2 Days So Far as a Shell Trainee

So this is where it all begins. An 8-month internship with Shell Refinery Company, Port Dickson. In the Quality, Health, Safety, Security and Environment Department (QHSSE). It's a large-scoped department, taking care of the safety and quality of products that comes out of this massive refinery. 

I decided to record my experience as a trainee here for future references for any juniors wanting to know what it's like to work here. I know I didn't have any guidance when securing a place here, the seniors I've asked were helpful but in a different department or couldn't be bothered at all to help me with questions I've had in mind. Also these future experiences are a reminder to myself of how to prepare for future careers and hopefully these posts help me in a way to build my confidence over the years. 

Bear in mind, I'll only talk about the general experiences and won't go into details as I do wish to keep a lot of the company's work details confidential. Instead I'll share observations and lessons learnt, in hope to inspire younger students to go out and always try their best in accomplishing something.

Okay, so Day 1!

I enter the main building overly dressed (in slacks and a shirt for heaven's sake) and nervously waited for my Supervisor to arrive to bring me in. Shell's security is really tight and not just anyone can get in. After he arrived I got in the elevator with non other than the Managing Director (aka Big Boss) of Shell, and I didn't know it at the time! Oh my God, I just wanted to smack myself in the head for not knowing. But even if I did, I probably would have done the same thing I did to him, SMILE like the fresh-faced trainee that I am. 

Anyway, I was introduced to the staff who were surprisingly very friendly and cheerful. Joined a brief meeting and presentation later in the evening. 

And what I learned from these two situations is that engineering (even off-plant) will always be the place where critical thinking takes place. People keep challenging your suggestions, not to mock or insult, but to ensure your idea is a solid feasible one. And it's better to ask of uncertain things than to assume you knew. It's vital to always be on top of things and ask immediately of any uncertainties. Because assumptions left over time pretty much produces havoc later.

Another thing I learnt was that even thought the subject HSE was boring as hell back in UTP, here in Shell it's a really respectable department. Safety is always number one, you need a permit to do anything in the area, and you do have the proper acquisition to make decisions. My SV is the Safety Officer of Shell and I truly respect him because he has over 20 years of plant experience before going into management and that defeats the idiotic, imbecilic statement of which HSE doesn't require any technical knowledge. 

Well, without technical knowledge how can you ensure that hazards are properly identified and isolated from the situation? Operations Safety is very important here, and my first lesson of the day: 

Never allow general stereotypes made by inexperienced students who knows crap about the industry, affect your views of your workplace. 

EACH department is important and contributes greatly to the company. My views towards HSE changed on that first day when I realized, despite staying in the office and visiting the plant less frequently, QHSSE still have to know what goes on in there in order to maintain a sense of protection and safety for hundreds of its workers. And that's how Shell maintains it's high safety reputation. 

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I was chatting to a friend and he asked me of my routine at Shell and how it'll be like. When I explained that it's mostly management work and related to safety, he responded:

"Oh well at least you get to go the plant, so that's OKAY"

I felt that it was implied I was in a sad position to be stuck in front of the computer and that I was barely lucky to make it into the plant every once in a while. And that is the typical generalization of any engineering student. That only the job worthy of any engineer, is IN the plant. And no where else. He might mean well, but for the sake of realizing something new...

It brought me to another lesson of the day:

Experience, wisdom, lessons, information, knowledge should NEVER be restricted to just the plant for an engineer. It's everywhere. Literally. 

In the plant, outside it, in the files, computers, meeting rooms, cabinets. I opened the files at my trainee desk and I learn something new with each page I flip through. It's all so new to me that I don't even mind not going to the plant all that frequently. Because I'm still learning.

What's so bad about that? No knowledge is ever wasted. Be it engineering knowledge, people skills, soft skills, etc. I truly believe that any knowledge my SV or staffs are willing to impart on me, is already a blessing given by Allah for me to learn and improve. 

And I would never restrict myself to just gaining it in the plant. 

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So that's just a little bit of what I wanted to share with you guys. Sorry for the long post, but I hope you understand where I'm coming from. I'm still fresh and excited to enter the industry and I'm willing to learn about anything as long as someone's willing to teach.

I've heard of stories where big companies don't give much work to trainees cause they have enough resources. Well, a girl in my department just resigned and her previous project (which I know ziltch about at the moment) is about to be handed to me for the next 8 months. So that's one thing on my plate after this haha.

It all depends on your rezeki and we should never ever say that a department is boring because in the engineering world, everything is unpredictable and valuable too. 

May ALLAH ease my work and give me the strength to persevere any challenges He sends my way. 

Till the next entry.

Have a wonderful and inspiring weekend :)