As its continual presence on the global news agenda demonstrates, the oil and gas sector is experiencing an incredibly volatile period. With demand increasing and supply being restricted, there is pressure within the industry to come up with creative solutions in an effort to introduce more stability to the supply lines, and ultimately to the global financial markets, which are highly influenced by oil and gas prices.
What all this turbulence means for recruitment within the industry is that it’s more important than ever to attract and retain the very best personnel. So how is this objective achieved in such a competitive industry which demands highly skilled and experienced individuals? – The answer is to approach specialist oil and gas headhunters who have the skills, connections, assets and experience to know where the best talent is.
Key areas in the oil & gas industry
The oil & gas industryrequires many specialist roles which are split amongst core segments of the industry. Personnel can be assigned to;
- Marine
- Subsea
- Service and Supply
- Technology Applications
- Upstream
- Midstream
- Downstream
- Pipeline
- Oil Production onshore and offshore
- Deepwater Drilling
If you are looking for the highest quality candidates to fill your vacancy then oil and gas headhunters offer the best chance at success in finding even the most demanding role practically anywhere in the world.
The headhunting process
For those in the industry who have been convinced of the merits of working with specialist oil and gas recruitment headhunters, the first task will be to accurately describe the role(s) that need to be filled, whilst articulating the history, culture, managerial practice and goals of the business / organisation / group in question.
With regards to the cost of using a dedicated headhunter, you can expect to pay somewhere in the region of 20% to 25% of the basic salary for contingency recruitment (at executive level). It is worth bearing in mind that many factors will affect price, including; location, specific sector, the specific role, and level of seniority. One good point worth raising here is that the fee is generally only paid once a candidate has been selected and employed.
Retained recruitment is a more sophisticated process, and as such, oil and gas recruitment headhunters that offer retained services typically charge anywhere from 20-40% of the basic salary. For that extra cost though, retained recruiters go further in their pursuit of the best candidates, employing a range of techniques to track down the best personnel. By contrast, contingency recruitment is often over-reliant on sourcing candidates from often outdated databases.
When you take into account the enhanced level of service retained recruitment offers, and the much greater likelihood of them being able to find the perfect candidate, the extra cost of retained recruitment appears to be of great value in comparison. Retained fees are typically released in 3 equal stages, but reputable recruitment headhunters do offer guarantees for their services.
