Andrew Corkan, 33, project engineer, Saipem Eni, Milan

I was a welder before studying mechanical engineering at Sheffield Hallam University. I started working for Saipem, a subsea installation company, straight from college and have been with them for five years.

We lay gas pipelines from a barge on to the seabed. I organise and supervise contractors: people who move the pipes from the boat to land, and those who clean them, and sometimes divers.

I’m responsible for preparing all the material for each project, and each one lasts about a year. I’m busy getting ready for the next, which will be a marine pipeline going from AlmerÍa in Spain to Algeria, and in April I’ll be moving to the vessel.

I’ve been involved in four projects so far, including in Vietnam and the Middle East. It’s a great opportunity to see the world. Plus the pay’s great when you’re out of the UK.

Sabina Astarita, 21, graduate mechanical engineer, Wood Group

I’m working on an onshore project in Shetland, designing a new plant for BP. The present facility is inefficient because it was built in the 1970s. I look at customer requirements, put forward proposals and source machinery.

The graduate scheme is rotational so I’ll move through departments. In a few months I might be doing piping or operations work on site. You can travel almost anywhere in the world.

I left university with a BEng and Wood Group is funding my studies: in four years I’ll be chartered. I’m also a part-time athlete and hoping to compete in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Long-term, though, I think I’ll stay in oil and gas. The opportunities are amazing.

Klaire Evans, 27, business development manager, Brinker Technology

When I left Exeter University with a masters in mechanical engineering I joined ExxonMobil as a graduate trainee. It’s a well-regarded scheme but it really wasn’t for me and I left after only a year. I was selling plastics and felt like I was such a tiny cog in a large machine that I couldn’t really make a difference.

So I took a chance – and a pay cut – and joined Brinker Technology in Aberdeen three years ago. Then it was a tiny firm selling a new way to seal leaks in piping. Today I travel around the world using my technical expertise to sell the product. It’s exciting to present something so innovative.

My advice to others is: don’t stick to the large corporations out of fear. Some of the most exciting work is being done by small, spin-out companies where you can have a real impact on shaping their future.

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