World Petroleum Council Initiative
The WPC is committed to involving young people in the oil and gas industry and recognizes the importance of attracting, retaining and developing talent for the future. As part of the WPC Young Professionals Committee's (YP) mission, one key focus point is to “bridge the generation gap through mentorship networks”. In order to achieve that objective, the WPC started a “Pilot Mentoring Programme” in October 2010. This experiment has been successful and continued. The fifth cycle of the WPC Mentoring Programme will start in 2021.
The aim of the WPC Mentoring Programme is to provide young people with an opportunity to directly engage with senior industry experts to discuss the main issues and draw upon their experiences, expectations and suggestions.
WPC Mentoring circles provide a supportive relationship between an experienced member of the oil and gas industry and a small group of early career professionals or students. Mentors encourage and provide perspectives on their profession, experience, expertise and advice to mentees. In return, mentees ask their questions, share thoughts and concerns, discuss diverse issues related to the energy industry with their mentor and their peers in the group.
As a rule, each cycle has at least 50 competitively selected young people in the industry from all over the world. Each mentor interacts with a group of four to five mentees. These international groups get together in a conference call regularly to discuss a set of issues, both industry and career related. In order to help regular communication mentees are matched with mentors from similar time zones.
Association “RNC of the WPC” is actively involved in the WPC Mentoring Programme, proposing Russian candidates as mentors and mentees. In 2019, the Future Leaders Forum organised a representative discussion on the future of the Mentoring Programme.
RNC of the WPC Mentoring Programme
Following the positive experience of the WPC Mentoring Programme, the Association organised its own Mentoring Programme. It has much in common with the World Petroleum Council's programme.
RNC of the WPC Mentoring Programme is cyclical and lasts for one year. Each mentor is usually assigned five young professionals and the groups are formed from participants who have applied for the programme through a special form on the RNC of the WPC website. The allocation is based on the professional interests, qualifications and experience mentioned in the applications. The organisers seek to ensure diversity in each group. The territorial factor is not crucial, as communication is mainly performed by conference call.
During the year participants of the Mentoring Programme – young specialists of oil and gas companies, undergraduate and graduate students of oil and gas universities – get the opportunity to have regular contact with one of the most authoritative representatives of the Russian oil and gas industry. Discussions with the mentor help in career and education development. The mentor's advice will help understand many of the issues that arise in practice – from discussing the benefits of technological innovations and efficient work organisation to practical advice on building relationships in a team.
The cycle ends with a final meeting of mentors and mentees where the results of the joint work are presented. The final meetings are usually scheduled at RNC of the WPC events to create a more festive atmosphere.
EVENT HISTORY