Going From Employee to Employer

Abstract

The Way Ahead Interview: Leadership 360 How did you come up with the idea of Collarini Energy Staffing? My original company was called Collarini Engineering, and we did reserve evaluations for bank loan determination, year-end reserve reporting, field studies, acquisition analysis, and divestment support. This required me to hire engineers, geologists, geophysicists, and support people. One of our clients, who often hired us to work on offshore field study projects, told me that he had a team that was missing an engineer and wanted to hire one of mine on an hourly basis for a couple of months. That day it occurred to me that we could serve our clients in a different way, and I incorporated Petro- Temps, which is now renamed Collarini Energy Staffing. What attributes do you look for when choosing candidates for consulting? Consulting requires a certain amount of experience, technical or professional ability, and the confidence to make decisions. It also requires someone who can stick to their scientifically supportable opinion or finding, and not be unduly affected by client pressure. Finally, it is important to have references from prior clients, if any. Many people are not suited to consulting; a good consultant must be a team player and respect the client. He or she must be able to defend and document his or her work. And, I always ask about the need for medical and other insurances. That is a cost that must be considered if there are not other arrangements, such as a spouse who can cover the family. For many people whom I have hired as consultants to my businesses, it did not work out. But, for a lot of them it did.