Oil and Gas Question

Seeing as there a few O&G guys here I thought I would throw this question out...

One of my staff (she works for me part time for a little extra pocket money) wants to get into the O&G sector. She's been at her current position in Accounts Receivables for 3 years so she has accounting experience. She wanted to know if it would be worth it to take a course or if companies are willing to train the right candidate?

She's willing to start at the bottom and work her way up. She has an electrical engineering education from the Ukraine but she doesn't want to put in on her resume because she thinks it doesn't have any relevancy because it's from a different country. I told her she should put it in to show that she is educated and can commit to challenges. I would totally reccomend her for any position (as long as it didn't interfere with her position with me because she's a very independent, eager and ethical employee.

So any input, hints, recruiting would be appreciated!
Thanks!

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by fotze

Unfortunately she is ethical, could have had a good career in oil and gas.

Definitely put the engineering on the resume and details of it. Two year course or a full degree type thing.

Even if shes not recognized by APEGGA/ASET it goes a long way.

[BlackArcher101]

Is she wanting to get into accounting or engineering in Oil & Gas... the answer to your question depends on what expertise she wants to use.

[MoneyGuy]

I've hired a number of people. I say put it in. Why in the world not?

I put "ethical" because I thought it would be cliche to put "hardworking"...

(You may need to explain some of these acronyms to me... my husband works in O&G but I have no idea what it is...)

She said her engineering degree was from a "Polytechnical school"...

She wants to do accounting. She said she would like to go into her office and shut the door and deal with numbers all day

I guess the way it goes in the Ukraine, her parents decided what she was going to go to school for. She completed it, but she hated it.

[BlackArcher101]

I recommend at least a 2 year SAIT diploma in finance/accounting then. That's the min where I work, and were still considered a mom & pop organization. The bigger the company, the more likely she will need a degree.

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I recommend at least a 2 year SAIT diploma in finance/accounting then. That's the min where I work, and were still considered a mom & pop organization. The bigger the company, the more likely she will need a degree.

Even with 3 years experience in Accounts Receivables?

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Puxlut

Even with 3 years experience in Accounts Receivables?

Well... hard to say what the entire industry is like...but where I work it wouldn't fly... 3 years isn't too much AR experience and we would still like to see education on top of that.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by Puxlut

Even with 3 years experience in Accounts Receivables?

I think she would have trouble getting call backs. Her main competition would be the scores of accounting graduates. Usually a minimum of 5 years industry experience is preferred before education starts to take a back seat in the interview process.

That said, Calgary is not a traditional market at the moment so if she knows her stuff and is reliable and well presented, she should be able to score a good job in the oil patch. But without a degree, she might not be shielded from HR's wrath when the market turns south (if that happens).

Getting a certificate/diploma from SAIT or MRC would help immensely.

[BlackArcher101]

Puxlut, sending you a PM.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Puxlut

Even with 3 years experience in Accounts Receivables?

I would sooner hire someone who has one year of full-cycle accounting experience, rather than just one side of the equation.....but I own a bookkeeping business.

In O & G, I think most would be looking for "Production Accounting" experience or training...like this at MRC.

http://conted.mtroyal.ca/oil/cappacert.shtml

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by First Lady

I would sooner hire someone who has one year of full-cycle accounting experience, rather than just one side of the equation.....but I own a bookkeeping business.

In O & G, I think most would be looking for "Production Accounting" experience or training...like this at MRC.

http://conted.mtroyal.ca/oil/cappacert.shtml

There's a huge difference between production accounting and AR accounting, so much so that if she went and did the Cappa program and wanted to be a PA, her 3 years AR experience would be viewed as only being as useful as 3 years experience in a general clerical role. The only saving grace for her is that both PA and AR positions have a high attrition rate and the labor market is in her favor.

[socktape]

[quote=First Lady;1425507]

In O & G, I think most would be looking for "Production Accounting" experience or training...like this at MRC.

http://conted.mtroyal.ca/oil/cappacert.shtml[/quote]


The problem with this is that there are a lot, and I mean a lot of people out there with this certificate but not enough with accounting education. She has receivable experience so that is a plus as PAs deal with receivables all the time, but there is the expense and billing side of it as well.

There are a lot of jobs out there for payable/receivable accountants she shouldn't have too much trouble finding a job especially with the experience she has. The fact she has 3 years behind her would lessen training time which is a big plus right now. Most companies will pay for an education so she will be able to do that after.

She should definitely put her prior degree in her resume as it indicates that she is probably intelligent(good with numbers), has a work ethic and shows that she completes what she starts. It may even substitute for her lack of formal education in accounting initially.

[JerzeeGirl]

Speaking as someone who's been working as an O&G acct since 2001 (beginning with absolutely no experience whatsoever and taking courses since then), she'd probably be able to find something.

If she wanted to do margin acctg - billing, some A/R & A/P etc - you really don't need to understand more than how to count the piles you are responsible for - knowing a debit from a credit is a luxury. (SAIT used to offer an intro class to Natural Gas Marketing that was a great intro and looks good on a resume....)

For production acctg, CAPPA is an extremely good idea - in fact it's pretty much necessary but then good production accts are in such high demand you can bank on the investment being worthwhile.

If she wants to do actual financial acctg, this is where just having A/R experience might hold her back - most employers want accountants who either have, or are in the process of getting, a designation like CMA/CGA/CA.

Good luck to her if she does want to transition into the industry - it pays well, and once you're in and people see that you work hard and aren't (too) psycho, you can generally move around into better/different positions.

[bradster57]

I work for a large O&G company in town. I started in AP after getting my accounting degree. How we work (not sure about the rest of the industry) but they will only hire accounting grads as permanent employees and the rest of the AP jobs will go to temps. The accounting grads usually spend a couple of months in AP before moving into another area and possibly getting a designation if desired. We would not hire a permanent employee without a degree even for an AP role these days.

I have heard, but not experienced, that you still need oil and gas experience if you decide to get your CAPPA designation. And I would agree that production accounting in the industry is very specialized so most of the time some AR experience would be meaningless.

[JerzeeGirl]

Really in a lot of cases, it's getting your foot in the door. From there you work hard and show your boss that you can do more or work in different areas - it's easier to move once you've hired on usually than it is to try and just crack the nut from the outside.

Apparently that can be especially true for Production Acctg - recent grads can have a hard time getting on somewhere but once you have some experience you can pretty much write your own ticket if you're good.

Thanks for all your input and contacts! I will pass them on to her tonight. If anyone else has any, please feel free to PM me.

You CP'ers are awesome

[JerzeeGirl]

Originally Posted by fotze

and if you ever screw up, the production engineer will have to clean up the mess.

Well it's not like the accountants could ever make an error.....it's always front office.....come on now.....

[LockedOut]

I thought this thread was going to be about why gas prices aren't budging even though the price of oil is plummeting.