The oil and gas industry has experienced significant growth in the past four years, becoming one of the leading employers of trained and well-educated people in the United States. To qualify for employment in Superior energy services, one should belong to a pool of qualified applicants ready to fill any vacancy that arises in the company.
Despite the company being an equal opportunity employer, it is necessary to investigate the demographic profiles and the educational status of the pool of trained people available in the USA to determine any additional training necessary to qualify them to work for Superior Energy Services Company.
An investigation into how Superior energy services and its subsidiaries recruit employees to fill open positions shows that the company is an equal opportunity employer which takes employees from the pool of prospective employees with different demographic profiles and educational status. Superior energy Services Company deals in natural gas and oil-well by providing services to oil and gas production and exploration companies.
The company verifies the eligibility of job applicants for the positions that fall vacant using electronic techniques and social security numbers. A summary of the demographic profiles of the people in the pool of those eligible to work for the company with some college qualifications but no college degree and aged 25 and above were 34,532, those with associate degree and above were 20,506 and those with bachelor’s degree and above were 65,430 by 2014.
A statistical analysis of the demographic profiles shows that the people eligible or with qualifications to work for the company were143, 929 aged 16 years and above, and 54,712 had the qualifications necessary to work at the management and professional levels. The study showed that 26,458 of the pool of eligible workers were men aged 20 and above, 28,114 were women aged 16 and above, and 27,928 were women aged 20 and above.
A statistical summary of the educational status of the labor force eligible to work for Superior energy Services based on age, sex, race, and educational attainment showed that 24,424 people had diploma education, high school graduates were 61,949, and those with associate degrees were 55,038 by February 2014.
Those with some college qualifications but no college degree were 34,532; those with associate degree and above were 20,506 and those with bachelor’s degree and above were 65,430. The study shows that the above academic and professional qualifications were critical for anyone interested to work in any industry but be hired and work for Superior Energy Services, Inc.; applicants are required to undergo further training to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to work in the industry.
Enhanced skills make employees to optimise their abilities and work hard to increase productivity and meet the additional requirements necessary to sustain their jobs. It is important for the workers to recognize the need to work and protect the environment, ensure a secure working environment, develop better leadership qualities, and foster cultural growth (Autor, Katz & Kearney, 2008).
An investigation into the skills requirements shows that one must be well trained in project and risk management skills. However, the sought after skills in the oil and gas industry include technical skills and the ability to work within tight deadlines, ability to deliver results as part of a project team leader, and possess the right people management skills.
Besides that, one should be well trained in technical, general technical, scientific, management, people skills, marketing, and leadership skills (Riise, Kirkeleit, Aarseth, Farbu, Midgard, Mygland & Myhr, 2011).
The technical skills include the training undertaken in “chemical, electrical power, drilling, operations, petroleum, reservoir, production, mechanical, pipeline, structural – especially those with practice expertise, report writing and consultancy skills” (Riise et al., 2011, p.32).
On the other hand, an applicant or a new employee should be trained in general technical skills, which include drilling, fire safety, industrial energy efficiency, pressure vessel design, well-site supervision, Information Technology, problem-solving, and research and development skills.
It is also critical for the pool of new applicants to be trained in chemistry, geology, and microbiology (Riise et al., 2011). For instance, some of the specific technical skills that those anticipating to work for the company as electrical engineers include the ability to provide specifications for electrical equipment and reliable prepare technical drawings.
In addition, one should have the ability to discuss with other engineers and stakeholders some of the potential engineering projects to carry out and how they can be implemented, provide direction and coordination of manufacturing, maintenance, documentation activities, have good understating of the codes of practice, and ensure compliance to established industry standards.
Typically, one should have competencies in mathematics, design, physics, engineering and technology, have critical thinking skills, be an active listener, and have complex problem abilities. Project management training is undertaken for prospective employees to acquire the knowledge and skills on how to manage small and large projects.
To work for the company, a person must be trained in technical management, risk management, contract skills, and additional practical skills as opposed to the theoretical knowledge acquired in class that sometimes is not useful for one to work in the industry.
In addition, the people skills that are important for one to work in the oil and gas industry include line management skills at the departmental levels and the skills necessary to manage managers. In the marketing discipline, people need to be trained to become “sales and marketing managers” who are specialized in “selling the “added value” of the company.
Additional training should be in marketing profile skills, closing sales, understanding of world markets, dealing with clients, marketing of technical skills, managers with wider experience of commercial technology, and commercial skills to develop new markets” (Riise et al., 2011, p.2). In addition to that, people need to be trained in leadership skills to be leaders and not followers, to lead teams in industry engagement initiatives, gain self-confidence, and enable technologists to become leaders.
The study showed that the oil and gas industry is in short supply of people trained in the ability to observe and learn, communicate effectively, initiate innovation activities, motivate other employees, and the ability to instruct others. In conclusion, there are enough prospective employees applying for jobs to work for Superior energy Services Company that offers services in the oil and gas industry.
Here, the labor market has a sufficient pool of trained people with certificate, bachelor, and graduate qualifications who are 20 years and above who can fill the various vacancies that arise in the company. However, further training is necessary in project management, leadership, and technical skills for employees to be proficient skills in their areas of specialization.
References
Autor, D. H., Katz, L. F., & Kearney, M. S. (2008). Trends in US wage inequality: Revising the revisionists. The Review of economics and statistics,90(2), 300-323.
Riise, T., Kirkeleit, J., Aarseth, J. H., Farbu, E., Midgard, R., Mygland, Å. & Myhr, K. M. (2011). Risk of MS is not associated with exposure to crude oil, but increases with low level of education. Multiple Sclerosis Journal, 17(7), 780-787