Rob van der Lee

Document & Data Management section of Total E&P Nederland, Netherlands

What is your current role? 

 

My current role is somewhere in between document controller and lead document controller.

 

I am working in and with a team of 7 people at the Document & Data Management section of Total E&P Nederland.

 

I am also the focal point for the document management tool Prodom.

 

Furthermore I act as the joint memory concerning documentation due to the fact that I have been working at Total E&P Nederland for 30 years.

 

Can you describe your professional experience? 

 

I started working at the age of 17 in an institution for mentally disabled people. At 18 I did my service in the Dutch army and I spent ½ a year in Lebanon as part of the UN peace keeping forces.  Hereafter I started working for Unocal at their supply base.

 

Next job was at a core analysis company, analyzing samples for oil/gas companies. Next on the list is a job at an archive storage company, my first encounter with document control. And in 1988 I ended up at Total E&P Nederland (at that time Elf Petroland) where I started at the Geosciences department. I was responsible for the drilling data.

 

After the drilling slowed down a lot I switched to the Engineering and Construction department. This proved to be a completely different world. Without any real technical knowledge I drove our engineers almost crazy with all the questions I had.

 

I come from the time when computers were just making their way into the offices. The differences between document control on hardcopies and how we do it today are gigantic. Computers have changed the role of document control beyond belief.

 

Which Consepsys course did you attend and when?

 

The Certified Document Controller course in sunny Aberdeen 2015 and the Advanced Document Control course in Amsterdam 2017. Planning on attending the Lead Document Control course in 2018. 

 

What did you think about the Consepsys course? How did it help you in your current role and career development?

 

The Consepsys courses are very well put together and a joy to attend. 

 

It is nice to be together with people who think alike for a change. You can explain the issues you bump into in your daily work and most of the people can relate to the same issues (without staring at you in a strange way).

 

For me the courses were a confirmation that I was doing my job the correct way, not having any official schooling in the Document Control trade. It shows that with common sense, logical thinking and communication you can come a long way. 

 

A final piece of advice from me to you is to never stop asking questions. The questions can be about document control but also about the content of the documents you handle. This will improve your skills!