Looking back on my career, there were a number of periods that I found challenging. In my first job as a mudlogger, I didn’t adapt easily to life on the rigs. Mudloggers were poorly paid, and consequently considered to be at the bottom of the pecking order. I was working with people from very different backgrounds – e.g. on the first rig I went to in the North Sea the entire crew of drillers & roughnecks were from Louisiana! It was important to try and get along with everyone, even if they had a very different perspective on life, and not to be thin skinned. Initially I wasn’t particularly competent at the job I was doing (I’d had only 2 weeks training). I discovered that you actually learn most from making mistakes, even though this may be painful at the time.
Finding employment in the tough job market in the late 1980s – early 90s was frustrating. I learnt the value of perseverance. It was important not to take job rejections personally – many companies simply had no vacancies, or if they did there were many applicants. It wasn’t until I reached my 40’s that I managed a satisfactory work-life balance. Early on in my career I would take on every task I was assigned, and sometimes volunteer for more. Once I had a family, I learned how to prioritise and decline or defer less important tasks, in particular things that appeared to be arbitrary corporate targets. This didn’t always go down well, but time with your family is the most important. Your kids are only kids once!
I certainly learned to live with a degree of uncertainty regarding the future, having survived several oil price collapses and redundancy rounds. I think we have to accept the cyclical nature of the business we work in. Better times are usually just around the corner. My lifetime the oil & gas industry has generally received negative press coverage, usually focussing on incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon or more recently on concerns regarding climate change. Nevertheless, oil and gas are a major contributor to the world’s energy supply, and will continue to be so for at least the near to medium term. We’re heavily dependent on hydrocarbons, not only for energy but as the source material for many everyday items (look around any room and you are almost guaranteed to see oil derived products).
For aspiring engineers and geoscientists the oil & gas business still offers some exciting career options, with the opportunity to be involved in technologically leading-edge projects. It’s also given me the opportunity to travel and experience different cultures. So I would say that oil & gas is still a career option worth considering. Be prepared for a bumpy ride however: the future of the industry has always been uncertain, with volatile oil prices, political uncertainty, and no guaranteed job security.
