Laura Fairley – AYP Mentee

Having a mentor through the Aberdeen Young Professional’s Scheme is proving invaluable. What initially drew me to my now mentor, Murray Kerr – Managing Director SengS, was his enthusiasm, drive and passion for his work. I had read an interview; Press and Journal 2014: How I got where I am today, and knew that I had to speak with him. Although we both work in different industries, I share his outlook on career development and am confident he will be able to provide guidance and fuel my determination to meet my goals.

On the AYP Finalist night unfortunately, due to work commitments Murray was not able to attend. The night was still highly beneficial as I got to speak to many other inspirational finalists and individuals including Heather Sharkey – Commercial Director at EC_OG and Steve White – Subsea Operations Advisor at Apace North Sea, both whom I feel would be at the end of a phone if I ever needed advice.

I still wanted to speak with Murray so we arranged a call and sussed out whether the mentor relationship would be beneficial. Even from one phone call I could tell that Murray and I would get along, he was very open and honest and I could tell he wouldn’t be afraid to give me some home truths if needed. Sometimes, it is good just to have an outside perspective.

During out first face-to-face meeting, at the Return To Scene offices, I was able to show Murray exactly what my job entailed. Giving him demonstrations on the R2S Software and Services that I provide to the Forensic and Law Enforcement industries. Prior to our meeting Murray had provided me with questions so that he could gauge my career aspirations and worries, which we ran through. He was very supportive and honest about everything I told him and we put a plan of action into place for the coming weeks to help me hit those goals. This wasn’t by any means a one sided conversation and it provided me with a real insight into how Murray saw this relationship developing too.

We decided a good place to start would be personal branding and looking at the bigger picture. It was evident that what I had showed Murray during our meeting wasn’t being portrayed online, through outlets such as LinkedIn, so my first goal was to get more information out there so that people had a clearer understanding of what I do. I am now more conscious of my personal brand and aim to build it over time, alongside my goals, to progress my career.

Something I am passionate about is inspiring the next generation into careers such as Science and Technology and although I have done a little of this through guest lecturing at Robert Gordon University I felt that I could do more. I had read about STEMNET ambassadors, volunteers who engage children in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, but had never taken the next step to join them. I spoke to Murray about this and he said, just do it, if you are willing to do something you will find a way to get over any obstacles. This has stuck with me, as one of my personal obstacles is self-doubt through nerves, the only way to get past this is to do more, present more and speak about the things that I know inside out and with each time I will build my confidence. So I have taken my first steps and had my STEM induction, I am now just waiting for the final sign off before I can start volunteering – watch this space!

I have my next meeting with Murray coming up and I am looking forward to developing our relationship, which will hopefully be beneficial for both of us.

Murray Kerr: “In first reading Laura application for this program I was really impressed with Laura’s career path and wanted to know more on exactly what her job entailed, furthermore was impressed with her enthusiasm she had shown in the application for this program.

Over the last few months, I have set certain goals for Laura and on every occasion Laura has excelled in completing these tasks. Her ambition and enthusiasm for work is infectious and over the last few months I have noticed Laura is becoming more focused and confident.

I am looking forward to continue this journey and see where it takes us.”

 

FOR FURTHER DETAILS ON ABERDEEN YOUNG PROFESSIONALS MENTOR SCHEME

CLICK HERE

 

Yekemi Otaru – AYP Mentee

Continuing our follow ups with the Mentors and Mentee’s we received an update from Yekemi and her mentor Rob Cowman from EC-OG

Rob said:

“I was unfortunately unable to attend the AYP Mentor event at the beginning, business called, new contract to tender. So luckily Heather Sharkey, our commercial director, did a sterling job of presenting my case as to why I should be chosen as a mentor. As the days, then weeks, passed no one had contacted me or chosen me as a mentor. Others had been paired up and I was feeling left out and really disappointed. Then, out of the blue, I get a message that Yekemi wants to meet me. Heather says she has met her at the event and she is energetic and intelligent, then proceeds to hand me her CV. When I read it, I’m not sure who is going to be mentoring who.

