Summary Findings Independent Assessment by Transparency Azerbaijan of the BP 2004-2005 Annual Recruitment Program (Septmber 12, 2005)

Over the period of October 2004-April 2005 Transparency Azerbaijan conducted an independent assessment of BP 2004-2005 annual recruitment program. The assessment started in October 2004 concurrent with the launch of BP's annual recruitment campaign in Azerbaijan, at the initiative of BP, who invited TA to observe and evaluate its 2005 annual recruitment programme.

Considering that oil production is crucial for Azerbaijan and that BP is the largest employee in the industry, the recruitment practices that the company undertakes are of considerable social significance and as such shall be evaluated by the civil society in Azerbaijan.

The purpose of the assessment was to compare if BP hiring practices were consistent with pre-determined criteria established by BP in adverts and communications materials and validate their consistency to the principles of transparency and fairness set out in the recruitment process.

Overall BP's Annual Recruitment Programme abides by the company's internal standards and the process of selection of candidates is conducted in a transparent and fair way. Based on what TA was able to observe, the selection process is conducive to hiring applicants with the highest qualifications as set out in BP's advertisements.

In general, the selection process meets BP's ethical conduct principles and follows international best practices.

In terms of communication between applicants and BP during the selection process, TA observed that the company takes an extra effort to ensure that applicants are properly informed during the different stages of the selection process.

The evaluation process was based on a comprehensive look at the hiring procedure, which included TA's participation in and monitoring the recruitment process from the initial pre-screening of applications to interview sessions.

TA also provided BP with a number of suggestions to further improve the hiring process including:

• Providing more details about the hiring process and qualification requirements from the outset in order to avoid a number of unqualified candidates and make sure potential candidates understand that it is a lengthy process involving a number of test and interviews.
• Designing a more detailed assessment list for evaluators to be completed at various stages of the selection process.
• Publishing a list of those applicants offered the job with their scores for each respective selection stage.
• Considering the use of banners to be placed at popular Azeri websites or Internet forums.
• Providing more information to unsuccessful candidates about the reasons for rejection.

TA is expected to conduct a second review of BP's recruitment process in Azerbaijan and this will cover the 2006 cycle.

Media Contact:
Rena Safaralieva
Tel/fax: +994-12-920 422
transpaz@azeronline.com