From freezing cold to surfing weather, it鈥檚 all in the challenge
Joining Shell right out of university, Lieuwe is a well reservoir facility management specialist turned senior data analyst. Across years and geographic locations, he talks about finding his calling, and his dedication to his family.
How did you come to be a part of Shell?
I graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Applied Physics before eventually earning a bachelor鈥檚 and then a master鈥檚 degree in Industrial Engineering and Management. That was when Shell snapped me up, right out of university in the Netherlands. I鈥檝e worked here since.
My career within Shell has been quite diverse, and that鈥檚 what I like most about it. I started in the Netherlands in Smart Wells, in a dual role within the purview of technology as well as classical petroleum engineering for the oil and natural gas upstream business. I was a petroleum hire at the time, and not IT. But to make your career in Shell, you need to get operational experience with whatever your core field is.
How did you make the jump from petroleum engineering to IT?
For almost a decade after my stint in the Netherlands, I worked all over the world, including in Siberia, China, and Brunei. I dabbled a bit in coding throughout my career but I hadn鈥檛 worked much with specifically IT or digitalisation projects. On my last project in Brunei, my technology-related skills grew leaps and bounds, both with more classical technologies like SQL and GIT, as well as more modern tech like Tensorflow and Databricks.
I loved that challenge and found myself wanting to explore coding and machine learning further. When I returned to the Netherlands a couple of years ago, I switched over to an full-time. I started on the analytics side of things before gradually transitioning to a more business-facing role, translating what the business needs digitalisation-wise into programs.
Lieuwe, Senior Data Analyst (IDA)鈥淭here鈥檚 always room for proactive people. We鈥檙e given a lot of freedom to ask Shell for support to solve these challenges. If you can articulate a need and its value, there鈥檚 always room to tackle it yourself.鈥�
What is something you鈥檝e achieved with Shell that you hadn鈥檛 considered before?
One of the nice things is that for all the jobs I鈥檝e held within Shell, even the ones I was reluctant about in the beginning, there was always a lot of freedom to shape it around my interests and skill sets. When I was posted in Brunei, I saw the opportunities in digitalisation and data science and got to explore them to fix our challenges at the time. And what happened in the process is that I began upskilling in those areas, and now I get to deepen that knowledge and become a wholly qualified professional, making it a new core strength that I can rely on.
Shell is a large organisation, so there will always be challenges to overcome. But that means there鈥檚 always room for proactive people. We鈥檙e given a lot of freedom to ask Shell for support to solve these challenges. If you can articulate a need and its value, there鈥檚 always room to tackle it yourself.
How has your experience of Shell鈥檚 work culture been?
My work-life balance has been quite good throughout my career. There鈥檚 always been a genuine interest and concern for the well-being of each other here at Shell. Especially when employees like me are sent on international projects, being able to depend on each other is critical. I was always appreciative that at Shell the importance of family is understood and prioritised. We can take the time when we need it. All of us here are committed to putting our shoulders to a task and getting it done, but we understand that family comes first.
There鈥檚 no micromanaging either, we鈥檙e allowed to manage our own time when delivering quality work. That practice has only gotten stronger in response to the pandemic, and nowadays even part-time work is normal.
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Lieuwe, Senior Data Analyst (IDA)鈥淚鈥檝e learned so much from my co-workers that I barely recognise myself now compared to when I started my career, whether that鈥檚 juggling projects, scheduling, or stakeholder management.鈥�
I have young kids at home so I try to spend as much time as I can with my family. Both of them had atypical childhoods, born in China, growing up in Brunei, and now living in the Netherlands. It鈥檚 still early, but I hope they鈥檙e picking up the importance of family, though I鈥檒l have to check back in with them in a decade. But they鈥檙e why I now work part-time, four days a week and nine hours a day. I get to spend a lot of time with them when they鈥檙e out of school, so I hope it shows them how important they are to me.
As for myself, I鈥檝e picked up a love of water sports over the years that I try to nourish now and then. I do a little wave surfing, a little windsurfing, and wingfoiling. I try to spend much of my remaining personal time on the water.
What do you think of the people around you at Shell?
I can consistently only say good things about my colleagues. They鈥檙e all capable, keen to learn, and have been a joy to work with. I鈥檝e learned so much from my co-workers that I barely recognise myself now compared to when I started my career, whether that鈥檚 juggling projects, scheduling, or stakeholder management.
If you鈥檙e a newcomer, people want to know that you have technical expertise, but they don鈥檛 expect it from day one. What you should have, however, is a curiosity to learn. You need to be able to diversify and upgrade your skills, not to mention the courage to speak up and ask questions or try new things.
Looking back at my career, it wasn鈥檛 always easy. There have been quite some challenges, like when I was a twenty-something working on rotation in the oil fields of Siberia, not knowing much Russian at all. But when you step up to a challenge, you learn an incredible amount from it. So far, that鈥檚 always worked out for me.
