Interns share the start of their journeys at Helmerich and Payne.
H&P’s internship program offers college students the opportunity to gain hands-on knowledge of the oil and gas industry and learn about H&P’s core values and business practices. The program has launched the careers of multiple executives at H&P as well as many successful individuals in the energy industry.
This summer, 13 interns joined our engineering, finance, accounting and operations teams. Whether working remotely, in a corporate office or even living on a rig site, this program provides an experience like no other that can be applied in students’ future careers. Hear from two of our current interns, as well as a former intern about their unique journeys during their internships.
Connor Brown- Summer 2021 and 2022 intern
Connor Brown is a rising senior at the Colorado School of Mines, majoring in computer science. This summer is his second internship with H&P, and he is currently working with the software engineering team.
“The projects I have been working on have been completely new to me,” he said. “My colleagues at H&P have been very supportive and everyone has been excited to see the work I was completing. I have loved every minute of it.”
One of the highlights of his internship experience this summer was visiting a rig. “As a computer science student, I never thought I’d end up going out into the field,” he said. “It really opened my eyes to how the work I was doing was being applied in the real world. It was a great experience to see the whole picture of what everyone’s work at H&P accomplishes.”
Another valuable piece of his internship experience has been the mentor relationships. This summer his mentor has been Mitulkumar Patel, Software Engineer.
“Everyone who I have worked with at H&P has had so much knowledge to pass along which has been great,” he said. “In the software world, there seems to be a second language of technical jargon which took me a couple of weeks to understand. Having subject matter experts available to me to break it down has been extremely helpful.”
The biggest lesson he has learned during both of his H&P internships has been how to be a confident team player.
“I came in nervous about whether I would be successful at this job, but now I am confident that I have what it takes,” he said. “Now my mentor is cracking jokes and asking if I’m just an intern. That personal growth has been amazing.”
Gloria Lee- Former Intern and current Associate Engineer
Gloria Lee recently started her full-time career at H&P as an associate engineer, but her H&P Journey began her freshman year at the University of Tulsa during her first internship. That summer, she interned as a floorhand on Rig 542.
“I was really fortunate because I had an awesome crew and was constantly learning about the positions on the rig and processes that each employee engages in while being trusted with more hands-on responsibilities,” she said. “During the three two-week hitches that I worked, I was able to observe several wells being completed from start to finish and see the casing and cementing process that follows. I refer back to what I learned during this experience all the time in my current role in our engineering team.”
After this first internship, she then had two other internships with the Reporting and Advanced Analytics team and the Operations Support Group. “Working in a remote corporate environment was much different than the physical work I did on the rig. However, being able to experience both what occurs in the field and in the office has given me a well-rounded perspective of the energy industry.”
Following these experiences, she made the decision to accept a full-time job offer with H&P following her graduation—mostly based on the support she felt from employees across the company. While working remotely she made it a priority to talk to as many different people in the company as possible. “It was important to me to meet people with experience in the industry to help figure out my career path. Especially people like Cori Nell (H&P’s Manager, Product Management), who was able to become a mentor to me as a female engineer who I could talk about the ins and outs of drilling with.”
Gloria kept a journal during her internships to document her experience and learnings, which has become a sentimental item to her. The journal chronicles what she learned about the drilling process, including tripping pipe, the pipe delivering system and observations about the different positions on the rig. “Not only has it been helpful for me from a technical perspective, but it’s a daily reminder of how much my rig crew and mentors became my family during those experiences as an intern.”