We meet and Yekemi explains what she wants to do, a new venture using her business, marketing and engineering skillsets all combined. She explains where she is in terms of the business and I realise I can offer some useful advice as she is just setting off on her journey. We have had 3 meetings face-to -face and social events as we increase her network. The face-to-face meetings have focused around her business plan, now after some refinement it is looking like a document which gives proper direction to the business. She has refined her target markets, worked her USP, created a realistic cash flow, realised where she was under (and over) selling and really begun to build a strategy on how to maintain her clients alongside growing the business. The great thing is that she is working this out for herself and that’s what it’s about, putting it out there, thinking it over, bouncing it around and making a plan to be executed.

I must admit I was a little nervous about mentoring someone when I still hadn’t really got my own business truly established. I then thought about the mentoring that I had been offered. For me, it had been great but most of the mentors were already very successful, money in the bank, pension pot filled, mortgage paid off, gone through the whole start up thing a long time ago, mostly remembering the rosy bits. My company and I are a long way off that. Yekemi is only 3 years behind where we currently are which means a lot of what she will go through will still be fresh in my mind. Her business may well surpass mine and at some point the roles will reverse but in the meantime I’m enjoying giving all the help and advice I can, even if it is sometimes is just saying, “things will work themselves out”. Yekemi is a great person to mentor, I think the next year is going to be a lot of fun.”

 

Yekemi said,

“I had nearly given up on the idea of an ideal mentor. That was until I met Rob Cowman through the AYP Mentor Scheme earlier this year.

My first meeting with Rob was at the engineering company he co-founded, East Coast Oil & Gas. Rob is the Engineering Director. The fact that Rob is an engineer who founded his own company makes an ideal combination that came together by chance. You see, I am an engineer who has moved across several commerical roles in business development and strategic marketing with companies like Schlumberger, GE Oil & Gas and Lloyd’s Register. I have recently started my own strategic marketing consultancy, YO! Marketing, working with engineering, manufacturing and technology companies to strengthening the use of digital technology and marketing data in achieving business goals.

In our first meeting, Rob came across as genuine, and friendly. We discussed my plans for my business, my target market and how I might refine my solution to be most attractive to engineering firms. I found Rob to be easy to talk to and I had a sense that he will always be honest with me, whether it was what I wanted to hear or not.

True enough, Rob offered his honesty to me when I turned up at our second meeting with my business plan. For me, it was the first time I was allowing someone to sense-check my ideas. The first draft of my business plan felt like the birth of something I had carried for a long time. Showing it to Rob was nerve-wrecking, and a relief at the same time.

The discussion with Rob that day was the most valuable one I had about my business. He pointed out areas  I needed to give more thought, and he offered advice about what I might prioritise in the early stages of my business. He helped me develop a punchier message for my target audience by asking me challenging questions that I couldn’t have asked myself. Rob being is an engineer has proven to be a gift. He is my target audience so his perspective has been very valuable in honing my solution to my target market. On the financial side, Rob is able to look at my cash flow forecast and tell to me multiply a line item by 1.5 to be more realistic. Which brings me to another reason I have the ideal mentor. Rob knows what it takes to start a company in Aberdeen. His insight on what things will cost me and mistakes I could avoid have really helped me get off to a promising start.

In our most recent meeting, I expressed concern to Rob about the new insights I was getting from meetings with potential clients. These insights suggested a slight tweak to my offering and being a perfectionist, I felt uneasy about making changes to my “perfect” solution. Rob assured me that it was exactly what starting a business was about. He gave me examples from when he started and the changes he made as new market intelligence became available. “It’s all about hearing out the market and changing,” he said. Even though I knew this as a marketer, somehow, I needed to hear it. Now I feel confident to take the necessary steps to move forward with my company.”

Chris Tayler – AYP Mentee

Daunting. Seems like an appropriate word to describe walking into the AYP Mentor Scheme finalist evening. In the grandiose setting of the Trinity Hall on Holburn Street and with a few other nervous candidates I was first called across to do a video interview (the first time I’ve ever been illuminated in front of a camera) and then to interview with my selected mentor, Alan Blacklaw. Thankfully the nerves settled and the interview went well. Alan was my manager as a fresh-faced graduate in 2009 for a couple of months but we had a lot to catch up on.

