Henry Operator

Henry Operator 

Technology and Business Development

Upstream
 
United States

1. What is your profession? Or if you are retired, what was your profession?

Engineer, Project Manager

2. What are your areas of expertise?

Upstream: Operations, Completions, Project Management

Upstream Area: Onshore

3. Current employer:

Top secret information

4. Previous employers:

Biota Technology, BHP, Schlumberger

5. How did you end up in the Energy Industry?

I was taking summer classes in 2005 and Schlumberger had a table right outside my class and I started chatting with one of the SLB reps, who I later found out was the North American recruiting manager for SLB. He gave me a piece of paper with a map of all the Schlumberger locations all over the world. He said, with a thick Austrian accent " you can work in any of these places". He told me about his travels and experiences all over the world and how awesome it was to be able to travel all over during his weeks off. I handed him a resume, thinking nothing of it, as I already had an offer with a major company in the space industry. He sent me an email asking me to apply online and asked if I'm available to fly to Oklahoma that weekend for a field interview. I landed in Tulsa and 12 of us interviewing rode in a party bus to a drilling rig in Elk City. After the field visit, we went back to Tulsa where we had a fancy dinner and I had my first experience with $200/bottle of alcohol. That same campus recruiter and his colleague told us more stories about their experiences and the "work hard, play hard" mentality. After dinner and drinks, we went back to the hotel where they proceeded to interview us individually. I got a couple of hours of sleep and then the party bus dropped us off at Tulsa airport. A few days later I got a call from the recruiter offering me a position and next thing you know, I'm driving an F350 pickup, chasing drilling rigs all over Mexia, Texas. I want to say that the recruiter got me very excited about the position but it probably also didn't hurt that the SLB offer was $22k more than my offer from the space industry. I never made it to any exotic international assignments. Unless you count being loaned out to the SLB district in Laredo, Texas.  

6. Why do you like working with Start-Ups?

I enjoy the entrepreneurial environment, and how creativity is celebrated. I also enjoy the "chaos" and uncertainty of day-to-day operations, and how quickly things can change.

Okay, now for some fun things about Mr. Operator...

7. What are three of your interests outside of work?

  • Home Improvement and carpentry

  • Fishing

  • Spending time with my family

8.  What are your top 3 accomplishments (personal or professional)?  Don’t be shy!  Give ‘em to us.

  • Being a dad (cheesy I know)

  • Running a marathon

  • Renovating an entire house

9.  If I were a superhero, my superpower would be               .

not sleeping

10. When I was 5, I was pretty sure I'd be a                 when I grew up.

Doctor

11. If I weren't so damn good at what I do now, I'd probably be                 .

a doctor

12.  My favorite song is               by            .

This is cheesy, but "To be with you" by Mr. Big

13.  If I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd          .

tiny house community and a custom camper trailer

14.  The best piece of advice I've ever been given is                              .

Don't ask someone to do something you're not willing to do yourself.