JIM MAHONEY/DMN

'Speed interviewing' could replace the traditional interview

HOUSTON -- On your mark! Get set! ... "Have you ever searched for oil under the ocean floor, or helped create products to improve fuels and lubricants? Hurry now, the clock's ticking."

Not your typical job interview, but several oil and gas companies are resorting to unusual hiring techniques they hope will succeed where traditional recruiting has failed to fill thousands of vacant engineering positions.

Industry officials and analysts say it's nearly impossible to quantify the shortage, but the Internet is full of openings at ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp., Valero Energy Corp. and a host of other companies.

One of them, Foster Wheeler USA, the Houston arm of a global engineering and construction contractor, says job fairs and other traditional practices have proved marginally successful, but it's time to try something new -- namely "speed interviewing," a technique based on singles gatherings called "speed dating" that became popular in the past decade. At them, participants rotate among a large number of prospective dates, narrowing the list to a choice few by session's end.

"Having to grow our work force so rapidly in the past year, we have to think outside the box for new and innovative ways to find people," said Ed King, Foster Wheeler USA's human resources director. "We've done job fairs, but everyone does job fairs. It's time for something different."

On Saturday, Foster Wheeler USA and three other companies will hold their first speed-recruiting event in Houston, the hub of hiring for oil and gas projects in the bustling Gulf of Mexico.

Here's how it's expected to work: When participants arrive, resumes in hand, staffers from EPCglobal, the recruiting company facilitating the event, will conduct a quick, basic-skills assessment trying to determine the best fit for the individuals and companies. (For those who obviously are not qualified for an engineering gig, EPCglobal says it will try to connect them with other, suitable clients.)

From there, applicants will be ushered to a hiring manger, where they'll face 10- to 15-minute interviews. The idea is that companies can get face time with many more people than if they stuck to the typical, 60- to 90-minute interviews.

So what can a potential employer -- and prospective employees -- take away from such brief encounters? More than you might think, says Peter Harris, content manager for Monster.ca, the Canadian version of job-search Web site Monster.com.

One of the most important parts of any interview is the first impression.

"An interview is about fit and click," said Harris, who first heard of the speed concept about a year ago. "A large pool of first impressions gives you more interaction than reviewing 100 resumes."

Such brief pitches from prospective hires also could help managers identify people who would thrive on deadline or in tense environments.

"There's going to be a time when you have to convey your message as a representative of your company in a short of period of time," Harris said. "Speed interviewing allows employees to see how a person will hold up under pressure."

Those who make good impressions will eventually have more traditional interviews with the four companies involved. Richard Spragg, communications manager for EPCglobal, said several hundred people have registered, though he had no idea how many people might attend.

How many people could get hired? Anyone's guess, Spragg said.

"It's not something we've tried elsewhere," he said.

The shortage of engineers and others has been caused by a convergence of factors including an upsurge in offshore exploration by cash-rich oil companies and the ongoing reconstruction of the Gulf's energy infrastructure damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. On the engineering front, a wave of retirements from Baby Boomers reaching 25 and 30 years on the job has aggravated the situation.

"Those boomers are typically your most highly skilled folks," said Denise McCourt, director of general membership for the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association. "They're not easy to replace."

King said Foster Wheeler USA, whose ranks of engineers and designers have grown from roughly 200 to 800 since May 2005, could use another 200 such positions pronto -- jobs that could pay six-figure salaries. He hopes to begin filling some spots Saturday, though he and others acknowledge they're not sure what to expect.

Joining Foster Wheeler USA will be Turner and Townsend, a global construction and management consulting company; AMEC Paragon, a project management and engineering services company; and SNC-Lavalin, another international engineering and construction outfit.

All are looking for engineers, though each has enough differing needs and services to make a quartet of companies feasible, Spragg said.

"There's a real urgency to bring in skills from any new source, anything they can think of they haven't done before," he said.