Alan Blacklaw – Chris’ Mentor

Since being paired together Alan and I have had two face-to-face meetings and a teleconference which have served to guide me during a turbulent time in my career and personal life. BG Group, who I have worked for since 2009, is currently being taken over by Shell and the transition is proving somewhat stressful. It has been great to have an opportunity to discuss this with someone impartial. We’ve also touched on a few non-work issues which has been a pleasant surprise.

 

During our first meeting we focussed on getting to know each other’s backgrounds through a series of questions that Alan had sent to me a few days previously and three questions that I selected to ask him. We discussed managing expectations and how best to allocate time to the ‘personal stakeholders’ in life using a three tiered bronze, silver and gold model. We also discussed career aspirations and the need to broaden experiences though potentially branching out into new companies and industries.

One of the most interesting conversations of this meeting was around telling stories. I was asked if I consider myself to be a good story teller, answered in the affirmative and was then challenged to tell a story of a recent success. Suffice to say it wasn’t the best put together narrative in the world and this proved the point that all good stories need a beginning, middle and an end. This is something that I will be focusing on in my day-to-day work as each update provided is, in some ways, a story.

Our second meeting was built around behaviours and personalities – specifically using the Insights tool to discuss management styles. Both Alan and I are ‘red/yellow’ personalities according to the Insights questionnaire so we were able to discuss methods to interact with other personality types. We had a good session on incentivising people and one of my actions was to take the time to personally thank at least four people for a job well done during my next trip offshore.

Alan has also provided me with a selection of ‘sound bites’ to consider which include:

• Ruthless Simplicity
• Optionality Kills
• “Tell Me Once” – reduce the amount of information coming from direct reports.

We are due to meet again in mid-August when we will be discussing recognition (as mentioned above) and focussing on setting some long term career goals. I will also be looking for some assistance with generating new goals as part of my Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Continuing Professional Development.  One of the questions that I have had a chance to ask is “what’s in it for you?” The answer surprised me a little in that it seems that discussions with me are thought provoking and cause Alan to be a little more introspective and questioning. I’m glad that the sessions are proving mutually beneficial and would like to thank Alan for giving up his time to meet with me. I’d also like to thank the AYP for setting up the scheme and hope that the other mentors and mentees are getting as much from it as I am.

Chris Tayler – Mechanical Engineer – July 2016.

Is there still a need for AYPprentices in the North Sea?!

Last night Aberdeen Young Professionals held their inaugural “Discussion Series” in front of an audience consisting of approximately 100 members from various sectors. The event was entitled “Attract, Train, Retain – Pipeline to success” and was investigating the heavily publicised skills shortages in the oil and gas sector and what this would mean for young professionals in the Aberdeen area.

The event began with a fantastic speech from Energy Minister Fergus Ewing who highlighted the need to generate interest amongst children as early as primary school age. A collaborative effort from industry, teachers and parents was identified to generate interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects.  The need to highlight the opportunities still available for our children and even our grandchildren within the UKCS was also required given the industry is currently being fought over as part of the Scottish referendum and various statistics arising from both the “No” and “Yes” camps seeming to forever contradict each other.  The Treasury also have an important part to play in ensuring operators are incentivised to further develop brownfields and also explore greenfields.  In 2012 nine new fields came online and in 2013 fifteen new fields came on line (AGCC Oil & Gas Survey 2013) so the future in the UKCS is bright, but the easy oil has gone and the harder more costly to extract remains.

The panel, which consisted of guests from industry/education/industry bodies, were posed plenty of debate provoking questions during and after the event and it was clear a 9pm conclusion could have easily ran on! Questions were discussed in depth and after further discussions with the audience continued after the event concluded with the general consensus that the event was a huge success.  Fergus Ewing was also delighted to have a younger audience in order to debate and discuss the perceived skills shortages within the oil and gas industry; after all they are the future leaders…..

It was clear for the AYP Committee that the planned spin off events would allow further investigation into the core issues that our members raised. What effects their decisions to pursue a career in the industry?  Are apprenticeships still available – if so with who?!  It was worrying reading for the committee that despite a major government drive, the number of young people taking advanced level engineering apprenticeships is falling and the overall number of apprentices is almost flat (The Engineer – Dec 2013).  It’s evident from the debate that the industry needs to go on a charm offensive and provide a “fire in the belly” for the next generation to see what a career in the industry can bring.  The next issue would be retaining these newly skilled engineers within Aberdeen as companies are not only competing with each other for required skills but also against attractive offers from overseas which can include fantastic additional benefits for an engineer and his/her family.  A great presentation from Rachel Mutter at “Why Aberdeen” aimed to promote living and relocating to the city and what it had to offer.  But as one of the members highlighted to the panel, are young people being put off by the high cost of living in the area and house prices out stripping Edinburgh and even London?

