Christopher Gordon

2008 Saltire Scholar: Wood Group, Houston

As The Saltire Foundation alumni network grows bigger and stronger, we love getting the chance to catch up with Scholars from down the years and it is always refreshing to hear of all the exciting things that our talented young people have been getting up to since their Saltire Foundation journey began.

Christopher Gordon graduated from Heriot-Watt University in 2009 with a Master of Arts in Management with Business Law. As an undergraduate, he became a Saltire Scholar when he travelled to Houston, Texas to intern with Wood Group in 2008.

The Internship

"My experience with Wood Group provided me with a fantastic learning curve, allowing me to deliver projects for the business in the functional areas of Corporate Communications, Accounting and Finance, Business Development and International Human Resource Management. I feel the whole experience provided me with a terrific insight into the culture, business core values, customer focus and synergies that exist in Wood Group and this most definitely motivated me to aspire to commence a career in the energy industry."

Christopher's internship left a huge impression on him, and led him to do a case study on Wood Group for his dissertation when he returned to university. He was able to use the contacts he made to produce an outstanding piece of research and was awarded the "BP Prize for Excellence" from the school of Management and Languages for the best dissertation of the year.

After University

After graduating in 2009, Christopher applied to join Wood Group's Project Controls Graduate Scheme. Having been successful in doing so, he has now worked on three different placements and has seen huge developments in his industry knowledge. He has even been recognised for his achievements, being awarded the Association for Project Management qualification and also being the winning project manager of the Wood Group PSN entry to the APM Scottish Project Management Challenge 2011.

"Currently, I am progressing through my graduate development having enjoyed the challenges to date spanning from presentations to over 100 people, compiling a graduate development manual (which has been rolled out across the company) and making visits to offshore installations to develop my knowledge of one of Wood Group PSN's core business areas.

Alumni Opportunities

Christopher has continued to make the most of being a Saltire Scholar and has even represented his cohort of Scholars at a Saltire Foundation event in London where he got to meet businessman and entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter, who gave him the opportunity to address the audience and share his experiences with them. Furthermore, as a result of attending the London event, Christopher was given the opportunity to meet Wood Group PSN CEO Bob Keiller, who discussed with him his vision for the future of Wood Group PSN and gave him some tips for the future.

"I am excited for what opportunities the future will bring where I will always strive to reach my full potential. It is also a very exciting time for the Saltire Foundation and I am delighted to be working as a Scholar and alumni member on the front line in supporting the aims and values of the Foundation, where I am confident the emerging networks of Scholars and Fellows will have a hugely positive effect on Scotland's future. I, for one am ready to play my part for Scotland.

Christopher was recently approached to provide an employee profile on Wood Group's corporate website which can be viewed here:

http://www.woodgroup.com/our-people/employee-stories/story-3/pages/default.aspx