Getting Work on an Oil Rig

I've been pretty much living like a NEET for the past 6 months.
Finding even a shit job at the grocery store in my town has proven difficult.

I live about 40 minutes from downtown Houston and so I've decided to try and get a job working on an oil rig.
I do have a lot of contacts who work in the oil & gas business, but I'd prefer to get a job on my own merits.
I've contacted airswift for some help and information to get my foot in the door.

I don't know if this is the best way to go about it, but I don't know which company would be good, or really how to approach it otherwise.
I'd almost prefer to drive down town and visit some of the company HQs, but I would guess they'd probably just refer me to their website anyway.

Can any Texanons, or any anons famiiar with oil & gas, give me some guidance on the best way to enter this career field?

I realize this isn't a strictly Sup Forums approved topic, but I'd much rather bring this here than Sup Forums.
Besides, getting a real job and improving your station is very much in line with Sup Forumss sensibilities.
Any redpills related to oil & gas should also be dropped ITT.

One bump and then I'll bring this to Sup Forums

I assume all such positions are occupied by traveling al-queda of worshipful company of journeymen. You have to understand this CIA lemon party gestapo is like tv show survivor where jobs serve not as freedom is not free, but as bait. It's unlikely that they would pay all those outrageous salaries to outsiders.

I've heard about you

just lie about a little oilfield exp it's all stupid labor anyway 84 hour weeks 2 weeks in a row then 2 weeks to blow a wad of 6k usd I worked on a rig for 6 years I do granite work now but it's coming back check out oklahoma it's close and pays better than Texas still not as good as northdakota though

try

>but I'd prefer to get a job on my own merits.
Don't buy into that bullshit, user.

You'll probably get killed by pipe or get crushed under some mechanism.

This is not a job for NEETs

Good luck getting a job in oil if you don't know anyone.
t. petroleum engineer

if i lie and I am expected to know something, how is that gonna work out?

when this thread dies I'll give it a shot, thanks

is it really that hard even for entry level roustabouts?

I'm not actually a NEET, I just quit my dead-end job and started going to school on GI Bill.
I'd rather just have a decent job, making decent money

oil prices are down and there isn't much hiring going on in terms of grunt work. If you have a CDL or are some sort of tradesman, it'll be easier

>is it really that hard even for entry level roustabouts?
Why handicap yourself? No one else is playing fair, it's like being the only cyclist not doping it up.

I don't really have any of those skills. I've done home remodeling, that's the only kind of trade I know.

Maybe I'll just go for a job at one of the local walmarts.....

Start getting certs, my dude...first aid level 3, sour gas, water testing, fire suppression whatever...do some research and youll find out how to get prepared for it.

I'm a company man... Right now it's gonna be hard to get a job when so many guys have been out of work for 2-3 yrs. Give it time and openings will come, especially over the next 5-10 yrs.

Well my best contact is probably my gf's father.
He takes part in the design of new rigs and negotiates contracts for their construction.
Something about asking him for a favor, when my relationship is under strain from being out of work for so long doesn't sit right.

My second best contact is a friends father who I haven't spoken to in a couple years. I feel weird asking him for a favor out of the blue, after so much time.

What about a company like airswift? It seems like they're offering all kinds of perks just to get people into the job: relocation, training, etc..

I hopw you realize how physically strong you have to be to work this job, or any blue collar job.

Can you move 80lbs about 1000 times every day? While getting scratches and bruises and in the extreme heat? For 12-18 hours per day?

If you aren't 6ft, 200lbs and athletic then you can probably just forget about it.

-wildland firefighter here

also, rig life is rough as fuck if youre new...everyone there hates each other for the most part and are total fuckwads to each other on a daily basis. Everything and anything goes, including fistfights. You better be sure you want to work in some remote shitsite 14 days on, 2 days off or whatevre the fuck fucked up schedule they put you on. Camp life is ass, nothing but boredom unless you love TV and weightlifting. Snap drug testing too, cant forget about that because coked-up fuckwits are everywhere in the patch.

If you absoutely must be a rig pig, get in make your money and get the fuck out in a couple years.

Yes there are still jobs in the oil industry, theyre rehiring cause oil price is back around 50 a barrel or some shit.

I'll look into this, thanks

>Start getting certs, my dude...first aid level 3, sour gas, water testing, fire suppression whatever...do some research and youll find out how to get prepared for it.
don't bother with such "advice", unless your employer sends you and pays for it. Such education will only make you more agile, leaner due to weight loss program to your pockets.

Clear Lake sucks fuck off

>Lithuania telling me about my country and how it works

Shut the fuck up, improvements for needed certs get you a fucking interview here. Go back to blowing goats or whatever the fuck it is you homos do for work in the poor part of Europe

I've been involved in the oil and gas industry for nearly 5 years. If you want to work as a roughneck they will take you because you are young and dumb. Really. You need to be prepared to work your ass off 12 hours a day for 2 weeks straight. That being said, it pays a shit ton and you can advance rapidly if you don't pussy out or become disabled.

