WIRELINE ISSUE 27 SPRING 2014

WilliamPridgeon left his role as a land surveyor in theCaribbean to forge a career in theUKoil andgas sector.Hemayhave left a life filledwithpermanent sunnydays but theopportunities and rewards he receives as adimensional control surveyorhavemade themoveworthwhile

William applied and interviewed for a jobwith Scopus Engineering inAberdeen in2012 andwas offered a position as a dimensional control surveyor. The transformation fromworking in the sunshineof theCaribbean to working in theForties Field took less than fiveweeks. Bigplatform Scopus provides dimensional control survey services to the global oil and gas industry andWilliam’s first stopon joiningwas the in-house training academy (see box-out right). “I had threeweeks in the academy being taught by a senior surveyorwhich was a very steep learning curve,” describesWilliam. “I then completedmy offshore survival trainingbefore flying to theForties Bravoplatform just seven days later, accompanying a senior surveyor. Therewere seven repair order jobs on that trip and Iwas able todo some workmyself.” Williammeasures anddesigns equipment to fit offshore, undertakingdimensional control surveys using an electronic/ optical instrument, supportedby Scopus’ in-house suiteofmathematical software.

“I think there is aperception amongst young people that in spite of the skills shortages it is apretty tough industry to enter. That’s probably because everyone seems to be looking for employeeswith experience; Scopus has tackled the skills shortage in another way. The company is linking with universities to attract people and its academy is providing the bridge into the industry.”

him to study surveying andmapping science further, talked about his sonwho alsoworks inoil andgas. “Fromwhatmy teacherhad said, it sounded aprettygood fit formy interests,” explainsWilliam. Initially though, the lureof the Caribbeanproved too greatwhenhewas made anunexpectedoffer on completion of his BScHonours in Surveying and Mapping Science atNewcastleUniversity in2011. “We had an alumni newsletter at Newcastle and I read an article in it about a past student andhis land surveying business in theBritishVirgin Islands.He

wasn’t offering a jobbut I thought Iwould send an email asking if he had some short-term summerwork andhe asked if Iwould like a job; I veryquickly said ‘yes!’ Hedescribes: “Iwas land surveying multi-millionpound villas andworked on a jetty in amega yacht harbour. TheCaribbean lifestyle is very chilled out but the hills on theBritishVirgin Islandsmeant itwasmorephysically than mentally challenging and I felt I hadmore inme. I felt I coulddevelopmy career furtherwith amove tooil and gas.”

3 6

THE MAGAZ I NE FOR THE UK OF F SHOR E O I L AND GA S I NDUS TRY