Guest editorial The industry is in one of its periodic downturns. Jobs are uncertain or scarce. Profitability is challenged. Bankruptcy looms. Projects are being canceled. Deals are dropped or delayed. It seems there is bad news everywhere. So how do we survive in this environment? And, more importantly, how do we go from surviving to thriving? The leadership of the SPE Gulf Coast Section (GCS) has launched a new initiative called “Members in Transition” with the aim of providing support, advice, and best practices for thriving in a downturn. The key principles are the following: 1. Be innovative. Plan A is often not available these days. We have to look for alternatives. As an individual, whether you are a prospective graduate with an ambition to work for a major producer or a service provider, or have just lost your job, consider all alternatives. In addition to your first choices, also look for jobs in marketing, finance, regulation, midstream, or downstream. Your expertise is in the petroleum industry, as well as in petroleum engineering. Your skills are much broader than you might think. Extend your education by taking advanced courses or by earning a new degree. This will be time well spent preparing for the future. Explore the educational opportunities available from your SPE section. Start your own business. This could create a rewarding new career path. In partnership with the Houston Technology Center, the SPE GCS is establishing an Ideas Launch Pad program to match members’ ideas with angel investors. Entrepreneurs will need realistic financial projections and need to be able to tell the business story in a convincing way to potential investors. Employers value entrepreneurial skills. These business skills will serve you well if you eventually decide to move to a corporate role. Creating a great business story (Fisher 2014) for investors will help you develop skills that are useful for moving projects forward when you are hired by a company in the future. As a company, your previous business plan may no longer be viable in the current price environment. Take a clean sheet of paper, throw out all past preferences and prejudices, and start afresh. Develop a new plan that works in today’s environment. Now is the time to explore new technologies and new processes that improve performance. In the January issue of JPT (Rassenfoss 2016), the SPE technical directors talked about innovations needed for “Doing Better in Bad Times.” 2. Be curious. To come up with new ways of doing things, you need new ideas. To get new ideas you need imagination. This is a good time to look for ideas from other industries. 3. Cut costs. When prices are low, it is important to cut costs, whether you are an individual or a company. Now is the time to be diligent, even ruthless, with cutting costs. In the end, you will be more secure and better prepared when good times return.
The Members in Transition (MiT) initiative was established by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Gulf Coast Section (GCS) in response to the downturn in the industry. Career transition can be defined both as a category for members who are waiting to land a job, and those who are employed, but looking to transfer their skills to other sectors of the oil and gas industry. The function of the MiT initiative is to disseminate best practices in career planning, job search, entrepreneurship and innovation. MiT events allow those in transition to feel the support of their colleagues in the Society and create opportunities for reciprocity where one can help one's colleagues. MiT activities provide learning opportunities to enable participants to rethink fundamental strategies and to find new ways to survive the downturn conditions. The SPE-GCS has prepared a process guide to help other SPE sections to set up their own local MiT initiatives. The SPE-GCS MiT initiative includes: A monthly seminar series Access to free computer software licenses and training Ideas Launch Pad, a relationship with the Houston Technology Center to encourage entrepreneurship Pay-it-Forward Networking Tours, Training and Panels Job Search Work Team, small groups who meet weekly to work on their job searches together, a concept based on Orville Pierson's books on job search. A career fair heldregularly Starting in early 2016, the first five methods listed above have been deployed with strong participation. The sixth method, the career fair, was initiated in 2017. While a MiT survey was used to collect demographics and feedback, the more useful measure of the success of this initiative will be how many SPE members return to an employed state in the energy industry after spending time in transition. The downturn has caused several members to consider entrepreneurship and innovative business schemes as a replacement for fulltime employment. Disruptions cause people to rethink their standard processes, or way of doing things, and look for ways to do them more effectively and efficiently. This focus on entrepreneurship and innovation will continue to provide value to members, even after the downturn ends. The SPE-GCS collaborates with other technical and professional societies to provide resources for members in transition. SPE-GCS partners with the Houston Technology Center (HTC), the largest technology business incubator and accelerator in Texas, advancing the commercialization of emerging technology companies in the greater Houston area. The MiT initiative launched by the GCS has been complementary to the support that SPEI provides globally via the MiT toolkit and Journal of Petroleum Technology (JPT) articles profiling perspectives of SPE technical directors and leaders.
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