>but I'd prefer to get a job on my own merits.
yep, you are a numale

>I do have a lot of contacts who work in the oil & gas business, but I'd prefer to get a job on my own merits.

Are you fucking retarded?

How do you expect to get hired in an industry you have no experience in?

This bro knows whats up, we get rig pigs on our fir crews every year here for the quick cash and this is pretty much how its laid out, from what I've been told.

t. wildlands firefighter, type 2

I'll admit I've been slacking for the past 6 months, so I'm not as in good shape as I should be, and I've gained about 15lbs, drinking beer during all this free-time, but I am 6' 230lbs.

I read some descriptions and been watching videos on working the rig and off-shore life in general. It doesn't strike me as very different from military life. I was in the USMC for 5 years, so I think I could handle myself.

I don't use drugs, save alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine. Is there really a big drug problem on the rigs? One video I watched these guys were adding a section to the drill and the did it in like 30 seconds and everyone in the comments was talking about them being high.

>How do you expect to get hired in an industry you have no experience in?
so what was first: egg or chicken? maybe rooster fight club with their stonewalling rules is keeping everyone at bay?

>but I'd prefer to get a job on my own merits.

Swallow your pride until you have some experience, neetchild.

This. Be grateful and loyal to anyone who helps you get your foot in the door and work your ass off for them. The world runs on nepotism.

?

I don't want to ask favors of anyone. If Sup Forums thinks this is such a terrible idea, then I will reconsider.

I have no disillusions about how tough the job is. I am 30 btw, is this working against me?

I live in TX and work production at Cooper Tire in Arkansas. You could get a job here easy. They hire through a third party hiring agency, as I'm sure most major labor companies do. I applied through their website and they had a hire screening service call me back. Pass that and your on to the interview, but they need people so bad right I don't see you not passing it. If you don't mind 45k a year, a union, and living somewhere near East Tx I say apply.

Drugs are problems on some sites, with some companies but most test because of liability. Lots of money + free time so its coke or meth to get you through your shitty shifts. Most places with big money or unions have a drug problem on the worksite, one way or the other. Which is whatever if people wanna get high , the problem is if theyre operating machinery they may seriously injure or kill you.

Also as a Marine you should be ok on the rough end of things, as long as you keep your neck in...after 5 years in you probably know all about that though unlike a mouthy boot.

Making tires? What's the work schedule like? They fly you in?

>I do have a lot of contacts who work in the oil & gas business, but I'd prefer to get a job on my own merits.
Don't be stupid. Use any connection possible

If you were a marine and you feel like your spirit is the same now from when you were in there youll be fine but if you feel like your spirit is weaker than being a marine youll have trouble

And yeah, drugs are always a problem. Only very intense people do these types of jobs and that means they probably have to cope with it in some way. Since theyre gone for so long, they bring the drugs with them to the camps. If they spent 2-3 days, then a 1 day break, there would be less drugs at the camps. Its about the intensity of these people and the length they spend in a shit environment.

working with a bunch of druggies isn't the most appealing thought, but I guess you just have to be that much more vigilant when working around them.

What's it like being a wildlands firefighter? How does one get into that?

IF YOU HAVE CONNECTIONS USE THEM WTF I WISH I HAD CONNECTIONS
t. unemployed houstonfag who sells candy in the street to feed his dog

Keep pumpeen dat urff blood cuz! Muh company trucks needz it N sheit mang!

t.diesel mechanic

>but I'd prefer to get a job on my own merits.

Dont worry about this so much. If you have people willing to help you get a job that in itself is a merit.

I remember getting into a fist-fight with another marine because he stole my blender. I don't know if I'd be up for that kind of shit again, but I don't let people take advantage of me, if that's what you mean? Is there a lot of stupid games going on?

Since you were a marine I would look into EHS positions as well, we will generally hire most military on the spot with little to no thought about it. Right now I work for an Environmental Consulting firm, mostly site remediation, it pays well, but like others have said somewhat down right now. In houston I would look up Gryphon OFS, I know they are very keen on military, not a huge company, pretty easy to get a job. If you are willing to relocate, they are hiring at the Midland and Lindale branches as well. Buddy of mine works for Gryphon, so I know they are hiring currently.

Well probably that but if you workin too hard you wont have the energy for fuckery

I mostly mean the undying will within yourself to bust ass

Some people lose their undying will over the years

Wildlands sucks, so you need to embrace the suck. As we say "This sucks, but we LIKE the way it sucks'

Its minimum 12 hour days, day starts at 05, up to shit and get in chow line if at camp by 06 or you go hungry. Wheels rolling by 07, on the fireline by 08 to get morning sitrep with Meteorological, Incident Commander and First Aid. get the days intinerary and assignments and move out to our assigned sectors and work for the day. End of day, get back and attend another meeting like the AM one, dismissed. Crew rolls back to camp.

