Changing to quantity surveying in oil, gas & mineral

[eugenemcd]

Hi there,

I've been reading a few of the posts on here and it seems there are some people who work in the oil and gas industries, and I was hoping that someeon may be able to offer a little advice.

I'm a quantity surveyor with 6 years experience working for developers and have recently became chartered with the RICS. My experience is mainly commercial developmets, but I have some expereince of infrastructure and the NEC contract.

I'm really keen to move into the oil, gas and minerals sector, and I have been advised that as a chartered surveyor there is synergy in the role, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience of moving to this sector? And if so if they had any advice? Is it feasible? I can't find information on the internet as it seems there are many different names for the quantity surveying/ cost manager roles.

I am willing to retrain, but I didn't know if there are any courses etc to aid my application.

I'm completely flexible to re-locate anywhere in the world, in fact this is part of what attracts me to this sector.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and thanks in advance for any advice you could give.

Regards

Eugene

[Vanya]

Hi Eugene,

Cost Engineer here, in Oil & Gas.

Apart from starting in London, I've been (lived) in: Saudi, Italy, Aberdeen (eventually got sent there after avoiding for 14 years), Paris, Abu Dhabi UAE, US, Venezuela, Russia, Canada, Ukraine, India, Dubai UAE, Australia, etc.

So, if you prefer to travel you may have the opportunity in O & G. It loses the apparent novelty quicker than you'd think, IMO.

PM me for info, glad to help.



V.

[Jordan8999]

Hi mate,

I'm in the same boat, but my age seems to put a lot of employers off (23), been working as a QS in a civil's firm since 18 (studied p/t) and currently studying towards my APC. Once I get a few more years experience I will start applying....

Currently I'm in the water sector, but looking to move to O&G. Have you checked the following websites out;-

oilandgasjobsearch.com
oilcareers.com

Search ;- Contract Administrator/Cost Engineer/Contract Negotiator/Estimator/Controls Engineer.

Regards,

RJ

[Vanya]

Jordan8999 said:

oilandgasjobsearch.com

I'm on their list, getting emails almost every day.
(It's a useful way of monitoring where the "action" is too.)

A couple of my recent assignments have come about via this site.

Best of luck to you both.

V.

[craigb84]

I've seen a role in O&G in Scotland and the requirements they have listed look well suited to me. What's it like making the transition?

I changed from residential build to commercial contracting and the transition was fine largely because many of the principals were the same but I can imagine O&G being a completely different animal altogether.

Ok in terms of cost forecasting / reporting and such it doesn't matter what you're building but it's more the technical knowledge.

Sorry to piggyback on this thread but it was good timing.

[Mattt]

I would say it's easier to make the transition as an internal candidate than an external one - so you could consider a company working in O&G and other 'normal' sectors then make the move across.

[iphonedyou]

Congratulations on your chartership Eugene!

I don't really have much to add, save that I'd suggest looking for 'cost consultant' or 'cost engineer' rather than Quantity Surveyor, as the term isn't used much in 0+G outside of grad recruitment. There's definitely synergy in the roles, though, particularly with o+g infrastructure development.

Good luck! It's a move I'll be making at some point myself, all being well. I'd like to travel for a bit myself.

[Mattt]

The only other comment I would make is to be clear on what aspects you enjoy.

As a QS you get involved in a variety of things - contract, negotiation, estimation, cost control, forecasting etc but the O&G side seems to separate these tasks out to different disciplines.

I managed to remain as an overall 'Commercial' person within O&G/Process, which I enjoyed as I could float between different responsibilities - but at the same time gave me very little routine.

I recently went into Contract Management, and I found that I miss the cost & value side of the business - and will shortly be leaving (for a variety of reasons) and going back to being a generalist.

[craigb84]

Mattt said:

The only other comment I would make is to be clear on what aspects you enjoy.

As a QS you get involved in a variety of things - contract, negotiation, estimation, cost control, forecasting etc but the O&G side seems to separate these tasks out to different disciplines.

I managed to remain as an overall 'Commercial' person within O&G/Process, which I enjoyed as I could float between different responsibilities - but at the same time gave me very little routine.

I recently went into Contract Management, and I found that I miss the cost & value side of the business - and will shortly be leaving (for a variety of reasons) and going back to being a generalist.

I do actually like the general role as I find it keeps me on my toes. I could never just do a single role (I.e. just measurement / just pricing VOs) and such. I'd get too bored. I've been lucky on the last few jobs that they've basically been crap (not my fault). Sounds odd but I find there's more to get involved in and people are slightly more aggressive in their nature. Great experience though.

I'm keeping my options open for the next interesting job. Sadly up north there appears to be limited options.