Petrofac’s Offshore Projects & Operations (OPO) business in Aberdeen has taken 27 new graduates and seven trainees into its graduate and apprentice programmes this year.
Before embarking on their first working week, the graduates and trainees received a full induction programme which gave them an introduction to the oil and gas industry and to Petrofac.
The week also included a team building day at Transition Extreme, an extreme sports facility in Aberdeen, where they took part in a range of activities at height, working closely together as a team to problem solve and overcome challenges.
The OPO graduate programme originally started in 2009 with an intake of two people.
Since then it has recruited more than 80 graduates, while gaining accreditation from four major institutes: the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).
In the first two years of the current programme, graduates undertake a structured programme comprising of key learning elements.
Following completion, they are given a supervised development role, receiving on-going support from a “buddy” for a further two years to help them reach chartered status or full professional membership within their discipline.
Louise Ferguson, head of organisational development at Petrofac, said: “I’m very pleased to be able to welcome 34 new graduates and trainees to the business. In order to recruit new talent, we need to offer a highly credible training and development programme.
“Our aim is to bring more people into the industry by investing in the next generation, so that they can become our leaders of the future.
“This scheme links into Petrofac’s continuing investment into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programmes, encouraging young people to remain engaged in STEM topics at school.”
Petrofac is among the sponsors of the TechFest secondary schools programme, providing presentations to pupils on topics relating to STEM. Through supporting initiatives such as TechFest, Petrofac hopes to see these young people come through as its future graduates.