GE nurtures young talent for industrial careers

GE highlighted the importance of nurturing youth talent for the oil and gas industry through special sessions organized for university students at the Student Program being held as part of the Middle East Process Engineering Conference & Exhibition (MEPEC) 2013 at the four-day Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Center, which ends on Wednesday (Oct. 2).
The sole sponsor of the program, GE also introduced the Young Engineering Panel (YEP!) discussion, which was launched last year in the UAE, to engage young engineers in a productive and thoughtful discussion on career opportunities in the oil and gas sector.
Additionally, GE’s global talent recruitment team engaged students on a wide range of topics including career navigation, power networking, how to impress your recruiter, your personal brand and social media.
The Student Program was inaugurated by Rami Qasem, president and CEO of GE Oil & Gas for the Middle East & North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) region, who shared his industry experience with the participants.
He said: “Sponsoring the Student Program and introducing the Young Engineers Panel are a testament to GE’s commitment to the Middle East region to support the creation of a large talent pool of professionals locally for the process engineering industry. It is important that we create the future generation of business and technology leaders for the oil and gas industry. GE will work with governments, our business partners and academic institutions to strengthen knowledge transfer to the student community, and potentially create rewarding career opportunities.”
A Deloitte survey in 2012 reported that oil and gas executives in the region feel there is a looming talent shortage in several areas of the industry, including operations, IT, risk and regulatory functions and R&D. They observed that human capital management is of primary importance for the region, which is reflected in GE’s focus on training, guiding and supporting technically qualified students for the oil and gas industry.
Students from several leading universities in the MENA region, including King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals and King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (Saudi Arabia); Qatar University and Texas A&M University (Qatar); Kuwait University; University of Bahrain; UAE University; Ain Shams University (Egypt); Sultan Qaboos University (Oman); American University of Beirut (Lebanon) and University of Technology (Iraq), among others attended the session.
A student debate competition and process simulation competition are also being held as part of the Student Program, which aims to encourage the participation of young people in the process engineering industry sector.
At MEPEC, GE Oil & Gas is presenting advanced technologies that are relevant to the region in addition to presenting the GE Oil & Gas University, a professional program designed to build the skills of the local workforce, which has been conducted to strong response from participants in Abu Dhabi and Doha. GE Digital Energy is showcasing solutions that help modernize and optimize how energy is generated, moved and consumed.