---

Employer Tips

Retaining Your Talent

Fortune Magazine just issued their 2007 list of "Best Companies to Work For" in the January 22 issue.  Your company probably did not make it to the list; only one energy company did.  Will your company put pinball machines in the coffee room and add a swimming pool like the #1 company, Google, did to create a more desirable place to work?  Probably not.  But all of us must pay close attention to retaining our talent, because everybody is competing for the best.  Consider this: over 20% of the Fortune 500 largest companies are involved in the energy industry.  But, only 1% (one company) of energy companies made the "Best Companies to Work For" list.    

We tried to find out what makes that company, Valero Energy, stand out.  What we found was:

• Safety consciousness:  Out of 23 refineries OSHA designates as having the best safety programs, 11 belong to Valero.

• Health care: Valero is one of the few companies that continually provide 100% paid health care coverage.  Many other companies don't.

• Community mindedness: Last year Valero donated $1 million to the Red Cross efforts in the aftermath of the hurricanes that devastated the Gulf coast.

• Career path counseling: In a related story in the online version of the Wall Street Journal, a number of companies on the list were specifically mentioned as providers of active career path counseling programs for their employees, and Valero is on the list.  

• Loyalty: Valero has never let go one employee for economic reasons!

Fortune's article and the discussions over the results of the survey can actually give all managers pointers and ideas concerning their own internal retention practices.  And leaving aside some wonderful benefits that the internet community can offer to its workers, we can yield some very realistic, down to earth recommendations.  We have been writing about this subject in the past, and our own survey done at the end of last year confirmed that employees are seeking mostly two things. 

• a clear direction in their career path, and

• a place where they are comfortable with their environment and co-workers. 

All other items being equal, such as salary and other monetary benefits, your employees will stay if you are willing to listen to each individual's personal development needs.

---

Talent Pool

The following biographies are just a small sampling of the kind of talent available in our talent pool of over 12,000 experts.  Please call our placement managers if you are interested in learning more about these professionals, or check out our website for more candidates.

Production Engineer with a Bachelor's Degree and 30 years of experience with a major oil company and large independents.  Skilled at workover and recompletion design and procedures, including stimulations.  Experienced in reserve reports for loan value, acquisition and divestiture. Expert in gravel packing, waterflood surveillance, and developing equipment for sour-gas applications.  Geographic areas worked include the Gulf of Mexico, south Texas , and the East Texas basin.  Proficient in  MS Office, OGRE, ARIES, QLA2 log analysis, and WEM nodal analysis programs. Ask for PO61.

Petroleum Engineer with thirty plus years of international and domestic experience. Experienced in reservoir, production, and drilling engineering.  Skilled at  reserve and economic evaluations; reservoir simulation using CMG software; nodal analysis; EOR project feasibility, implementation and monitoring; property acquisition and divestiture studies; prospect identification and initiation; recompletion/workover identification and supervision; evaluation and recommendation of artificial lift installations; stimulation recommendations and supervision; and in-fill drilling identification and supervision.   Ask for P145.

How Does Your Resume Stack Up?

In our business, we read hundreds of resumes and are often surprised at the lack of importance that is put into this "sales document".  We see too much information, misspelled words, a variety of unrelated fonts, incorrect punctuation, company acronyms unknown to those outside the company, personal information unrelated to the job search, and even social security numbers.

In this fast-paced industry, hiring personnel are busy; they need the key skills, experience, and accomplishments to immediately catch their eyes.  Often great candidates get passed over because their resumes are disorganized or too wordy.  Here are some tips:

Summary

A summary should encapsulate your skills, experience, and education.  Use this paragraph to include as many keywords as relevant.

• Your discipline

• Highest educational degree

• Experience level (this could include number of years, but not necessary)

• Expertise in your field

• Key accomplishments (i.e. number of discoveries, impact to the bottom line)

• Software/workstation skills

• Geographic areas worked, as related to your discipline

• Additional languages spoken

Education/Professional Development

This section should include all formal education, as well as other developmental training relevant only to your discipline.  I'm occasionally surprised to see elementary schools listed.   If you have a bachelor's degree or above, you should not list your high school education.  Dates of graduation are not required.

Current and Past Employment

This section is where most people give too much information.  Give just enough to piqué someone's interest.  You can discuss the details of your accomplishments in an interview. 

• Use a chronological format, starting with your most current employer, and list approximately fifteen years back, if applicable. What is important to most employers is what you have done in the last 10-15 years.  Summarize your accomplishments prior to 15 years ago.

• If there are any gaps in your employment, briefly explain them with dates (from/to).

• List your most significant accomplishments and measurable results within each period of employment.  What are you proudest of during your time with the company? 

• Avoid supplying too much information, such as regular daily duties and responsibilities, except as they describe important technical or computer skills.

• Present yourself well, but present yourself honestly.  It is the good fit we all seek.

Once you have drafted your resume, print it, read it, spell-check it, and have a friend, colleague, family member, or professional service critique it.

---

About Us

Connecting the Industry's Experts...

Collarini Energy Staffing Inc. is a full-service agency specializing in the placement of energy and EPC personnel and including the disciplines listed below (other supporting personnel are managed upon request):

Accountants and finance personnel Administrative and clerical personnel Business analysts Civil and architectural engineers Drilling engineers Drilling operations supervisors Executives Geologists, geophysicists, and petrophysicists Health, safety, and environmental personnel Human resources personnel Instrument and electrical engineers IT professionals Land, legal, and supporting personnel Materials and corrosion engineers

Naval architects Operations supervisors Pipeline, riser, and subsea engineers Process engineers Procurement engineers Production engineers Project managers and support personnel Quality control and inspection personnel Reservoir engineers Sales and marketing professionals Technical writers Technicians, drafting and graphic Technicians, engineering and geoscience

Reservoir Solutions the Industry Trusts...

The Collarini Associates petroleum engineers and geoscientists specialize in evaluating oil and gas reservoirs. Specific projects include integrated field studies, acquisition evaluations, independent reserve appraisals, and exploration and exploitation prospect generation and assessment. Our full divestment services include creation and hosting of electronic and physical data rooms in addition to the technical evaluation. Our teams in Houston and New Orleans are very experienced and stand ready to help you on projects of any size. Try us!

Guiding Careers to the Next Level...

Collarini Career Management applies its deep understanding of the career paths of technical professionals in the E&P and EPC communities to help companies and professionals build successful organizations and careers. We leverage Collarini's unique combination of industry knowledge and technical expertise to guide companies and individuals during transition, training existing employees for high performance, and designing customized technical training plans for companies and individuals.

---

Contact Us
11111 Richmond Avenue, Suite 126 Houston, Texas 77082 832.251.0553		4200 South I-10 Service Road, Suite 230 Metairie, Louisiana 70001 504.887.7127

---

Comments
This newsletter is produced six times per year for employees and friends of Collarini. If you would like to add a friend or colleague to our mailing list, please send us his or her email address.		If this page did not display correctly, or if you would like to be removed from our mailing list, please email: news@collarini.com.

Visit us on the web!
www.collarini.com