People are not Drill Bits! (or How to Manage Procurement of Specialized Human Knowledge)

There are good business reasons to manage your company's expenditures using proven supply chain management (SCM) principles, processes, and tools. Getting the right item for the right price at the right time is what it is all about in any industry! While these concepts work for most goods and services, when it comes to highly specialized materials, services, or people, a rigid process may not give you the results you seek. The global reliance on IT systems and the internet has provided gigantic benefits. But there is still the human factor that can be found using only personal interaction. Well organized SCM does add value, but force-fitting specialized acquisitions and purchases into a centralized SCM process may not be the most effective.

There is a growing trend to use mechanized systems to recruit and select personnel for further consideration. Internet driven portal systems have many advantages when it comes to tracking the source and the disposition of candidates' resumes and contact information. The sole reliance on such a system misses opportunities to make a great catch in a future employee who for one reason or another may not have made the cut quick-searching the resume. A specialist who has worked with a certain individual can highlight his or her strengths and weaknesses in ways that neither a resume nor a first-line, formalized screening process can reveal.

Some candidates have gotten fairly adept in "working the system". A recent candidate we met had put on his resume over 100 keywords and had hidden them by typing them in white! He felt this was necessary not to get eliminated too early in the automatic screening and search process employed by a potential employer's portal system. Another candidate applied to no fewer than 42 jobs through internet portals. He had become fairly disenchanted with himself and his prospects, since he received responses from only three of the companies. He eventually found a position through a personal contact he made. The individual who hired him saw something in the person that the resume could not reveal. It is too bad he will probably always remember those companies who did not take the time to politely decline him.

With the current crew change under way, no organization can afford to miss a much needed human resource. And let's face it; we need all the properly qualified people we can find!

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Talent Pool

The following biographies are just a small sampling of the kind of talent available in our talent pool of over 20,000 experts.  Please call our placement managers if you are interested in learning more about these professionals, or check out our website for more candidates.

International Technical Sales Representative with a bachelor's degree in geological sciences and 30 years of experience working for oil and gas service companies. Expert in managing marketing, business development, and international sales of oilfield tools and services. Experienced in supporting the commissioning of offshore oilfield platforms, services, and equipment related to downhole well construction. Geographic areas worked include Southeast Asia, Australasia, China, India, and the Russian Federation.  Ask for SM198.

Health and Safety Manager with a master's degree and over 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Expert in oil and gas safety program management, project HSE consulting, and blending of safety management systems resulting from mergers and acquisitions. Experienced with safety systems design, implementation, and management including audits, risk assessments, and hazard identification studies. Additionally experienced in the development, implementation, and management of emergency response programs related to hazardous work environments in direct support of production and drilling operations. Geographic areas worked include the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, California, offshore Trinidad, and the Persian Gulf.  Ask for HS568.

Regulatory Compliance Coordinator with ten years of experience working in the oil and gas industry for various independent E&P and large service companies. Experienced in providing regulatory support for deepwater drilling and production operations. Additionally experienced in regulatory and environmental compliance permitting for oil and gas exploration, development, production, and abandonment operations. Geographic areas worked include the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana. Software proficiency in BOEMRE eWell, SONRIS, and WellView. Language fluency in English and Spanish.  Ask for HS876.

Subsea Engineer with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and more than 20 years of domestic and international experience with engineering firms and operating companies. Experienced in design and construction including HPHT, subsea pipeline and rigid riser design in water depths from zero to 10,000 feet, subsea manifolds, subsea isolation valves, and subsea high-integrity pressure protection system structure and piping design. Additionally experienced in floating production system interfaces, flexible risers and pipe, rigid reeled pipe-in-pipe and towed pipeline bundles. Software proficiency in Primavera, MathCAD, LUSAS, ANSYS, FS2000, and AutoPIPE.  Ask for F527.

Mechanical Engineer with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering technology and more than 30 years of experience in the offshore and onshore oil and gas industry. Expert in LNG facilities, offshore platform and subsea pipeline design, and petrochemical operations. Experienced with project management holding senior level positions, static equipment and piping analysis, and full life cycle facilities engineering and construction from FEED through mechanical completion and client acceptance. Geographic areas worked include the Gulf of Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, Algeria, Korea, Indonesia, and Japan. Ask for F1724.

Senior Petrophysicist with a master's degree in oil refining and petrochemistry, an MBA, and 21 years of experience working for operators and service companies. Experienced in reservoir characterization, formation evaluation, data acquisition, log interpretation, core-log integration, quality control, research, technical support, marketing and sales, business and product development, and mentoring. Geographic areas worked include the deep water Gulf of Mexico, onshore US, offshore Nigeria, south Africa, north Africa, Middle East, Argentina, Venezuela. Software proficiency in Techlog and GeoFrame.  Ask for GS295.

Geoscientist with a master's degree in geology and over 30 years of experience working for both major and midsized companies. Expert in reservoir modeling and geosteering horizontal wells in clastic and carbonate reservoirs. Experienced in exploration, production, and operations, particularly directing, planning and designing horizontal, horizontal multi-lateral, and ultra short radius horizontal wells to fit reservoir and production models. Geographical areas worked include west Texas, mid-continent, Gulf of Mexico, southeast Asia, and North Sea. Software proficiency in Petrel and Z-MAP.  Ask for G272.

