Case studies: Well engineer: Kes Evoy

Before graduating with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering with Management Techniques from the University of Edinburgh, Kes already knew he wanted to work abroad. Spending his third year of university in Sydney, Australia was a superb experience and further inspiration to work abroad

International opportunities looked to be best in the oil and gas sector when I graduated. With that in mind I applied to, and was accepted in, the graduate scheme of a mid-size oil and gas exploration company.

I joined as a well engineer - that's the job for the engineers putting holes in the ground out of which oil and gas gets produced. I applied for the graduate programmes with the major players in the industry as well, but was advised in interviews that I'd be UK-based for at least five years - that wasn't what I was looking for.

Since joining four years ago, I have ended up living in Aberdeen (not very international, but a necessary start in the industry), Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria. Through work or training I have enjoyed short trips to the USA, Tanzania and the Netherlands. Right now I am back living in Egypt and I'll be here for the next three years. The work I am doing (offshore Mediterranean drilling) is very interesting, and the region is making history right now.

Moving around a lot has been difficult sometimes - you make friends and then before you know it you are having leaving parties. However, the friends I've made have been very mobile and international themselves, and I find I continue to meet up with them wherever I go. Certainly, each new culture has its quirks, but the excitement of being abroad and discovering new places offsets the difficulty of getting used to new behaviours and languages.

I find that the expat communities are dominated by oil and gas workers, teachers, the diplomatic corps and bankers. There are others, but those professions come up again and again. For anyone hoping to make a career out of working abroad after graduation, I would highly recommend following one of these avenues. 

As I noted, sometimes the largest names in any industry, while operating globally, will not offer international postings because they already have enough locally employed staff abroad to run their businesses. Be sure to get details of international work in any interview. A smaller, but growing firm may offer some of the best chances for international work.