How to Negotiate a Pay Rise as an Experienced Oil Pro

Make sure you are well informed. That’s one of the tips Christopher Melillo, founder and managing partner of recruitment firm Kaye/Bassman’s energy practice, has provided for experienced oil and gas professionals looking to negotiate a pay rise in their current jobs.
“Know the comparative compensation packages for your position with other operators producing similarly sized and structured assets before doing/saying anything regarding your potential raise conversation,” Melillo told Rigzone.
“Make sure you also know your asset performance compared to internal, company peers on other assets and make sure that you’re running at a higher efficiency rate,” he added.
“If you work with a firm that provides well documented performance evaluations, try to identify where you rank in your peer group,” Melillo continued.
Offering further guidance, the Kaye/Bassman representative advised experienced workers not to have pay rise conversations on an impromptu basis.
“This needs to be done in a scheduled meeting with your boss. Do not do this having beers or in an ad hoc, impromptu conversation,” he said.
Melillo also warned against being cocky, arrogant and entitled.
“Make sure that you do not threaten to quit and go into this conversation in somewhat of a ‘what do you think about as raise’ mode, as opposed to walking in with some level of entitlement,” he said.
“If … salary decisions are left up to the division or group leader, a conversation with human resources beforehand could be helpful to build confidence or perhaps get them in your corner ahead of time,” he added.
Finally, Kaye/Bassman’s energy practice founder advised experienced oil and gas professionals not to be surprised by the awkwardness of this type of conversation.
“No matter what your relationship is with your boss, this is almost always an awkward conversation. Don’t be surprised by that,” he said.
“If you’re confident enough to know you realistically deserve more, then you should be able to get through this conversation,” he added.
Craig Slater and Sara Howren, recruitment directors at Airswift, a global workforce solutions provider for the energy sector, advised experienced oil and gas professionals looking to negotiate a pay rise to “get up-to-date statistics that back-up the request”.
“Reach out to professional and social forums containing people in similar roles. Use job boards and organizations such as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development to compare job roles and salaries,” they told Rigzone.
“It will also be helpful to reach out to agencies who are close to the market and will know exactly how to advise on market rates for salaries,” they added.
The recruitment directors also advised experienced oil and gas professionals to “clearly understand the deliverables required by one’s job and track achievements and progress against them in annual performance reviews”.
Offering his guidance for experienced oil and gas pros looking to negotiate a pay rise, Huw Rothwell, North America managing director at Petroplan, said “if you don’t ask, you won’t get”.
The Petroplan representative also advised this group to remember that today’s market is not 2013’s market and to be “realistic” with their salary expectations.
“While a salary increase is always welcome, think how important the salary increase is to you and what you are willing to do if it isn’t forthcoming. The market is still in transition and are you willing to ‘rock the boat’,” Rothwell said.
“With that being said, the senior candidate market is now beginning to warm up and high caliber business leaders with sought after skills are always in demand,” he added.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Further OPEC+ Production Cuts Are Still on the Table
- USA Steel Major Taps ExxonMobil for Carbon Capture
- India to Boost Renewables Capacity, Avoid New Coal Plants
- Aramco Holds Talks with Turkish Firms on $50B Planned Projects
- Chevron to Have Wastewater Pipeline for Permian Operation
- Kinder Morgan to Expand Gas Capacity at Texas Gulf Coast Facility
- QatarEnergy to Supply Bangladesh with LNG under 15-Year Deal
- ADNOC Drilling Beefs Up Hybrid Land Rig Fleet
- Woodside Awards Contracts for Decommissioning of Australia Fields
- Increasing Refinery Runs Should Tighten Direct Crude Balances
- Which Generation Is Most in Demand in Oil, Gas Right Now?
- Is There a Danger That Oil and Gas Runs out of Financing?
- North America Rig Count Reduction Rumbles On
- Exxon and Chevron Shareholders Reject Toughening Climate Goals
- Will the World Hit Net Zero by 2050?
- Analyst Flags USA-Made Oil, Gas Field Machinery Order Trend
- Kenya Airways Becomes First African Airline to Fly on Eni's SAF
- Canada Gas Output Rebounds as Wildfires Subside: S&P Global
- ConocoPhillips Preempts TotalEnergies' Sale of Surmont
- NOAA Reveals Outlook for 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season
- Who Is the Most Prolific Private Oil and Gas Producer in the USA?
- USA EIA Slashes 2023 and 2024 Brent Oil Price Forecasts
- BMI Reveals Latest Brent Oil Price Forecasts
- OPEC+ Has Lots of Dry Powder for Further Cuts
- Could the Oil Price Crash in 2023?
- Which Generation Is Most in Demand in Oil, Gas Right Now?
- Is There a Danger That Oil and Gas Runs out of Financing?
- Invictus Strikes Oil, Gas in Zimbabwe
- BMI Projects Gasoline Price Through to 2026
- What Will World Oil Demand Be in 2023?