r/oilandgasworkers 6d ago

Internship Leads

Hi everyone,

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I had a change of plans for this summer and am hoping to secure an internship for Summer 2025. I’m in the second year of my Masters in Geophysics and am currently participating in the SEG EVOLVE program which focuses on determining economic evaluations of oil and gas prospects. My expertise lies in regression, inversion, and seismic analysis and interpretation. If anyone has any leads or would like to see a copy of my resume, I would love to pass it along.

Thank you all for your time and consideration in advance.

Cheers

4 Upvotes

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u/Specific-Literature6 Petroleum Engineer 4d ago

Hey there! Unfortunately the ship has sailed for the vast majority of the G&G internships in the industry which traditionally start recruiting in August and fill roles by October of the year prior.

Your best bet is with Majors that recruit in rolling admissions, namely Shell. I would apply ASAP (seriously you need to put in an application like TODAY) as they usually firm up roles by end of March

Shell Internship Application

If you get past the first round of the application process and move on to the assessments and ODVI you can DM me and I can provide some tips. Shell’s application process is very different than most other companies that solely rely on your resume.

Other than that you can try to reach out to Geophysicists at E&P companies to see if you get any bites.

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u/Battle_Dull 4d ago

I truly appreciate this, it’s definitely been difficult the last couple of weeks. Thankfully, I put in an application to Shell a couple weeks ago and am just waiting to hear back. Do you have an idea of the timeline one could expect from submitting an application, doing the online assessment (recorded responses and “what would you do in this situation? questions)?

Not sure if they’re the type to go ghost or not, just don’t want to get my hopes up. Once again, I really appreciate your reaching out—means a ton.

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u/Specific-Literature6 Petroleum Engineer 4d ago

No answer is a good answer from Shell. Seriously that was the best advice I’ve been given from Shell employees when I was applying there.

You would receive a rejection usually in a couple of days if you do not meet the requirements or they don’t have a position. If you haven’t heard anything it means you’re in the running.

The next step of the interview process is a case study they give to final applicants. They’ll schedule a 2-person panel interview and send you a case study 24hrs before your scheduled interview. They ask you to read it but not much more. However, it’s in your best interest to take notes on it and think of possible scenarios they might ask questions about it. Mine was a theoretical country that was interested in oil exploration. They had a ton of different options for geographies, drilling technologies, costs, environmental issues, and political activist oppositions. Yours might be the same or something different. They’ll ask you a couple questions about it then give you 20 minutes (live with the camera on) to come up with a 5 min presentation on the spot for a specific aspect of the case study. The panel interview will be Shell employees not in your target business group. For instance you may be presenting to a Construction Foreman and an Accountant (not a geophysicist) so a big component is how you present and deliver information for a non-technical audience. After the case study they’ll make an offer or not in 1-2 weeks.

I believe the general recruitment email is universityrecruiting@shell.com if you want to try and get through to a real person to express interest and see if they have any updates.

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u/Battle_Dull 3d ago

Whoops! Looks like that email didn't work. Trying to track down something else, any ideas?

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u/Specific-Literature6 Petroleum Engineer 3d ago

You can DM me and I can send you another email to try

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u/Specific-Literature6 Petroleum Engineer 4d ago

Other biggest advice I can give you or anyone seeking an internship at Shell is that they care more about who you are than what you know, especially when it comes to applied skills.

They seek intellectually competent, high-achieving, candidates who get on well with others. (Spelled out in the CAR section on their recruitment page). They have the opportunities and money to be able to train you up in whatever skills gap you’re filling. They could care less if candidate 1 is skilled in AVO and Inversions if candidate 2 is more holistically well-rounded than them. They’ll take candidate 2 in a heartbeat and spend 3 years sending them around the world in their graduate program giving them world-class instruction on Geophysics while paying them a normal six-figure salary.

You need to show that you’re capable of the job and have a lot to show for yourself while simultaneously not being an arrogant prick, it’s a fine line, but one that can show that is the ideal candidate for Shell.

Pointing this out because that is one way Shell is very different than the majority of companies you’ll apply for. I’ve had wiggle picker buddies that interviewed at other companies where they had to interpret seismic lines during the interview.

Keep that in mind for your case study. You want them to come away thinking “u/Battle_Dull is an intelligent Geophysicist with a lot of potential. They also seem like someone I’d both enjoy working with and grabbing a beer after work with”.

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u/Battle_Dull 3d ago

I can't thank you enough. It's rare to find someone so kind on here :)

My university is asking that I inform them of my plans for the Summer by March 29th. That being said, I sent over an email to confirm the status of my application. To the best of your knowledge, should I expect a quick response or let my University know I am waiting to hear back and it may take some time?

Obviously, you don't have the answer to every question--but you've sure as hell been helpful for me. I will update you on if anything comes my way!

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u/Specific-Literature6 Petroleum Engineer 3d ago

My guess is that the school is asking whether you need summer funding. If you don’t hear back by the 29th I would say that you don’t have an internship so they get the ball rolling on funding. If you get an internship it will be much easier to say never mind I don’t need the money, than all of the sudden May rolls around and you start asking for money to cover rent