How to get an Internships in Oil & Gas Companies: 3 Smart ways that works in Nigeria

In this post, you are going to learn the 3 Smart ways to get Internships in an Oil and Gas Companies.

And, it doesn’t matter whether…

• You are a student at the 200, 300, or 400 level or a recent graduate, or
• You don’t have the required working experience needed to fit the internship role.
• You aren’t an engineering student,
• or maybe you are planning on changing career path.

Regardless, I will break down the step-by-step procedures to search for, apply for, and secure an internship role in the oil and gas industry.

If you are excited, Let’s get started…

Fun Fact #1

Securing an internship at any engineering or oil & gas firm became difficult.

This is possibly due to following:

• Inflation,
• Aftermath of the Covid19 Era
• Revolution of AI technology and
• The continuous downsizing of staff in the industry.

So, the question remains…

How do you search for, apply for, and secure an internship position in Nigeria?

To guide you explicitly, this content is structured into three sections.

These three sections are the three smart ways to secure an internship in the oil and gas industry.

You will find the full eBook to download at the bottom of this content.

Section One: Search for an Internship in the Oil and Gas Industry.

Section Two: Applying for an Oil and Gas Internship

Section Three: Securing Your Internship Position in the Oil & Gas Industry.

A. Search for an Internship in the Oil & Gas Space.

How do you search for oil and gas internship positions?

If you don’t know how to do this, here are the 4 ways to search for an internship offer in the Oil & Gas Industry.

#1. Narrow down your areas of interest in the oil and gas industry.

To find an internship that will help you grow in the oil and gas space, you need to streamline your area of interest.

Is it in the upstream, downstream, or midstream?

Is it the exploration, extraction, refining, or transportation sector?

Also, is it the ICT department?

It’s way better to have this figured out before diving deeper into your search.

You don’t have to spread yourself too thin.

You can select multiple areas that you find prominent and interesting, or maybe fields that are highly potent with professional experience and flexibility.

Remember, you are looking for a niche you can grow into and build your professional outlook.

Don’t mess this up by picking an area only for the money.

Money will fade, and only your experience will remain.

#2. Consult with Experts/Seniors in the Oil & Gas Field

What better way to start out your internship search than by connecting with an expert in the field?

They make it faster and more convenient to identify companies in your area of interest.

If you want a list of companies that offer high-quality professional training for interns,

Your seniors (post-intern), recruiters, and employees in any oil and gas company are your best bets.

They would reveal to you the following:

• Companies for which they have worked or with
• What to expect from those companies
• What employers expect from you during your internship
• Techniques for establishing long-term relationships with employees and coworkers

You can connect with professionals in the field through LinkedIn, Oil & Gas Conferences, or by attending plain old career fairs.

You get the chance to speak to multiple employees, intern prospects, staff & recruiters in the field.

When you talk with them, don’t be skeptical, ask them lots of questions regarding internships and job positions.

Don’t forget to always bring copies of your résumé.

You might end up messing up a big offer.

Most times, you may be able to win their hearts through a short conversation and just secure yourself a spot or valid connection while applying.

#3. Use Your Best Friend Google to Find Internships

Let’s be honest, searching for internship opportunities in the Oil & Gas Sector is stressful.

You probably don’t have the time and patience to attend career fairs and connect with recruiters on LinkedIn.

So, what do you do?

How can you search for and streamline your internship search without stress?

Google is the Answer!

It’s the number one ranking search engine on the planet, with over 5.6 billion searches per day and 2 trillion global searches per year.

It’s super-fast and reliable.

That’s why I call it “Your Best Friend.”

Here’s how to use Google to search for internship opportunities.

• Turn on your Internet connection on your phone, tablet, or computer.
• Launch any browser (Chrome is highly recommended).
• In the Search Console, enter the “keyword.”

In this case, you may use keywords like:

“Internships in the Energy Sector”, “Oil & Gas Internships”, “Internships in Refineries”, and “Offshore Internships”.

You can search for as many terms as you can come up with.

It truly depends on your skills and field of interest.

• Limit Your Searches to the Top Results Displayed (1–10) Ranking Sites.

Those sites contain the most relevant results related to your search terms or keywords.

• Look into various internship opportunities.

#4. Make an Appointment with the Career Resource Team in College

Every college/university has got one.

Your College Career Resource Team is your biggest asset.

They are located at your institution’s counseling unit.

So why should you make an appointment with them?

The team would help you with guides on how to go about it.

You may be fortunate enough to get a recommendation later from the resource team to any of the oil companies as well.

They give you access to a list of internship programs from organizations in your field and most likely get your application started.

B. Applying for an Oil and Gas Internship

After searching for internship opportunities related to your field of interest, it’s time to begin your application.

From your list of 20–30 oil companies in your home area, monitor when they post an internship offer, or you could simply call or send an email to the Company HR.

You can get the office number and email address from the company’s website.

How to Apply for an Oil & Gas Internship in Nigeria

• Through LinkedIn 

• from partner recruiters or job boards.