Geophysicist with a bachelor's degree in geophysics and over 30 years of experience in exploration and production management working for major oil and gas companies. Expert in exploration, prospect generation, and seismic processing management. Additionally experienced in 3-D seismic interpretation, AVO modeling, and offshore and onshore drilling and production operations. Geographic areas include the Gulf of Mexico, south Texas, south Louisiana, the US west coast, and Asia.  Ask for GP789.

Geophysicist with a PhD and over 30 years of experience working for major and mid-sized E&P companies. Expert in exploration and production geophysics including advanced modeling, interpretation and processing of seismic data, and 3-D design and operations. Experienced in project management, research and development, interactive workstation applications and support, prospect evaluation, and the application of geophysical technology to the solution of exploration problems. Geographic areas worked include the Anadarko and Arkoma Basins, Louisiana and Texas onshore, and the Gulf of Mexico shelf, upper slope, and deepwater. Software proficiency in SMT and Landmark.  Ask for GP341.

Geophysicist with a master's degree in physics as well as a bachelor's degree in geophysics and over 30 years of experience working in the oil and gas industry for both independent and major E&P companies. Expert in exploration, and a proven oil finder with numerous discoveries. Experience includes all phases of geophysical and geological mapping, evaluation, operations, prospect generation, 3-D seismic interpretation, and offshore lease sales. Geographical areas worked include the deep water and shelf of the Gulf of Mexico, southern Texas and Louisiana, offshore Norway, England, and Saudi Arabia. Software proficiency in Landmark, GeoQuest, and SMT.  Ask for GP298.

Production Engineer with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and over 30 years of experience working for small independents and as a consultant. Experienced in the planning and field supervision of drilling, completion, and workover operations. Additionally experienced in production operations management, prospect evaluation, lease acquisition, drill stem testing, reserve estimating, facility and pipeline construction, regulatory reporting, wellbore intervention programs design, and expert witness testimony. Geographic areas worked include south Texas, the Texas Gulf coast, the Illinois basin, and Bolivia. Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.  Ask for P599.

Production Engineer with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and five years of oil and gas experience working for large and small independents. Experienced in production optimization of shale plays, writing AFEs, minimizing and managing lease operating expenses, identifying field and well workover candidates, and consulting on fracturing jobs. Geographic areas worked include Texas and Oklahoma. Software proficiency in PERFORM, SNAP, and WEM.  Ask for P647.

Completions Engineer with a master's degree in petroleum engineering and seven years of experience working for service companies. Experienced in fracture diagnostics, fracture mapping, fracture growth model calibration, fracture optimization, and micro-seismic report preparation. Additionally experienced in tracking project expenses and margins, analyzing and interpreting subsurface mapping processes, supervising wellsite stimulation projects, and mentoring engineers. Geographic areas worked include the Eagle Ford, Bakken, Marcellus, Barnett, and Wolf Camp shale plays. Software proficiency in FracCADE, PIPESIM, Welltest, PinnVision, ProCADE, Fracpro, LGZones, DECIDE, and Terravista. Ask for P695.

Reservoir Engineer with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and 11 years of experience working for mid-sized to large operators and investment institutions. Experienced in A&D analysis, economic analysis, valuation, equity research, risk evaluation, financial evaluation, and contract negotiation. Additionally experienced in SEC reporting, mid-year and year-end reserve reporting, AFE evaluation, financial market analysis, and EOR project engineering. Geographic areas worked include the Permian Basin, the Bakken, the Eagle Ford, and the Marcellus shale plays; Wyoming, and the Rockies. Software proficiency in ARIES, PHDWin, OFM, DSS, Eclipse, and DIMS.  Ask for R1075.

Reservoir Engineer with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and over 40 years of experience working for a major consulting firm, small to mid-sized operators, and as an independent consultant. Expert in acquisition evaluation of unconventional and conventional resources, reserve studies, economic analysis, divestiture analysis, and field studies. Additionally experienced in operations, drilling, completion, well evaluation, well stimulation, fracture design and optimization, and log evaluation. Geographic areas worked include many conventional and unconventional reservoirs throughout the United States, South America, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Middle East. Software proficiency in PHDWin, ARIES, Power Tools, and OFM. Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. Ask for R1073.

• Stay active in the AAPL and its local chapters. Participate in industry and community programs to stay engaged and solidify your network. Take leadership roles.

• Remain a member of other organizations to know what else is going on in the industry. Check out IPAA and API and their various chapters.

• Enjoy the people you know at church, school, and other community groups and trade ideas to keep up with industry activity through more casual conversations.

But there is more you can do. Diversify your skills when you have the opportunity. It is important to be able to offer targeted expertise to employers when they need it. That ability will differentiate you from your competitors. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• How sharp are your business skills? How well can you use these skills to help your employer make sound business decisions? If you are able to generate viable economic options for a prospect or project, you are increasing your value to the company. Seek experience that will help you put this on your resume, and prepare yourself to understand the profitability actions and measures of your company.

• Are you up-to-date with the software that is utilized in our business? You may not have to run it, but it might be helpful to know enough to quickly find the people with the right skills.

• Have you practiced your negotiating skills? Kept up with changes in the law and regulatory rules? How about the area of title curative and title legalities?

We hope these ideas get you thinking. The people, who always get called back for services and new position opportunities, are usually armed with many weapons. If you are early in your career, it would be good to keep flexibility and diversity in mind. If you can answer requests with "Yes, I know how to do that and other things as well," you have just made yourself a little bit more recession proof.