Diversity In Action

Shell Oil recruits a diverse workforce

The company looks for a broad range of techies, from physicists to civil engineers. More than half of its full-time positions are filled from the intern pool

'The kinds of engineers that we look for are those most sought after by the energy industry. They include mainly chemical engineers, petroleum engineers and mechanical engineers,” says Cary Wilkins, director of North American recruitment for Shell Oil. “We have an interest in civil and electrical engineers as well.”

The company also recruits IT professionals and scientists with backgrounds in geology, petrophysics and geophysics. It expects to hire 200 to 300 new grads in 2008, along with 200 to 300 interns.

“More than half of our full-time positions each year are in fact now being filled by our intern program, which reflects a diverse pool of talent,” notes Wilkins.

Shell recruits a diverse workforce by focusing most of its recruitment effort on a strategic school portfolio. “Every school in the portfolio is selected on the basis of student diversity in its programs and the disciplines in which we’re most interested,” Wilkins says. Of course students from other schools are also welcome to apply, he adds.

New-grad hires rotate through several initial assignments to get exposure to different areas of the company. One of those areas might be involved with alternative energy, Wilkins notes. Shell has been working on energy alternatives, from ethanol to wind power, for more than a decade.

To facilitate new employees’ assimilation, “Shell matches them with ‘buddies,’ employees who have been with us for at least two or three years and are similar to them demographically,” says Wilkins. “Every new hire is also given a formal mentor.”

Women and multicultural employees are encouraged to join employee networks, such as the Shell women’s network, black network and Hispanic network. “These are self-organized and self-sustaining grassroots employee groups not commissioned or charterd by the company,” says Wilkins. “We support them, but they provide their own leadership and direction.”

The Shell Drilling and Production Camp outside New Orleans is a particular attraction for both prospective and newly hired employees. “The camp has been running for many years as an in-house training facility, and we recently made it available to students.” The camp involves an intensive week of hands-on learning in a simulated environment, including the experience of working on an offshore oil rig.

“Every summer we bring in groups of forty-five students from our strategic schools across the U.S. They learn about the upstream business,” Wilkins explains. “Some schools even build the camp experience into their course schedule.”

One of the ways engineering candidates can make their way into the company is via Shell’s five-day “Gourami business challenge.” Students in their last year of graduate or undergraduate school, including engineering and other technical and commercial majors, can apply to take part in a collaborative development project in the imaginary country of Gourami, where Shell is setting up a business enterprise. At the end of the week the participants present their business plan to a “board of directors” made up of Shell executives. The program has been in place for twenty years in Europe, and in the U.S. since 2004.

D/C