Geoscientist… • Taken from my Exploration Geoscientist role profile: • PRIMARY – planning & delivering results, innovation and problem solving. • SECONDARY – self management, communicating & influencing, business conscience, leading and working in teams. • TERTIARY – working with stakeholders, developing others.
Hindsight… “Would I have done anything Different As a Student?” • Decide on a career path earlier – tricky! • Sought an industrial placement in my 3rd year/after graduation in 4th year. • Attended a greater number of sedimentology lectures. “If I had known then what I know now…” • Working for an exploration orientated oil company is a facinating career. It could also be considered to be science in it’s purest form. The generation of an idea and the testing of that idea (oil well). • “Being a professional geoscientist in the petroleum sector is the most rapid way of gaining a visa to work in the USA”
How can Industry Help? • Industry tends to target the end of the production line e.g. MSc students/PhD students. Emphasis is not placed on encouraging recent graduates onto post-graduate petroleum-related courses. • Industry should provide a clearer picture of the potential careers on offer and what they entail e.g. type of ‘day-to-day work involved, expected salary, an indication of the job market, demographics of the industry… • Overcome the perception that the oil industry is not a viable career option as oil is about to run out – somebody has to keep the game going! • Visit universities and talk to undergraduates…