But as the previous generation heads for retirement – and aided by changes in the tax regime and our ever greater thirst for energy – there is one industry heading for a jobs boom.

The oil and gas sector needs to recruit 120,000 new employees worldwide over the next decade to avoid a skills shortage, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers research, and companies in the sector are pushing hard to attract employees into the interesting and exciting – not to mention well remunerated – industry.

The sector is well placed to benefit from this employment boom: the 2012 Budget introduced tax breaks that industry experts say is driving record investment in North Sea exploration, estimated to be running at £13bn this year and predicted to rise higher in 2014.

The industry fits in well with the Government’s desire to rebalance the economy – the engineering and science expertise required in the sector is highly exportable – as well as hopes to boost STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in schools and universities.

There are many ways of breaking into the industry but a good starting point is one of the industry recruitment sites such as rigzone.com or oilcareers.com, offering the chance to find out about the industry and browse the thousands of jobs available.

Another is the Offshore Europe event running from September 3 to 6 in Aberdeen. This biennial conference discusses issues the industry faces but also offers those thinking about a career in the sector a chance to meet with future employers.

One recent entrant to the industry is Mark Mallin, who spent four years as an engineering technician on Royal Navy submarines. He joined engineering group XPD8 Solutions in Aberdeen – the capital of the UK oil and gas industry – and sees the job as a career for life after leaving the military.

“This is probably the one place that hasn’t been affected by the credit crunch and the lack of jobs,” says the 24-year-old.

“The amount of jobs up here; it’s scary to be honest. If you go on to one of the careers websites there are literally hundreds if not a couple of thousand jobs every day.

“There will always be a need for energy. In terms of pay you’ll be lucky to get anywhere near as much money as here. I don’t want to say it’s all about the money because it’s about the potential you have – you can really set up your life by working here.”

Mr Mallin left the Navy without a degree and was surprised by the work available compared with his native Sunderland but admits he initially had trouble getting his foot in the door. “I thought with my experience in the Navy I’d have no trouble but it took nine or 10 months,” he says, adding that he was taken on because an employer who had been in the merchant Navy recognised his potential.

“Companies ask for an experienced guy but a lot of the experienced guys are retiring or coming onshore to work so they need to widen it up a bit. They have got to think outside the box.”

As a result Mr Mallin recommends potential recruits do all they can to make themselves stand out from the crowd. One way is to obtain the basic offshore safety and survival training (BOSIET) certification – the course that teaches a basic knowledge of safety issues for offshore installations and how to deal with events such as helicopter emergencies.

“The course lasts three days and costs about £800, which is a lot for someone coming out of university but it’s good for four years and will give you a good foot in the door and see what the industry is about,” says Mr Mallin. “Companies will also see you are really interested and it’s another check in the book.”

Those still in education but considering a career in the industry would do well to listen to the advice of Lyle Andrews, BP’s head of graduate recruitment, although he admits oil and gas as a sector might have had problems in the past.

“The industry has been poor in talking about what we do and why it is exciting,” he says.

“The reality is that some of the other industries are desperate for good STEM talent. They are very aggressively targeting these people and the reality is that they are selling them something in a lot of ways that is not as interesting a prospect as we have to offer.”

While banking or consultancy might seem attractive, Mr Andrews warns that the reality is “sitting in front of a spreadsheet doing financial modelling”.

BP, he adds, means “working with really exciting kit doing stuff that is important for the world as well as being at the cutting edge of technology”.

The industry is now communicating this to students and as a result is luring what Mr Andrews terms “top tier” graduates.

“We show people that it brings them back to the reason they decided to study science or engineering.”

He encourages those still in education to get as much industry experience as they can while studying – BP runs internships and “Discovery Days”, offering a chance to learn about the sector, as well sending staff to campuses to talk to students.

He adds that the responsibility quickly given to employees working with equipment worth tens of millions and the chance to advance rapidly also attracts those with adventurous personalities to the sector.

Dominic Simpson, head of sales at rigzone.com, agrees. “What attracts people is the very steep learning curve and taking on some real responsibility. That’s the element that excites people.

“They can very quickly be involved in some of the biggest projects in the world working in some very remote locations on exciting developments.”

The industry isn’t without risk as the recent fatal helicopter crash in the North Sea and the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico show. But it’s not without excitement, says Mr Andrews. “It’s natural for more adventurous sorts to be attracted without any intervention from us to seek out a career [in the sector].”

Mr Simpson agrees that those seeking a job out-of-the-ordinary would do well to look at oil and gas. “Ex-military personnel are in high demand, partly because they are adventurous but also because they are well-trained, safety conscious, disciplined and very dependable.”

He adds that there are specialised courses available to turn those who have left the Armed Forces into attractive recruits for the sector.

Starting salaries are £35,000 to £40,000, according to Mr Simpson. In fact, he sees such a long-term future for the industry that he’s intent on making it a family business.

“There are tens of thousands of jobs in oil and gas worldwide and with fracking development in this country potentially many more,” he says. “I tell my 10-year-old to get an engineering degree so he can get into the business.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/10286787/Oil-and-gas-sector-needs-120000-new-employees.html