Oil industry option for personnel

About 25 companies from the sector are involved in the event

Personnel leaving the armed forces are being offered help to find new jobs in the oil and gas industry.

Hundreds of staff scheduled to leave the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy in the near future are in Aberdeen for a major careers fair.

The event offers them the chance to speak to representatives from about 25 companies in the sector.

The event has been organised by Scottish Enterprise Grampian and the Careers Transition Partnership (CTP).

Many have recently completed tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and a large number have come from overseas bases to be at the fair at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC).

The oil and gas industry is incredibly buoyant and needs the right people with the right skills to make sure it stays that way into the future Ian Heywood Scottish Enterprise Grampian

Vacancies exist in areas including project management, engineering and mechanics.

Ian Heywood, director of growing business and skills at Scottish Enterprise Grampian, said: "The oil and gas industry is incredibly buoyant and needs the right people with the right skills to make sure it stays that way into the future.

"We have had 30 years of the North Sea oil and gas industry and there are another 30 years of reserves still there so this is an industry which will continue to provide excellent career opportunities well into the future.

"We have been working closely with partners on a range of measures to address the skills shortages being experienced and attract people into the industry from other industries and obviously there are many people at the fair with skills which are in demand."

'Excellent quality'

Mr Heywood said he hoped many of those attending the event would get the chance to work in the north east and "enjoy the excellent quality of life we have".

Romana Grant, regional employment and training manager for CTP in Scotland, said: "We have hosted a number of very successful employment fairs and company presentation events relating to oil and gas opportunities in the past and placed a high number of service leavers in roles within this sector.

"It is one of the few industries offering a range of opportunities in Scotland and beyond which also meet the needs and expectations of service leavers, who can offer a wide range of transferable skills and experiences to prospective employers."