Growing your career in a company that celebrates your success: Emily’s Story
Emily first became interested in working for bp as a sophomore at the University of Tulsa, where she majored in Business Management. She credits the bp Sophomore Experience – a one-week all-inclusive insight programme – with convincing her to apply for a graduate role
It was during this introductory experience that Emily first gained exposure to commodities trading, where she now works, as well as understanding more about the breadth of graduate roles on offer at bp: “During that week, I got to meet with marketers, traders, originators, schedulers, analysts - basically all aspects of the business – it really helped me understand bp’s supply, trading & shipping business on a deeper level”.
This inspired Emily to apply for a summer internship in Houston, which she completed before going into her senior year. A year later, she joined us on the trading & shipping graduate programme.
Growing in a supportive team
Emily is currently on her second of three rotations on the graduate programme, working as a marketing analyst on the natural gas liquids (NGL) team. In her role, she covers the Midwest US and the West Coast. Her day-to-day involves interacting with supply, trading & shipping customers and helping bp maintain these relationships by catering to their needs. She is also responsible for managing inventories and customer performance, as well as managing pricing for NGL terminals in the Midwest.
What she loves most about her role is the people she works with: “I think bp is a great company and the people that you're working with make it really easy to love what you do. Everyone is more than willing to help,” she says.
Being new to the company, she really appreciates how many resources bp offers to help graduates succeed:
She has especially appreciated bp’s approach during the Covid-19 pandemic, with its focus on work-life balance and wellbeing: “Something that bp really imparts on its employees is having a work-life balance. I think mental health is so important during this time and bp also makes a big push for that,” says Emily. “They encourage you to give your best in the office, but then also to step away and spend time on other things that are important.”
Celebrating difference
Since Emily joined bp, she’s also seen the trading floor become more reflective of society: “I think trading has historically been a very white, male-dominated industry, but bp is very conscious of that and really wants to move towards a different future.” She says at bp, it’s not about who you know or what you look like, but about the skills you bring to the table. She is pleased to have worked in very diverse teams in both in her current and previous rotation.
bp believes that different cultures bring a diversity of thought, which is what is important for business success. It’s something Emily appreciates, and doesn’t take for granted: