Like many of you, I have become accustomed to the Friday of Offshore Europe being given over at least in part to subject senior academy pupils to a bit of concentrated oil and gas propaganda.
Yes, Friday at Offshore Europe has become a come-on to young folk, claiming that they are both needed and welcome.
One has become used to the annual festival of science, technology engineering and maths… Techfest… having a significant energy content, with some companies at least dipping into their pockets and offering expertise. The primary audience is, of course, school-age students.
Furthermore, the Scottish Council Development & Industry (SCDI) has its network of Young Engineers & Science Clubs at senior schools.
Given such activity, it might be fair to assume that the UK oil and gas industry is at last getting the message that it is important to go out and woo school, college and university students to whom the oil and gas is a dirty industry.
So it seems fair to assume that, when youngsters ask companies for information on careers . . . typically apprenticeships and graduate schemes . . . their inquiries will be welcome and courteously handled.
Wrong!
Last month, I was a judge at the SPE/ICOTA Junior Apprentice Competition final. The raison d’etre for the event was to help build bridges with the young.
Well, I was shocked at how poorly at least two out of the four finalist teams were received by companies approached as they tried to gather information about entry career opportunities. The outstanding example was the St Margaret’s School for Girls team who were ignored by 17 out of the 20 companies asked for information. The three that helped were Nexen, GE and BG. Top marks guys. Zero to the rest.
Undaunted, the St Margaret’s team went on to win the contest with their stunning assessment of opportunities based around social media-led games, music and a brilliant brand for the schools day at Offshore Europe, or indeed other oil and gas conferences within the EU… “OffSchool Europe”.
“The oil and gas industry is failing the next generation by not providing enough information about careers in the sector, according to north-east youngsters,” she wrote.
“Pupils from four north-east schools spoke of their trouble learning about the sector, especially when asking companies for information about career opportunities.
“The pupils were compiling entries for the Junior Energy Apprentice competition, run by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Intervention and Coiled Tubing Association.
“They were tasked with coming up with a creative marketing campaign to capture the imagination of the region’s youth and encourage them to consider a career in the oil and gas industry.
“The winning group of pupils, from St Margaret’s School for Girls in Aberdeen City, said they were stonewalled by 17 out of the 20 oil and gas companies they contacted for information.”
Abigail Thomson, 16, of the dynamic winning St Margaret’s team said: “Unless you have a contact in the industry, it’s very difficult to get information about jobs.”
Ross Barron of Banff Academy also said engagement was poor.
Neither he nor others in his team had ever heard of training simulators in Aberdeen when they devised a concept for a mock oil rig for training as a part of their entry.
Ross told Energy/Energy Voice: “We did contact some companies but got zero response.”
Need I go on?
Ten schools entered the competition, with St Margaret’s School, Banff Aboyne, and St Machar Academies in the final.
Grief! This was an event organised by the SPE, and it was linked with the ICOTA forum.
It was well planned… that’s the way of the SPE… and it will have been promulgated widely.
So why is it, after so many years of the UK offshore industry saying that it has to get smarter at engaging with young people, that there was such a shocking reception from companies that should
know better.
You can bet your bottom dollar that the St Meg’s girls will have mostly chosen big, obvious brands. And yet, as I stated above, only Nexen, GE and BG would assist. That’s terrible . . . shocking.
I’ll bet too that some of those who gave these kids short shrift have “special” relationships with schools.
And I’ll tell you something else; the four teams that competed in the Junior Energy Apprentice final came up with more workable bright ideas than all the marketing and PR teams of the UK offshore industry have ever come up with.
If this industry is really serious about engaging, then it is abundantly clear from less than 16 smart young folk that it is going about it in completely the wrong way. It needs to get its act together.
And by the way, why not have an annual Simulator Day here in Aberdeen; besides OffSchool Europe?
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