A Week Full of Energy

Many thanks to our guest bloggers, Babawande Sheba, Head of Logistics & Operations and Kelvin Lawal, Lecturer in Oil & Gas Management who have prepared the first of a five part series of blogs for Energy Futures Week, 2 - 6 March.

After months of preparation, the Energy Futures Week (EF Week) is finally upon us and promises to be the best employability-themed week that GSM has ever delivered. You may be asking yourself how such claim can be true. Well, read on for details of what we have in plan for students, academics, and the general public.

So, what exactly is the EF Week about? The EF Week aims to provide an employability-themed week for all students (especially those undertaking the BSc and MSc programmes in Oil and Gas Management). This will be an immersive experience that will create opportunities for knowledge-exchange and skills development between students, staff, and energy industry professionals. The EF Week also serves as a platform for networking opportunities for students to explore and engage with invited guests and companies whilst showcasing the oil and gas management programmes to organisations in the energy sector. We have lined up a number of employers, national organisations, professional bodies, and the alumni community to ensure the week is filled with on and off-campus activities.

The week will be kicked-off at the Greenford campus on Monday 2nd March 2015 where the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO) will deliver a session on how to identify career paths within the oil and gas industry using the free skills navigator tool. This eye-opening session promises to introduce students to various job roles available within the oil and gas industry and how students can match these roles with their skills-set. Many students often wonder where exactly they fit within the industry – well, this session will be of great benefit to such students. After all, what’s better than being able to start focusing on the jobs that matches ones skills-set?

That’s not all. The session in the afternoon of Day 1 of the EF Week is entitled ‘Get LinkedIn with Global Energy Professionals’. This session will be delivered by our very own Chris Naughton who has a wealth of experience on the importance of social media in finding work, and Hodo Aden who has worked tirelessly with oil and gas students in ensuring that they are well positioned for a role within the industry. This session will hold in Greenwich but fear not if your base campus is Greenford as video conferencing will be in operation thus allowing you to connect to the session remotely.

For the remaining 4 days – the following activities are lined up:

On Tuesday 3rd March, there will be a presentation, networking, and team competition by BP, as well as a session by Parenthèse from France on energy sector internships in the USA. Also on day 2 is a guest lecture session by Dr Ian Robson of the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee (CEPMLP) entitled ‘Global Graduates Entering the Oil & Gas Industry’ – this session aims to highlight the plight of graduates in the Global Energy Industries.

On Wednesday 4th March, we will delve into the ‘Entrepreneurial mind-set in the Energy Sector’ with the Repsol Foundation team from Spain, and later the GSM Oil and Gas Management Alumni Panel who will share their success stories. There is also a speed networking event with energy professionals from the Energy Institute – a great opportunity for our students and academics to meet their industry counterparts, share ideas, and exchange cards.

Thursday 5th March will see delivery by some of our academics on current international research on Arctic governance in Oil & Gas, whilst another session aims to provide students with information on ways to find employment within the legal segments of International Oil Companies (IOC’s). Day 4 will be concluded by an Energy dialogue where a combination of GSM academic panel members and their external counterparts will discuss the volatility of the oil market – causes & cures. This energy dialogue promises to be a fascinating one.

The week will end on Friday 6th March, with an excursion to the three organisations namely the National Gas Museum, British Gas, and the National Grid, all based in Leicester UK. At the same time, the week-long event will be brought to an end with closing remarks and prizes by Dr Kenneth Aidelojie.

There are so many opportunities and learning to be gained from this week and we encourage every student – even those not studying oil and gas management, to find time and attend these events. It’s a week that will be filled with energy, and those who fail to engage will only be able to wish they had while those who are able to engage with the week are in for an immersive experience.