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| "Since I had little knowledge of the oil business or the unique challenges facing the industry, I had a good learning curve to climb before I was ready to put my knowledge to work.... The work was fast-paced, and there were myriad opportunities to interact with other people, teams, and notional groups within the competition. Long hours, but we worked hard and played hard... I got a better understanding of the overall business of Shell, how the different parts work together, and where they often conflict. I worked with Shell employees two years ago on an IT project, but I did not get the strategic overview of things like I did at Gourami... I also noticed that the calibre of candidates I met in one place at the Gourami Challenge was unlike anything I’d seen anywhere else."
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 Degree Studied: Finance Where: University of Texas at Austin, USA Gourami Challenge date: August 6-11, 2006 Gourami Location: Palm Springs, California, USA
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Why did you choose to participate in Gourami? |
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I received an invitation to get involved in Gourami following my application for an internship. I was really keen to take part, not only because I wanted to learn more about what working with Shell was like, I’d also never visited Palm Springs!
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How would you describe your experience during Gourami? |
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Overall, the experience was fabulous. The accommodation was luxurious, the events were very well-planned and scheduled, and the people I met there – both staff and participants – were top-notch.
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What were some of the challenges you faced? |
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Since I had little knowledge of the oil business or the unique challenges facing the industry, I had a good learning curve to climb before I was ready to put my finance knowledge to work. My new group had to learn these things as well, so a lot of time was spent looking up processes, procedures, and how-to’s. To add to the challenge, in my role as a Financial Analyst, I was also part of a global Gourami Finance team with responsibility for aligning the individual organisational strategies with Gourami’s overall financial and operational goals. There were several times I had to make it clear to my team that not all the things we were talking about were feasible in the overall scheme. The work was fast-paced, and there were myriad opportunities to interact with other people, teams, and notional groups within the competition. Long hours, but we worked hard and played hard.
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What did you get out of your experience of Gourami? |
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I got a better understanding of the overall business of Shell, how the different parts work together, and where they often conflict. I worked with Shell employees two years ago on an IT project, but I did not get the strategic overview of things like I did at Gourami. The planning was so well organised that I did not feel our options were limited when pursuing solutions to the problems that were thrown at our teams. I also noticed that the calibre of candidates I met in one place at the Gourami Challenge was unlike anything I’d seen anywhere else.
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Did your experience change your view of Shell? |
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Indeed it did. Although I’ve always known that the people who work for Shell are very professional, the people I met at Gourami were among the best I’ve seen anywhere. They were great ambassadors for the organisation.
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What would you say to other students considering whether to do Gourami with Shell? |
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Gourami is a process that will challenge you to handle ambiguity, work with teams, and do your best with the skills you bring. At the same time, it gives recruiters from various backgrounds within Shell a good chance to observe you performing so they can put together a complete portfolio on how you might fit in as a full-time employee. All this is done in a way that is both challenging in terms of the work and rewarding in the outcome. The people I met there, I hope to see again in the near future.
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