The natural resources may have been hidden in the ground below leagues of salt water for many thousands of years but you’re fresh out of the box to oil and gas . . . and so you need to know where and how to kickstart your career.
Well, let’s begin with the basics.
Crude oil, natural gas, refined products, petrochemicals, rigs, pipelines, supply vessels, refineries, HGVs and much, much more all combine to form a vast network that makes up the world’s energy infrastructure.
So, if you want to land a role in this huge sector, you should appreciate the choice of jobs is mind-bogglingly wide and varied.
And that’s why the first thing you need to do is discover your main interest.
If your impression of the oil and gas industry is all hard hats, helicopters and rigs in the middle of the North Sea, think again.
There are scores of land-based engineering, planning and administration jobs available, as well as technical roles that involve travel to foreign climes to investigate, map or monitor new sites.
You’re likely to have an academic background that has given you STEM-based qualifications but remember these talents can be brought to bear in many areas.
The best way to discover where your real passion might be is to take a look at the current vacancies in the oil and gas sector on s1jobs.
This should give you a broader picture of the industry and allow you to drill down (sorry!) into what jobs involve and what skills are required to succeed in these positions.
For a newbie networking is also important. This is an industry where people tend to move often and so it pays to build a strong network of friends and associates who can help you learn and gain experience.
Even better, let the pros help show you the ropes with our regular Meet The Expert articles http://www.s1jobs.com/blog/meet-expert-craig-mcclymont/
Finally, it’s also important to recognise there are challenges in this line of work.
Shift patterns mean you could find yourself spending chunks of time away from family and friends.
No matter what your specialism is, the work can involve long hours and hard graft so you’ll need to be able to prove you not only have the knowledge but also the stamina to last the pace.
If this sounds like you and you’d like to move from being an absolute beginner to joining the world’s top oil and gas professionals, take a look at the vacancies on s1jobs.com