Mechanical Engineer

• The Beginning
• My Work at ConocoPhillips
• Career Development
• The Future

The Beginning

Working with ConocoPhillips has been great and it all started with a simple 30-minute presentation. When I was in my fourth year at Strathclyde University, ConocoPhillips came in to talk to students about the company and the opportunity to do a summer placement with them. I had done summer placements previously with other companies but with the guarantee of time offshore and exciting projects to work on this really stood out above the others. After an interview in Aberdeen I was offered the placement along with 10 others which turned out to be really good experience. I worked within well operations and after completing my offshore survival training, I got two trips out to see a drilling rig in action. I also worked on projects with the staff drilling engineers – eventually presenting my work to the department managers and then everyone’s supervisors at the end of the summer.

During the summer I met many interesting people at various social and sporting events – along with the other summer students – some of whom are now very good friends. We were very well looked after by the company.

I then returned to university and was quickly offered a full-time position at the company, beginning the following autumn. This was great as it allowed me to focus on my final year without the additional pressure of finding a job as well – an advantage over a number of my fellow students!

My work at ConocoPhillips

Since I joined ConocoPhillips, I have moved through four graduate positions in various departments, which allowed me to make a lot of contacts and to get an appreciation of how other parts of the business work. I also did a three month rotation in Norway and two weeks in Houston. I then moved into a role within the well integrity group, which allowed me to take on small projects, go offshore to various locations and work directly with the Health and Safety Executive and our own management team. I took on more responsibility as my experience grew and after two years I was ready for a move. The company had also identified this so I took on the role of well intervention engineer.

I have now been planning a major intervention project for the last eight months, which is very high profile and high value. I am in charge of the project including the budget, equipment selection, manning and logistics which is challenging. However, through my personal and professional development within the company I have learned how to work efficiently and effectively with many other individuals and groups.

Career Development

The company aims to develop you as a competent engineer by giving you a good mix of structured training, on the job learning, early responsibility and mentoring and guidance. They also encourage you to become chartered, which I hope to do early next year and they allow you to take on work to help you achieve this.

Since I started with the company, I have attended training courses, seminars, site visits and workshops in locations including London, Houston, Chester, Amsterdam, Stavanger, Trondheim, Pau and Peterhead. So there are great opportunities to travel and meet people from different backgrounds, cultures and business units.

As well as my own personal development I have seen my fellow graduates progress too and we now find ourselves leading meetings and making important business decisions without any ‘grown-ups’ there to do it for us!

The Future