8000 job applications a year

The oil industry is in need of engineers and companies are travelling far distant to find them but this does not apply for everyone. According to a report from IRIS (International research Institute of Stavanger), “Shortage of Technologists in Stavanger Region: Challenges and Solutions,” the industry is struggling with recruitment, but not the oil companies.  

Statoil has been voted as the most attractive employer for technology for several years and each year, 8000 students seeks jobs at the company and only 300 can get in. Statoil receives an average of 200 resumes every day and the company must hold auditions to find candidates. 

Interview

Four candidates are sitting bent over a task and around them are six grave serious Statoil employees with a binder. “Interviews in itself is not a good recruitment method. Some may be great at interviews but less good at work, says director of recruitment and promotion in the group, Tone Rognstad. 

Half are foreigners

Statoil does not have to go to other countries to find engineers like other companies, the engineers come to them. “We got what we need from people around the world for several years,” says Rognstad. The company has also stopped advertising for jobs on paper as well. 

In constant pursuit

Bergen Group Rosenberg at Buøy has recruitment of engineers as their most important task. “Rosenborg is constantly looking for engineers, and it is certainly  the most important key to achieve the growth we want in future. We must of course also deliver good projects, but the bottleneck for continued growth is to get enough engineers,” says Erling Lange, marketing director at Bergen Group Rosenberg. 

Advertising campaign

While Statoil has stopped promoting themselves, Rosenberg has just begun. In February, they bought the majority stocks in Origo Process AS, a Stavanger firm with 11 employees located at Forus. And last year they signed an agreement with the Indian company ITC Infotech. This gives Buøy yard access to much needed engineers.