Elke Koelman – Principal Recruitment Consultant, Self-Employed
Elke has had dreams of working in the oil and gas industry since she was young and her father, a Rig Manager for Schlumberger at the time, would tell her mad stories about the rig life offshore.
After obtaining her Bachelor of International Business and Management at the Amsterdam School of Business, during which time she interned at KPMG in Strategic and Commercial Intelligence, Elke began her career in recruitment.
When she was made Principal Consultant recruiting network engineers in IT in 2009, Elke thought it was the perfect time to make her way into the oil and gas industry.
She attributed part of this longing to join the oil and gas industry to the meaning and challenge of recruitment in the oil and gas compared to IT.
“As soon as I got promoted I requested to be transferred to work in oil and gas anywhere in the world – so they put me on a plane to Sydney within weeks,” she said.
“The roles I recruit for now are far more technically challenging and constantly evolving.
“Plus, everything involved in the oil and gas industry is world news and has an effect on economics and technical advancement.
“Placing an IT candidate is a tiny celebration compared to what you learn through dealing with companies specialising in robotics, ROVs and subsea technology.”
Elke’s work in recruitment is what drove her to join the Petroleum Club of WA 10 months ago.
“I enjoy networking with industry peers and getting to know professionals on a personal level rather than every encounter being a pure sales pitch,” she said.
“I think the events humanise our working relationships, and especially for my work in recruitment, my role becomes more accepted once I have met industry peers face to face in a social setting.
“I am only effective as a recruiter if I understand my candidates as well as my clients – both as people and professionals.”
When not working Elke loves water and swimming, which led her to playing in the Australian water polo team. She is also an avid painter, loves to cook every day, enjoys walking and hiking a few times a week, and spends a lot of time talking to people and reading, having not had a TV for 10 years.
Elke loves to travel and has focused on working in different parts of the world, starting with studying for a semester abroad in Cuenca, Ecuador.
Her work has taken her from Amsterdam to Sydney, and then to Perth in 2010 where Elke helped set up Charterhouse and REED’s oil and gas offices.
In 2015, Elke was offered a role in Houston, where she spent the next two years before coming back to Perth as an internal recruiter for Monadelphous.
After a year with Monadelphous, she decided she preferred working externally in a consultancy firm, which she did until being made redundant when COVID-19 emerged.
Elke’s love of travel drives her love of languages, of which she is fluent in French, Dutch, English and Spanish.
“If you want to get to know people of different cultures I figure you have to communicate with them in their language and on their terms.”