capmgmat wrote:
Thanks for such a great thread! I work as a Marine Terminal Operations consultant with some experience in planning Crude Oil terminal facilities. I am planning to apply for a top 5 MBA program and am interested in a career in Oil and Gas industry post MBA. Can anyone please shed some light on the following: 1. Career growth for MBA candidates in a non finance role in Oil and Gas industry specially for those who were not employed in the same industry pre-MBA? 2. Also how challenging is it to get a management job in Oil and Gas industry after graduation for students who have engineering background but (some related experience) but have no previous experience working in this industry. Thanks in advance for your help.
Hi there.
I might not know everything about the industry since it is so huge in terms of different jobs and functions. My answers are based on my work with a MNC energy company:
1.If you are employed for a certain job, I believe it doesn't matter where you come from pre-MBA because the recruitment takes care of placing you in the right job. Also, there is no specific career growth path in the industry. For example, if you want to be VP of Shell America, there is no pre-destined career path. You can start in Operations or Surface Engineering or Petroleum Engineering or Exploration or Project Management and end up there. The most important thing is how good you are. It seems to me, correct me if I'm wrong, that you have experience in operations. If so, I believe you, with an MBA, can apply for a job in Operations Management or finance and business planning roles. However, it is nonetheless a norm in the industry to do role broadening jobs such as changing from a geophysicist to a business planning role to an operations role in preparation for future leadership roles.
2. Again, your background shouldn't matter because the recruitment guys will put you in a job suited to your background. If you have a technical background, you can also apply for a technical management role. Management roles comes from alot of different aspects - Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Projects, Petroleum Engineering etc.
Overall, your background and technical experience will allow to fit you in the industry for a variety of different roles. What energy majors like Shell ultimately look for is your abilities in coming up with solutions, implementing these solutions and how you manage these relationships.
Hope I managed to help.