Congrats! You’ve made it past the application stage and now you’re on to the next phase in the hiring process: the interview.
Interviews in the Oil and Gas industry can come in many different formats. You may experience situations from phone interviews to in-person meetings. You will also typically face a variety of questions to gauge your technical knowledge, skill-set, and personality.
To help you get an idea of what to expect, here are some common Oil and Gas interview questions and how to handle them.
1) “Have you ever been involved in a project that required working with people from different educational or career backgrounds? Describe the experience.”
Since most roles in the Oil & Gas industry involve working on teams to complete tasks and achieve goals, questions like this are commonly included as a way of evaluating your collaboration and communication skills. When preparing an answer to this question, make sure to review the job description carefully to understand what “teamwork” means in the context of the role. For example, if they are looking for someone who can pitch in and play many roles when needed, be sure to highlight this in your response.
2) “Describe a time where a group project didn’t go as planned. How did you adapt?”
This can be a tricky question to answer. You don’t want to bring up any colossal failures, but you don’t want to sugarcoat your response either. And definitely don’t try to cast a negative light on your team members in order to make yourself look like the hero – interviewers can see right through that approach. Your best bet? Pick an example where something fairly important didn’t go right as a result of your actions. Describe the situation, but don’t dwell on it – make the main focus the problem-solving steps you took to rectify it and what you learned in the end. This will show a potential employer that you can take responsibility for your actions and learn from your mistakes.
For behavioural questions like #1 and #2, use the SHARE method to structure your response!
- S — Situation: describe a specific situation
- H — Hindrances: identify any hindrances or challenges faced
- A — Action: explain the action(s) you took in response
- R — Results: discuss the results or outcomes from your action(s)
- E — Evaluate: explain and evaluate what you learned from the experience
3) How do you test a subsea cable system?
Entry-level roles in Oil and Gas are often very technical, requiring extensive knowledge of complicated equipment like pipeline systems and oil well machinery. Therefore, don’t be surprised if a technical question like this pops up in your interview. Before you respond, make sure you fully understand what the interviewer wants but don’t take too long to come up with an answer. You need to assure a potential employer that you know your stuff inside and out!
4) Why do you want to work for this company?
Just like any industry, Oil and Gas employers want workers that are not only passionate about their field of work, but also align with their company culture. To really produce a stand-out answer, make sure to review the company’s values and tailor your answer to emphasize those points. Do your homework to show that you have specific reasons why you want to work for their firm. For example, if innovation is important to you, you could bring up how you admire their use of a certain kind of new technology.
5) Do you have any questions for us?
At the end of the interview, you will likely be asked this question so make sure you don’t come up short. Prepare a list of questions to ask the interviewer and make sure they are focused on how you will fit into the position and address aspects of the role itself. Just be sure to stay away from questions about your pay rate or vacation days – save those for the offer stage!
For behavioural questions like #1 and #2, use the SHARE method to structure your response!
- “Will I have the opportunity to experience different aspects of the Oil and Gas industry?”
- “Can this position lead to another role if I am a top performer?”
- “How will I know that I’m performing well on the job?”
- “Will there be opportunities to take on more responsibility in this role?”
- “Why did you the Oil and Gas industry to build a career?”