Dahill Group seeks potential employees for oil and gas clients throughout Colorado, Texas and Wyoming.
Elizabeth Dahill’s involvement in the oil and gas industry can be traced back to her roots, growing up in Wyoming in a family that owned and operated an oilfield well site. She’s been immersed in the industry, and it has been a part of her since as long as she can remember.
Today, Dahill has been in recruiting for over 20 years, having spent 17 years of her career as an executive vice president at a national recruiting firm. As the oil and gas industry began to boom, in 2013 she decided to take the opportunity to go back to her oil industry roots and launch her own oil and gas recruiting firm, The Dahill Group.
The Dahill Group is an executive oil and gas recruiting firm headquartered in Denver, and offers a full range of recruitment and executive search services in Texas and Wyoming.
OIL AND GAS RECRUITING
While Dahill is in charge of operations and is the executive recruiter, she relies on her family members to give her insights into specifics about the industry within their respective fields. The Dahill Group also consists of Elizabeth’s brothers, Robert and James, who are advisers for the company. “I rely on them to provide guidance at times when it is difficult for me to be able to identify some types of specific talent that my client is looking for,” Dahill says.
Oil and gas recruiters tend to work in specialized areas, such as engineering, geosciences or oilfield services. “The Dahill Group specializes in mid- and executive-level placements in the areas of executive, legal, finance, land, business operations, investor relations, regulatory, compliance and engineering,” Dahill says.
The firm also provides consulting services to candidates, from offering market insight to input on improving and tailoring resumes, and how to effectively conduct a job search.
The Dahill Group works with a variety of clients, from large international corporate clients to small E&P companies, as well as companies in the midstream sector. The Dahill Group is hired by the client rather than the candidate.
“When we are hired by a client to conduct a search, we leverage our connections and expertise to help them find and hire the top talent in the market,” Dahill says. “We have developed long-term relationships in the industry — some going back 18 years. We stay abreast of changes in the industry and stay involved in the oil and gas community, which makes us uniquely positioned in understanding the needs of our clients.”
GETTING HIRED
When the client hires The Dahill Group, they’ll ask for Dahill and her team to go into the market to find that top talent. “We do that by having access and resources into the executive-level management teams of the oil and gas companies, whether it’s large integrated majors or small midstream companies,” Dahill says. “To be able to do that and tap into those resources, you really need to be heavily involved in the industry and participate in associations, and understand specifically what it is they do and understand the challenges they face in the market.”
When a client looking to fill a specific opening states to Dahill exactly what the company wants, that’s when Dahill searches for the ideal candidates for the job.
“We evaluate that candidate’s skills, their experience, their background,” Dahill says. “If they are a match for what the client is looking for, then we go back to the client to let them know we’ve identified a candidate or candidates.”
DOWNTURN TAKES ITS TOLL
When Dahill launched the company in 2013, the oil and gas industry was in a boom cycle. Dahill was able to take advantage of the abundant opportunities to service the industry’s hiring needs. But, the oil and gas industry is cyclical, and there are obstacles to overcome in both the boom and bust parts of the cycle.
“Companies were frantically hiring in 2012 and 2013, and business was insane,” Dahill says. “The laws of supply and demand are always at play in this industry. During the most recent boom, companies were scrambling to find talent, which meant the demand for top-tier candidates was high while the supply was low. Now, the opposite phenomenon is occurring — there is an abundant supply of top-tier candidates, but companies are wary to hire in times like these, which makes demand low.”
Dahill forecasts a rough road ahead through the remainder of 2016 for most in the oil and gas industry. She notes that people have asked her why she doesn’t retool herself and start recruiting in a different industry, but she doesn’t believe in giving up on a path she’s chosen.
“I’ve been through a boom and bust before, and while it is never easy, I believe one of the greatest values of our firm is that we are partners with our clients and candidates for the long haul,” Dahill says.
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