Shell Recruitment Day (SRD) – A Note and Review

(Wrote this from the corner of my room on Edinburgh campus, Scotland; 11/05/2013)

In my numerous online discussions on Nairaland and elsewhere, I have always rated and defended Shell as one of the most merit-driven organizations in this country. I still stand by that, although a couple of people have disagreed with me, arguing that it is not totally so and that ‘Nigerian factor’ is gradually creeping in. But I have seen too many people get job in Shell on merit for me to agree that merit doesn’t count in that organization.

I was surfing the internet again tonight when I chanced into Shell Recruitment Day discussion thread on Nairaland, and that was what prompted this essay. Shell, warts and all, still remains one of the best places to dream to work. Like I mentioned in my essay on 5 Great Companies to Start Career in Nigeria, Shell is not the highest paying IOC in Nigeria (in fact it is one of the least paying), but it is almost unanimously agreed in the industry that they offer the best training for their recruits. Little wonder independent operators in the industry poach Shell alumni to come run their operations for them.

In 2008, fresh from NYSC service, I got an invite for Shell interview, having applied few weeks earlier. Let me mention that Shell’s rigour and meticulousness start from the application process itself. You will be required to write ‘stories’ on teams you had participated before and things like that. I think I spent two days or more, completing the multi-sectioned online application process.

Back to my experience, I got the invite around April 2008 and showed up at the company’s 22 Freeman street, Marina, Lagos office for the interview on the fixed date. My interviewer was a soft-talking, obviously seen-it-all Geologist, who told me he retired from the company recently having served for 30 years, rising to GM level, and just called to be part of the interview team. One thing about old, highly experienced, non-HR people is that they take things cool, having seen it all. His cool mien upped my confidence. That must be one of my best interview performances, especially having no experience at the time. It went well.

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Fast forward to two weeks, I got a congratulatory email that I passed the interview and asked to choose which of two suggested dates will be okay for the next stage, the Shell Recruitment day (SRD). I chose a date. Just couple of days after, I got another email from Oando, inviting me for test, with additional information that if I passed the test, I will be doing interview 3 days later, and if I scaled the interview, I will be doing medicals and resuming shortly after. The Oando recruitment happened in quick succession and I scaled all. Within 2 weeks, before the SRD, my Oando employment letter was ready and in fact the date for my SRD co-incided with the day I was to resume at Oando. Dilemma: To resume at Oando or to run to Warri (venue of SRD) for the SRD? Due to a combination of naivete, excitement, and most importantly, providence, I applied the principle of a bird in hand and did not show up at SRD. I resumed at Oando that day. It was a tough decision, as Shell understandably had the ‘juicier’ package, but what if I forwent the Oando offer and still flunk the SRD? That was the multi-million naira question. The thought of losing both was enough for me to apply ‘a bird in hand’ principle. But looking back, I know it was a good decision as I cut my teeth as an oil and gas accountant in that company.

Three more friends were shortlisted that year. One was dropped during the interview stage, the other during the SRD, and the third scaled both stages and is still there.

Since that time, I have closely followed Shell recruitment process and I still rate them the best for these reasons:

1, Thorough Selection Process: I’m not aware of anybody that got job in Shell that doesn’t know his onions. I think the reason is simple: the recruitment process is so thorough that a fluke cannot survive it. The SRD is a whole day event and you will be made to work in a team like real life working environment, while you are observed and questions asked. You must be heavily loaded upstairs to scale this process.

2, Merit-based policy: It is one thing to have merit policy on paper, it is another thing to follow it. I think Shell has done well in following this policy arguably to the letter. All the friends I have that got job there are hot guys. One was best student in my class, the other best student in the set after mine. I know a couple of people on their waiting list and these guys are brilliant. When things run by merit, it becomes easy to attract brilliant people.

3, Level Playing Ground: Their minimum requirement, most times, is having first degree with First Class or Second Class Upper. It doesn’t matter whether you finished from UDU Sokoto or University of Manchester. This is very impressive. A lot of people apply, including Nigerians that schooled in top schools abroad. But one thing you must commend Shell for is that, they don’t discriminate school (once it is a recognised school) once you meet their requirements. I know many friends that got Shell jobs and have no more than Bsc from Nigerian universities, even the second generation ones. But these guys are good.

4, Standard Recruitment Process: Shell has a global standard recruitment process that they follow for entry level positions. It is the SRD I mentioned earlier. This means that Shell Malaysia carries out its recruitment the way Shell Nigeria does. They also always advertise the recruitment process as a matter of company policy. This standardized process has helped a lot in insulating the organization from ‘backdoor’ recruitment the Nigerian way.

5, Training: Shell has a reputation for training its staff very well. When already brilliant recruits get world class training, you can imagine how hot they will become.

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