MOL Group is one of the few oil and gas companies that regularly promotes and creates graduate recruitment schemes. The company has hired almost 2,000 graduates through its Growww program, which gives students the opportunity to be mentored by senior MOL staff, since it was launched in 2007, and over 15,000 students from more than 70 countries have taken part in MOL’s Freshhh competition, which challenges graduates to build a new oil corporation from the ground up, during its eight year running period.
Last year the company launched a new graduate recruitment scheme called Uppp, which sees students team up to solve exploration, field development and production related online tasks. A year on, and with the 2015 Uppp competition currently in full swing, Rigzone talks to MOL Group employees to examine the efficacy of the new talent acquisition program and analyze the state of graduate recruitment in the wider oil and gas industry.
First to answer questions was MOL Group’s Human Resources Vice President, Zdravka Demeter Bubalo.
Rigzone: How important are students and graduates for the future of the oil and gas industry?
Bubalo: “MOL Group is passionate about supporting great ambition. We know that students and graduates are vital for the future of the oil and gas industry as the experienced generation is retiring. It’s essential that we have fresh talent to move our business forward.”
Rigzone: Do you think the oil and gas industry is placing enough emphasis on graduate recruitment schemes?
Bubalo: “The industry faces a dilemma at the moment. They recognize how important it is to inspire the next generation, a topic often discussed at events and in the news, but the current low oil price means that some companies are unable to hire graduates due to the current market and the resulting cost cutting. Therefore, the emphasis on talent programs is unfortunately being reduced by much of the oil and gas industry.”
Rigzone: Would a continued low oil price force you to cut back on schemes of this type?
Bubalo: “We are an integrated oil and gas company with upstream and downstream operations in 40 countries, so we will always be on the lookout for new talent for different parts of our business.”
Rigzone: How many students has MOL Group employed through its Uppp competition?
Bubalo: “MOL Group hired the top ten students from among the top 40 teams that took part in the first year of Uppp, last year.”
Rigzone: What can the oil and gas industry do to attract more students and graduates?
Bubalo: “The oil and gas industry, including companies who are unable to hire at the moment, needs to let graduates know that we want to hire them and that the industry is playing a waiting game, just as graduates are. We all need to help unemployed oil and gas graduates to utilize their time as best as possible and give them opportunities, even if offering them a job isn’t possible. That way, once the market turns around oil and gas graduates will be in an excellent position, with substantial experience on their CVs. It’s important that we encourage perseverance and patience.”
Rigzone: Does the group have plans to introduce any more graduate recruitment schemes in the near future?
Bubalo: “Not at the moment. We currently have three international talent acquisition programs a year: Uppp, Freshhh and Growww…Freshhh is an online competition for students consisting of three rounds. In the first round, the participants have to solve industrial tasks set by MOL Group. The best 40 teams then qualify for the strategy simulation round, in which each team has to make the right strategic decisions based on analysis of the market. The best teams then participate in the live finals. This year, 6,630 students from 60 countries took part in the contest. Growww is a program aimed at graduates from various fields, ranging from petroleum and mechanical engineers to geologists, economists and business administration specialists. Since the start of the program in 2007, 1,770 Growwers have joined MOL Group. 83 percent of them are still at the company and 37 percent have been promoted.
A third initiative kicked off at three UK universities in 2014, in the form of the Uppp competition. Uppp blends elements of both the Freshhh and Growww programs, starting with an online competition where teams of students from selected universities compete to solve tasks based on real-life cases from MOL Group’s global operations. The top teams go through to live finals in Budapest, and final year students will be offered to the chance to join MOL Group and start their international careers within the new Uppp Technical Placement Program, as well as receiving a share of the €25,000 ($27,000) prize pot. Students who are not in the final year of their studies will be offered scholarships, training and summer internship opportunities.”
Rigzone also interviewed MOL Pakistan Assistant Production Engineer, Hina Arshad, who joined the company through the Uppp competition.
Rigzone: Did the Uppp competition attract you to the industry, or were you already interested in oil and gas?
Arshad: “I had a clear idea of oil and gas industry and its working environment. During my internship at an oil and gas services company, I gained insight about this industry and its challenges. I was fascinated by the use of advanced technologies and state of the art equipment.”
Rigzone: Did this competition prepare you at all for a role in the oil and gas industry?
Arshad: “The Uppp program is the best platform for individuals who believe in their talents and want to test their skills. It offers challenge and reward. Participants experience things like opportunity, challenge and diversity. They have an opportunity to test their skills and knowledge and challenge how effectively they can use these to create value and be productive. They will get a chance to interact and work with other students with diverse backgrounds and cultures. This is useful as a field job is definitely tough and challenging. The fluctuating oil prices demand confident decisions, a proactive approach towards solving problems and timely and accurate actions. As well as operational challenges, we also have to face harsh climatic conditions and manage labourers, third party workers and emergency situations.”
Another previous Upper, MOL Hungary Reservoir Geologist Rebeka Oross, answered more Rigzone questions.
Rigzone: What changes would you make to the Uppp competition?
Oross: “I believe that the Uppp competition was a well-designed game related to the oil and gas industry. The only deficiency I could mention is that the participants could use only a little of their actual geoscientific knowledge that they learnt at university. In the future I would also include a test to further challenge the technical knowledge of the players.”
Rigzone: Do you believe you would have secured a role in the industry without this competition?
Oross: “Today it is really hard to get a job offer in the oil and gas industry as a fresh graduate. I believe it is a great opportunity for me to be a part of MOL’s Uppp education program. Without this competition, finding a position would have been a much harder and longer process, but I would like to believe that those who are persistent and have good qualifications could find a job in the industry.”
Rigzone: In your opinion, is the industry doing enough to nurture and attract student talent?
Oross: “To my mind companies hold a lot of events, competitions, short courses and conferences to help students better understand the oil and gas industry. These events are very well organized and give useful knowledge to young scientists about the industry and the job opportunities as well.”
Rigzone: Having experienced life in the energy sector, it this an industry you want to stay in long term or are you likely to explore other fields in the future?
Oross: “I started to work in September 2015, so I am still not experienced. However I like working here. I always thought that the oil and gas industry is a part of geology where you need to use all of your knowledge and it is a challenge. Every day you face a new problem you have to solve, that is why I think this is a never ending learning period and I like it.”
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