The real success story of NAOC is its people. Since the beginning of 1997, our staff has grown to 26. There are 20 full-time Azerbaijani staff and six expatriates permanently assigned to Baku from the partner companies who are responsible for drilling, geoscience and finances. The Azerbaijani staff forms the core of NAOC, mainly in positions of accounting, administration, drilling, engineering, geoscience and other disciplines. The ages of the employees range from 19 to 50.
Women make up the majority, including the top national position.
Staffing the new consortium was a challenge those first few months. The recruiting assessment included questions about what prospective employees expected from NAOC and how they would solve and deal with specific problematic situations. In addition, NAOC is involved with training to ensure that employees have an opportunity to reach their full potential. Two Azerbaijani staff members have recently returned from separate assignments in the U.S. where they worked and trained with new geoscience and computer technology. She also got the chance to visit NAOC's partner company offices of Amoco and Unocal in Houston to learn how computing technology is managed in large corporations.