A thoroughly enjoyable evening was had and it was clear that the issues wont be solved over night. The word “collaboration” was used plenty of times but will it be put into practice?  One member of the audience pointed out that “collaboration” has been discussed since the 70s and here we are in 2014 and still having the same discussion.  However, if its not addressed soon perhaps the decision will be taken out of our hands with 50% of the workforce retiring in the next ten years and the current culture of buying expertise is in the long term unsustainable.

Let us know your thoughts!

Ross

 

Why Aberdeen?

I currently work as an Exploration & Production Data Manager in central Aberdeen, after graduating in June from the University of St Andrews with a Geology BSc (Hons.). My home town is Salisbury in Wiltshire, although I grew up in Hong Kong and Germany.

 

For me, Aberdeen represents a fantastic opportunity to work in an environment so closely connected to the oil & gas industry. My previous internships with HESS Corporation (Exploration) and KPMG LLP (Energy Markets) in London confirmed the attraction of pursuing a career within the energy sector. After several visits to the ‘Granite City’ during my time at St Andrews, I realised that Aberdeen would likely be the best place to start, and offered a welcoming contrast to the hectic pace of life in London.

 

Regular conferences and presentations, such as those run by the PESGB (Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain) and AFES (Aberdeen Formation Evaluation Society) offer the chance to hear from leading experts and find out about exiting new prospects and projects. Aberdeen Young Professionals (AYP) also organises regular social functions, providing a solid networking platform for workers across all disciplines.

 

While Aberdeen acts as the focal point for European oil & gas, the city also boasts a historical medical school and ancient university dating to 1495, and since moving to Aberdeen, I’ve met professionals working within a wide range of industries. With a GDP higher than London, and an unemployment rate less than 1.5%, it’s hard to pick fault with a city undergoing one of the fastest economic growth rates in the UK. The recent Offshore Europe event or ‘oil week’ as it’s commonly referred to by locals, is a fitting example of the sheer scale of business and development currently taking place in Aberdeen.

 

As an avid fly-fisherman I have also been able to make use of the fantastic countryside that surrounds Aberdeen, with the Rivers Dee and Don within close reach. Regular trains to the relatively close proximity of Inverness and Elgin also offer the chance to visit the world famous River Spey and sample some of Scotland’s finest Malts.

 

Make of it what you will, but for me, Aberdeen has certainly exceeded all expectations.

By

Chris Knox

AYP Member

SuperCLAN 2013

Sunday the 14th July saw a gathering of super cars take part in the annual SuperCLAN event which is organised by Ross Gatt and Scott Shand from Scoro Solutions.  The aim is to raise as much money as possible for the CLAN charity.  CLAN is an independent charity for anyone affected by any type of cancer at any time from diagnosis onwards.

An outstanding line-up of fantastic Supercars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, McLaren and Porsche took part and the weather was absolutely fantastic.  Each participating car was expected to “buy ther way” into the drive with their supercar by means of a donation to CLAN via the SuperCLAN Just Giving page.

The route chosen by Ross and Scott was superb, taking in breathtaking scenary through Deeside and Moray. Refreshments were supplied at Kildrummy house and lunch was provided at Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown. A tour was provided which finished with a sample of the 12, 15 and 18 year old malts – shame most of us were driving!

This stop allowed the residents of Dufftown to take some pictures of the supercars on display – what a fantastic sight it was.

The event finished at the Hilton Treetops which allowed members of the public to get up close and see some of the best supercars on the market.

A fantastic day was had and we are looking forward to seeing our friends at MB Productions videos/pictures of the event.

Cant wait until SuperCLAN 2014!!

Ross

Today saw arctic temperatures across the UK and snowfall across the granite city.  It’s clear that winter is well and truly setting in and the inevitable traffic jams throughout the city will occur.  How does your employer prepare for adverse weather conditions?  Here is a link to an article outlining how your business can stay open!

