A window into working life at Dolphin Energy

Before joining Dolphin Energy, I was a military officer for ten years, which I’ll always be proud of. I joined Dolphin Energy after noticing a job opening in the IT department, which was posted on their website. I applied and got the job in December 2005 as an application engineer.

The TOTAL Scholarship Program started in 2003 and aims to contribute to the development of education in the host countries where TOTAL operates. Dolphin Energy joined this program in 2006 and each year nominates one or two employees to pursue their master’s degree in France. I started my program in October 2008 and successfully completed the program in January 2010. I did a master’s in IT specializing in system integration and project management. The entire program was in English and consisted of a year’s course work at the university and a six month internship at the TOTAL headquarters in Paris.

The Dolphin Energy Training Department and the TOTAL scholarship team were able to work with me to select the right program at the best university based on my roles and responsibilities at the time. I took a one month intensive French language course to learn the basics and to understand the culture, people and how to interact with them. This preparation was needed for the challenges that I encountered when I arrived to Paris, including finding suitable accommodation, applying for a work permit, and dealing with transportation.

The program consisted of a year of courses comprising 15 subjects, mostly in the areas of IT, so it really sped up my learning curve. A six month internship at TOTAL headquarters in La Defense, Paris furthered my skill set so when I returned to Dolphin Energy I was more than ready for the challenges I would face. The internship experience exposed me to many topics in IT and project management. I had the opportunity to interact with different professionals, which gave me the confidence to succeed later when I returned to Abu Dhabi.

When I returned to Abu Dhabi, I started the Career Enhancement Plan (CEP) at Dolphin Energy. This program helped me transition into all IT-Operation related activities. It lasted one year and as a result I became responsible for various activities in IT Operations UAE.

With regards to individual challenges within your work environment, you must be a member of a team and each member has different responsibilities, capabilities and expertise that all contribute to the team’s productivity. The challenge is how to scale your contribution among others and try to maintain it and always seek improvement.

We’re all aware how fast IT has moved and developed over the last five years in the consumer and enterprise sides with smart phones, social media websites, cloud computing, among other things. We’re part of this market demand and have to cope with it with realistic expectations otherwise we’ll be left behind. IT’s main role is to keep the company IT systems running by ensuring the security and availability at all times. The challenge is how to merge the demand with our secured systems and platforms and to come up with an architecture that satisfies both the consumer and the enterprise.

Commitment, co-operation, competency and honesty are key values of a successful career path. If a person puts these values into practice, nothing is impossible and you’ll be strong enough to overcome any challenges you might face.

It’s about protecting the safety, health and welfare of people working. The goals of Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) programs include fostering a safe and healthy work environment. HSE in general also protects co-workers, family members, employers, customers, and many others who might be affected by the workplace environment.

I received lots of positive comments about the company from family and friends. And in my opinion, a 364km sub-sea pipeline sending gas from Qatar to the UAE is a remarkable engineering feat.

A friend of mine at the company told me about an opening in UAE Operations – HSE. I immediately applied for the position and got accepted. I took the role of an Operation Safety Engineer – Associate, where I spent 60 per cent of my time on the job, observing and practicing the full responsibilities of an engineer, and 40 per cent on my training program.

The Individual Development Program (IDP) starts with a written development plan that’s made up of four milestones with various tasks assigned to each. It usually starts with an overview about the company and gradually gets deeper into the individual’s on-the-job responsibilities. A coach, mentor and counsellor were assigned for me, all of whom provided guidance, direction and performance monitoring. The program is designed to be completed in 24 months, but it’s performance-based rather than time-based so I completed mine in 16 months.

The most enjoyable part was taking full responsibilities on the job 60 per cent of the time, while working on the program the other 40 per cent. This way, both went in parallel and made it easier to perform them.

I have to use all sorts of ways to promote awareness of health, safety, environment and security issues. This includes many training and awareness sessions, safety inductions, public addresses, and interviews. The job requires patience, courage, as well as a passion about the subject to deliver the message in the most effective way possible. Everyone is well aware that safety should be their first priority and their responsibility, but people tend to forget that and it requires other people to remind them. I enjoy the job because it doesn’t require you to stick to one task, but to do multiple different tasks every day of the week.

If you have the passion to uphold safety in everything you do on a daily basis, wherever you may be, then this would be the right career for you.

One day at college I saw a stand for Dolphin Energy that was highlighting some of the job opportunities at the company. It took my interest so I asked them a little bit about what they do. I also spoke to my friends and family and heard a lot of good things about them – they’re a big company focused on gas production.

I submitted my CV and luckily I got a call from them asking to attend an interview. I signed an agreement with Dolphin Energy in September, 2012. Under the agreement, every year I’m sponsored by them at college, I will work for them after I graduate. But hopefully it will be many more years than that. And every summer up until I graduate in three year’s time, I will work at Dolphin Energy for one month, probably in the engineering department. I know a lot of people who have finished their studies and don’t have a job so I’m really happy that I know what’s happening in my future.

I’m very excited. I’ve spoken to some friends who work in Dolphin Energy and they’ve told me it’s a good company and they look after their employees. I’m still waiting to find out what my role will be during the summer and once I graduate. Hopefully it will be something that’s related to my major and will help with my studies, such as working with engines. And when I start work in three years, it will not be something strange for me as I will already have experience there.

To improve myself, the company and my country. It’s a company that represents the UAE.

They have to research as many companies as possible – speak to your friends and family, speak to people already working in the company. I was lucky to find a company that seems ideally suited to me. Students should work hard on their studies, but also start planning their career and future from now. It takes time so don’t wait until you graduate.