Role Model Videos: Career Options for Women -- Oil and Gas

The “Career Options for Women: Emerging Opportunities” videos introduce your female students to high-wage careers in traditionally male-dominated occupations. Each program reveals the personal experiences and insights of successful women in technology and trades occupations, and sends the all-important message to women and girls that the sky is the limit!

Oil and Gas

This 24 minute video features profiles of three women who have embarked on careers in the oil and gas industry.

• Kandy Hubl, a health, safety, and environmental coordinator for a major gas company
• Melanie Bowman, a power engineer for a busy gas refinery
• Julie Jolicoeur, a project manager who oversees service station design and construction

Additional information from co-workers and supervisors supplements each job profile.

Developed in 2006, the Career Options for Women series is an outstanding resource for schools wanting to attract women and girls to science, technology and trades.

Note: These videos are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are similar to the numbers in the United States. As there is a no-return policy on these publications, please make sure to look at the preview video clip for the DVD(s) you are ordering.

Kandy -- Health, Safety, and Environmental Coordinator

Kandy Hubl is a health, safety and environmental coordinator for Vista Midstream Solutions, a gas company. Kandy's job is to help ensure her company meets all the industry's environmental and safety regulations. It's a complex job that requires her to understand detailed written requirements and translate them into action on-site.

Kandy likes the independence her job offers. She has freedom to make decisions on her own and gets the satisfaction of taking a project from concept to completion. “It's a great job. I also go out into the field where it's all being done. It's not just all in the office.”

Kandy's job pays well and includes full benefits and stock options. She works an average ten hours a day and even longer if she's working in the field. Kandy plans on staying at Vista Midstream Solutions for a long while. Eventually she may go into consulting.

Kandy grew up on a farm with the oil and gas industry right in her back yard, literally. Her knowledge of oil and gas was a great resource once she began a career in the business.

Melanie -- Project Manager

Melanie Bowman is a power engineer for an energy company. They take raw gas and process it to make the gas a useable commodity. It's amazing how one's life is changed by mentors in a business. Melanie spent four years working for a financial company before deciding to change careers. She spoke with a power engineering instructor at the local college. She decided to go for it. Good choice! She got hired at the Alberta Energy Company (AEC) right after graduation.

Melanie's future goals include remaining at AEC. She would like to get her second class steam ticket and become a board operator. “The best thing about my job is the versatility. No two days are alike and you can work indoors or outdoors.”

Safety is definitely number one with this company. Melanie's work requires many specific qualifications but if you're looking to get into a career like this, rest assured that students can get on-the-job work experience with companies like AEC. There are a lot of jobs in this field.

Julie -- Electronic Oil and Gas Composer

These days when you pull into a service station it's not just a matter of fueling up. You can shop for groceries, get some fast food, do your banking, you name it. It's all about marketing to the customer, and service stations are designed with that in mind. Working behind the scenes is Julie Jolicoeur, a project manager for Imperial Oil. Julie manages service station construction projects from the development process through to completed construction.

Julie makes a very good living and her project management skills could get her a job in almost any other industry. “It might seem simple, but I am always proud to have realized the entire project when it comes to an end.”

A lot of detail is the nature of Julie Jolicoeur’s job. During the construction work Julie will visit the site frequently. She checks the quality of the work and makes sure it is on time and on budget. Julie’s job doesn’t end with the completed construction. She does follow up for the next year, to ensure everything is working properly.