It’s Snowing!!!

Stop them walking out the door!

Great article on staff retention.  With the competition for experienced employees intensifying, how does your company keep hold of its best asset….. its people!?

The “Value” of Charitable Working, and Internships. By Kat Reid

I was speaking with a friend of mine from University a few weeks ago who was filling me in on how his job hunt had been progressing. He has graduated with a 2:1 degree in International Politics, achieved a first class dissertation, has a significantly prolific unpaid internship under his belt from before he went to University and has been consistently been involved with charity work or working for a student society since he started University. By and all rights, he is an exceptional man and yet he is struggling to find employment like most young people in the United Kingdom; statistics are increasingly showing a growing trend of 16-24 year olds out of work.

However, this time he had some good news. He had been going through several interviews with a respected company here in the Aberdeen area and had been doing very well in the competency based interviews and even the preliminary conversational interviews. He was through to the third stage, the meeting with a director. As he tells it, all was going well until he was asked if he had any questions for aforementioned director.

“Have you got any concerns about me as a candidate?” He asked, knowing that the sooner he got feedback- any feedback- the sooner he could judge how well the interview had gone and how likely he was to have an offer of employment afterwards. The director looked at him, nodded and said one of the most shocking statements I have ever heard of an interviewer saying to a candidate.

“Because you have only ever worked for charity or non-profit, I’m deeply concerned about your drive to make money. I don’t trust people who aren’t concerned about money.”

Even when I think about it now, this statement still baffles me. And to make matters worse, that is a direct quote! When in fact, you have to consider the candidate. Here is a man who has so obviously demonstrated a much deeper calibre than somebody who wants money. Here is a man who demonstrated his desire to help people and shape his environment around him without any other gain other than personal satisfaction. Not only this but the results he had achieved from this charity work were outstanding. He has therefore demonstrated the drive, in my mind and to several others, not to go and “make money” but to actively achieve results and sacrifice large chunks of his free time to do so. And this apparently was not a positive. It has made me sit and wonder therefore- what is the value of charity work?

And this is where you see the real benefit of charitable work- skills. It is that catch 22 problem; you need to work to gain skills, but you need skills to gain work. So why, you might ask, shouldn’t you work in a charitable capacity to enable you to gain those skills? Why, you might ask, is what seems like such a logical way for young professionals to gain relevant skills and experience being discounted?

Since this, I have been speaking to a variety of different people across different sectors about the value of charity work- one a recruitment director; one a business development director; the chief operating officer of a service company, a senior recruitment consultant and a human resources director, all of which have said the same thing- this is a positive quality. It speaks volumes about the drive of a person and the willingness to learn. The business development director was most outraged by the context this question was asked in when explained to them, and has offered this titbit of wise advice-

​“I would think that if the candidate is asked the question why they worked for a charity instead of earning money – the answer is more important, and how they answer the question than why they did it.
For example, if the market is poor and a student can’t get part time employment or break into the industry I would think more of them helping out, for no money, to gain experience and actually do something worthwhile rather than sitting around at home learning no useful skills- this is a really valid reason as to why more young people should be doing charity work.”

Especially when you consider the different types of work one can do within a charitable context. If you offer to help with charitable events such as Cancer Research’s Race For Life, you gain a variety of different skills including events management, logistical experience and marketing skills. If you could arrange to go into an office in the sector you are looking to work in to do an unpaid internship, the skills and contacts you pick up are nigh on unlimited. This isn’t just for office-based role, if one was looking to gain more experience in the Engineering scope for example then contacting some of the smaller service companies and asking to come in part-time, one or two days per week and do an unpaid internship then you will be able to say, when the time comes for applying again for a job, that you have picked up these technical skills. Also, you never know- if you had impressed your line manager at the internship, you may even get offered a placement.

Voluntary and unpaid work is perhaps one of the most valuable things you could put on your CV when starting out in a new career as it displays such a strong drive for personal development. So if you are stuck wondering how to gain new skills perhaps you can consider pursuing this route, and if you are ever challenged on why you did it, simply smile and explain how valuable it has been for yourself. It will ensure you come across as strong, capable of sacrificing monetary gain for personal development and ultimately, shows that you care about deeper things than just money.