CV / Resume & Interview Tips

Importance of your CV/Resume

Your CV/Resume is a very important document which can have a fundamental influence on your career and life. A good CV can help elevate a job applicant to the top of the pile, but equally a poor one could prevent the best candidate for a position being missed, in most cases a CV/Resume is often all an employer has to judge a candidate upon prior to interview.

These days employers often receive a lot of CV’s/Resumes for each advertised position. Consequently, your CV has to be just that little bit special to stand out if you want to secure interviews.

Of course a good CV/Resume can continue to work in your favour even after it has obtained an interview for you. It can help you at an interview by carefully focusing the interviewer's mind on your good points and on your achievements. Once you have left the interview it can continue to work in your favour, as the interviewer will probably reread it before making a decision, as to who will be invited to the second interview stage or to whom a job offer should be made. A well written CV/Resume can help when it comes to salary negotiations. If your CV/Resume conveys your full worth you are likely to get a higher salary offer than you might have done with a poorer CV/Resume.

In short, skimping on the time you spend on writing a CV/Resume will be a false economy that might harm your career progression.

A Resume / CV sample for Oil and Gas Applicants

PERSONAL INFORMATION

  • Name
  • Address
  • State, region, country, zip code or postcode
  • Phone number
  • Email address

EDUCATION

  • The name and location of the universities/colleges that you have graduated.
  • The graduation year.
  • What Degrees / Diploma's / Certificates you have obtained.
  • The relevant courses you have attended for this specific position i.e. Offshore Survival, Medical, NEBOSH.

PROFILE

  • A brief statement about yourself, no more than 3 paragraphs stating your goals, ambitions, skills, achievements and experiences.

WORK EXPERIENCE

  • Previous working experience and previous positions.
  • The level of responsibility required by those positions.

LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES

  • Mention your experience as a team leader.

COMPUTER SKILLS AND TRAINING

  • Mention your ability to operate a computer
  • Mention the computer languages and programs you are familiar with.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

  • Mention the languages you know.
  • Specify the level of knowledge involved:
    • Satisfactory.
    • Good.
    • Excellent.

Preparing for Oil and Gas Interview

Looking for employment in the Oil and Gas industry is definitely a worthy experience, as the large range of positions are easily to be filled by many types of professionals. The oil and gas domain is a complex one, and you will be able to see this even in the types of interview formats and questions that you will experience while applying for a position.

Although many of the smaller oil companies have a recruitment process that can be classified as formal, others have begun to focus on the global aspect of the oil industry and adapt their recruitment techniques according to their worldwide practices.

The oil and gas companies have adapted their selection techniques according to their needs and objectives, but the final goal is the same: to form a highly professional team of oil and gas employees. Before you decide which company is the best for you to build a solid career in the Oil and Gas industry, you should know that a little research can work wonders on your selection process.

The first step you should do when preparing for a job interview for an oil and gas company is to find out more information about the basic sectors and operations in the Oil and Gas industry. The amount of information available on the topic is vast, including books, publications such as the Oil and Gas Journal or The Internet. It is the best way to be prepared for any kind of questions or case scenarios that the employer might try to surprise you with, and you will demonstrate your profound knowledge on the inside mechanisms of the oil industry. You will also find who the major players of the Oil and Gas industry are and which company is the best working environment to build a solid career.

After the company has approved your application, you should consider the next stage – the job interview – as the only occasion for you to sell yourself and to find out more about the employing company. Focus on demonstrating the employer that you can be an asset to his company, by bringing on board a productive and ambitious team player.

Consider the fact that the employers prefer 'people persons', and you should mention that you are a communicative person and you can reason with people on various levels. In fact, he will be able to observe this from the interview, so the manner you handle contact with the interviewer is very important.

Even if you are nervous and you think that you might not be accepted, consider the fact that usually, employers tend to choose the person that fits the company, instead of the most qualified applicant.

  • Be confident, happy and full of energy.
  • Be interested in finding more information about the company.

You can pass any job interview if you will consider following the next set of tips:

  • Arrive at the company earlier, maybe 10 – 15 minutes earlier. In order to achieve that, make sure you allow time for any traffic problems. In case you are late apologise briefly and don’t offer any excuses, because you shouldn’t have any.
  • Don’t go at the interview if you are tired; yawning and lacks of energy don’t make good impressions.
  • The handshake should be firm. If you are nervous and your hands are sweaty, you can run some cold water over them and wipe them with a napkin.
  • Make sure you choose the appropriate clothing for the position you are applying for. A suit might be great for an accountant position, but not for a driller position.
  • Be prepared with useful information about the company and the oil and gas industry and you will build an interesting conversation with the interviewer.
  • Turn off the mobile/cell phone and the pager. No one likes to be interrupted, especially the interviewer.
  • Avoid excessive hand gestures or other nervous habits (like playing with your hair or chewing your nails).
  • Speak clearly and try to avoid using words like 'hmm' or 'ah', that could leave the impression you don’t know what to respond.
  • Think before you speak, especially if you like chatting. The interviewer doesn’t need to know what your sports team score was last night.
  • Be confident when it comes to your skills and what you can do for the company.
  • Maintain a positive attitude.
  • Don’t hesitate in asking questions about the company. If you don’t have any, think of some. The employers appreciate the real interest in the company and the operations they perform, and will consider that you could fit into the company.
  • At one point, you can open a discussion about the wages or benefits they can offer you, especially if you are a graduate.
  • You can offer to provide them more references about your skills and experience.

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