This has been my first week working within the Business Development section of Wood Group and already I can see that it is an exciting and dynamic place to work. On my first day I was assigned two projects and so far I have been concentrating my attention on one of those, which is to identify who the major operators and service providers are within the shale industry in North America.

Bill Cochrane, the Director of Field Operations Development and my new boss, has a great way of summarizing the main objective of his department: ‘win work and make money’. The motto adds a sense of immediacy to whatever work you are doing and adds a competitive edge to the job. It is great to be able to summarize so succinctly the objectives of what is ultimately a very complex occupation as it keeps you focused on your ultimate goal and the sense of achievement that team members must experience when they do actually win work and make considerable money must be incredible.

On Tuesday I sat in on an interesting meeting. A former intern had compiled a spreadsheet listing a number of companies in the energy services industry that Wood Group do business with.  The purpose of the meeting was for the Business Development team to decide amongst themselves which of the companies on the list they would personally get in touch with, in an attempt to win more business. The decision process was very interesting to watch and there was a lot of emphasis placed on whether or not team members had contacts or friends working within a certain company as this would obviously work favorably for them whilst attempting to attain their business. It is interesting to see how a lot of weight is placed on networking and contacts here in America. A lot of business relationships seem to be forged on the golf course, or whilst hunting. Not a bad way to work.

Outside of work, we have all been enjoying ourselves. We went to San Antonio last weekend and it was great to be in a city where you could actually walk around. Houston is vast and you need a car to get anywhere so it was good to get out and about and stretch the legs. There is a river flowing through the central part of the city with lots of restaurants and bars lining the banks giving it a very European feel. We have been travelling around Texas quite a lot, having already visited Austin as well, and I think our next trip away might be to New Orleans with some of the guys from work.

On weeknights we tend to either relax at the apartments or go out and explore the surrounding area. There are around 5 million people in this city and the metropolitan area is 10000 square miles so it seems a shame to stay in. One of the most interesting nights so far was when we went to a cowboy bar called Moe’s. We got chatting to 3 guys in cowboy hats, all of whom had guns strapped round their ankles. Every now and then your reminded how different things can be over here!