• Via the company’s Website

Tip #1. Apply via LinkedIn

To do this, your LinkedIn profile needs to be professional. It is recommended to include the LinkedIn URL on your resume.

Here’s how to optimize your LinkedIn profile for an internship offer.

• Upload a professional photo of yourself; it should be sharp and clean. 

Most recruiters want to hire someone that’s 100% attractive.

It’s better to be safe than sorry.

• Add your top skills related to the internship position.

This is the time to show the recruiter that you are the best fit.

What makes you stand out from the crowd?

Are you highly skilled in project management?

Place it in.

Or are you a team leader and a good product designer?

Write them down.

Write as many skills as you possess and be honest about it.

• Multiple Working Experiences

Most oil companies hire interns with valid working experience.

But you might ask, “How does a student pack a load of working experience in the oil and gas field?”

The answer is through volunteering roles, attending symposiums and webinars, or taking online courses.

It doesn’t matter how little experience you may have, write down events or roles you played in college societies (for me, I am a core member of SPE, IWM, and ENACTUS).

Tip #2. Apply through Partner Recruiters or Job Boards.

To do this, you need to figure out the recruiters or board.

Most recruiters and boards prefer online applications.

You can visit their websites via their ads link and follow this process below.

• Register for an account.
• Fill out the application form for the internship position.
• Submit an optimized CV or resume.
• Apply for the internship offer.

If you want significant results, apply for as many internships offers related to your field (Oil & Gas).

The more applications you submit, the better your chances of securing the offer.

Let’s say you apply for 40 internships in the oil and gas, energy, and manufacturing sectors.

You may be fortunate enough to secure 5–10 internship positions rather than applying for only three offers and crossing your fingers.

Tip #3. Apply via Companies’ Websites

Most companies don’t publicize internship offers via third-party websites.

You can only discover these opportunities from their official websites.

This can be tricky to sort out.

It is very important to narrow down the sectors you would like to focus on, have a list of companies in that sector, and do research on the mode of application for their internship offers.

If you don’t do the work, you will always miss out.

C. Securing an Internship in the Oil and Gas Industry

In Nigeria, securing an intern or job offer in the oil and gas sector is difficult.

Most of the time, the logic is purely connection-based while merit-based sits in the gutter.

If you want to have a strong chance at getting accepted for the internship role, you have to think outside the box.

How to secure an internship position in Nigeria

1. Figure out the company’s needs and wants.

It’s not all about qualification, it’s about value!

Oil companies require individuals who will bring constant innovation to the industry.

They need people with specialized skillsets, and that’s where you come in.

Before searching for internship offers, find out the core industrial skills that the Oil & Gas Sector needs.

You can write them down from A to Z.

You can create a list of them on your phone.

It doesn’t have to be lengthy; you can pick only the important ones.

Go to “Coursera”, “Edx”, “Udacity”, “Alison”, or “Udemy” etc.. Search for courses, diplomas, or specializations within the core industrial skills.

Sign up and Get Started.

Learn all about the skills, practice them, and finish up the courseware.

At the end of it, you earn a certificate.

Although the certificate isn’t the major asset, it’s the experience and knowledge you packed up while taking the course.

Oil companies hire interns that have prior knowledge or experience of top skills.

For every course you take on, you gain an advantage against other intern aspirants applying for the same position.

2. Build Strong Connections with Recruiters and Workers in the Field.

Remember when I said securing an internship position is difficult?

And building a strong connection with employees in the oil industry is king.

But how does a student with little financial and social connections get to do this?

You can easily make a plethora of contacts with oil and gas employers by:

• Attending tons of symposiums, conferences, and competitions hosted by an oil company.
• Engaging with LinkedIn’s Top Oil & Gas Recruiters.
• Take up volunteering roles in Oil & Gas Startups.

4. Track your internship application.

It’s one thing to apply for an internship position; it’s another to keep track of it.

After you have hit the “Submit button,” it’s another thing to monitor your application.

Most recruiters send an auto-respondent email to the intern applicants within seconds of applying for it.

To track your application’s progress online, you simply toggle on your email notification for that specific email address.

Try to check your application twice a day to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Most of the time, intern aspirants miss out on impromptu interviews placed by the oil or gas firm.

Too often, the number of applicants that apply for the internship position is in the thousands (1000–13000).

That’s huge, as the industry takes drastic measures to eliminate 99.2% of the candidates at most.

Always check your email messages at all times.

5. Apply early for the internship position.

The earlier the better! Oil companies give credit to applications submitted within the first week of the announcement.

If you are the quick type, I would advise you to prepare the necessary documents required for the internship application and tweak the CV or resume to fit the role.

Thereafter, you apply without a second to waste.

The early application gives you a competitive advantage over other applicants.

And in terms of numbers, if your qualifications and skills meet the position requirements, you will be placed on the VIP list.

Download the full ebook here: 3 Smart Ways to Get Internships In Nigeria Oil & Gas Companies

Best of luck from MyscholarshipNG!