This may variate with hotel rooms, or sleeping on the fireline that night in a bag.

Its roughneckin, but its honest roughneckin. Been doin it for 5 years, im 47 now and doing it again soon.

You get into it by attending a course a company offers called the S-100 then get on a waiting list. In the US though, I think you guys do it through the USFS, I met a USFS guy from Arizona at he Canadian border when we chased a fire back across the US line..I think you need to actually join the USFS down there unlike up here where its private contract

Reservoir engineer here so I'm not out in the field much. You are probably not going to get a job offshore, the oil recession has led to a surplus of skilled offshore workers. Onshore in Texas there is a great surplus of workers, but in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Pennsylvania (and Ohio a little) there's a lower # of skilled out of work roughnecks.

I do know that Odessa frequently hosts job fairs for drivers/wireline operators/roughnecks so I'd look into that, but again you may run into the issue of competing with 1,000 men who have worked on a rig for 20+ years.

I truly fuckin love being a wildland firefighter

Im an outdoorsman

I am more content fighting a forest fire than being in town working a 9-5

This job keeps me from going crazy. Im a squad boss and a sawyer now and only coming on my 3rd year

22 years old

Don't be a stupid faggot and try it on your own merits, if you have resources available to you such as people vouching for you or talking to their supervisors for you then fucking do it you dumb fucking nigger.

There's no shame in doing anything you can to get a foot in the door because that's what the entire fucking world does to get ahead of everyone.

If you insist on doing it on your own merits then you are a lazy dumb nigger who is too much of a cuck to pick up the phone and dare interrupt and ask a favor of someone.

Really, don't be a stupid nigger.

I will look into the EHS and Gryphon. Do they help you with relocation?

Good on ya, my man...crew bossin is a tough gig (I did it in 2015 on two fires) and a lot of fuckery like being up before everyone else gettin shit ready, and being up later than everyone else gettin the truck ready for turnaround the next day and makin calls fuelling up etc. Isnt enough hours in a day!

Sawyer is good too, I dont run a saw because up here its very difficult to get a industry faller cert, thousands of dollars. But I am the crew medic (OFA-1) and am radio certed with own radio, and also certified Danger Tree Assessor (wildlands module)

Stick with it if you love it, I couldnt do anything else after doing this now..life is just too boring. I think this is what guys who have been to war feel like, you hate it but cant wait to get back to it.

also
>your feet are your money, be nice to them

I understand. I generally take pride in my work and I don't like fucking around when I'm at work.
Dealing with a bunch of trash tier people trying to distract me, is probably my biggest put-off.

They did at one point, now, I don't believe they do. Oil is too far down for them right now.

>Getting Work on an Oil Rig
while the wife gets to fuck her nig

Is there work everyday? what do you do if there's no fire?

>CIA lemon party gestapo
im here everyday yet this meme slipped by me. what did they mean by this?

Yep absolutely. Hiked across the canadian border in 2015 in washington to suppress a fire, so damn cool. Nothing is better than this job.

We lost 3 guys on the Twisp fire that year, really unfortunate.

Ok Sup Forums I will use my contacts

I just got my diploma in marine engineering. Oil rigs have different promotions and ranks compared to ships. I want to work in an oil rig off Seychelles so I can feel like big boss :^)

Depends on your employer. Government employers (BC Wildfire Service, I cant speak as to the US Forest Service) generally hire on in the spring usually March, to attend boot camp that is 6 weeks IIRC. Then they get out and do ops and learn fieldwork as training then when fire season hits its nonstop...they get laid off come snowfall around end of October for most the most part if theyre field crews.

In privatized like I am, I go on standby and get paid 12 hours a day to wait for the call with a 2 week bag ready for immediate deployment, assemble at muster within one hour, wheels roll. Its on call, so no fire is no work for guys like me...all said in a busy season I can cram 6 months work into 2 or 3 months by doing 14/16 a day for two weeks on, one day off all summer. HIGH OP TEMPO nomatter who you work for. And you enevre know where youre going or for how long and youre almost aways off the grid, 1 satellite phone is all you have for a camp of 300 people

If there isnt a fire you will either do "mop-up" which is basically making damn well sure no fire pops back up, or you'll get demobilized and then your private company or the forest service will assign you to a new fire

14 days and 2 days off in america, if you work a fire for 7 days and get de-mob'd you can go straight from that fire to another

There isnt a shortage of work for forest service but for private companies its more or less about how much they bid on the contract and what their reputation is like in the field

I do private work and we have a lot of guys in the 90-120 day range every year which is considered pretty busy

no wife, but if I were required to relocate, I would break it off with my gf. Her father is probably my best bet to get a job.

This guy has much more experience than me by the way but I'm in Oregon so I can explain anything about how we do it in America

what state are you in user? What's the process for getting into the field? What qualifications do you need?

it's not exactly a meme if only I use it.

>Hiked across the canadian border in 2015 in washington to suppress a fire, so damn cool.

Was it in the Molson-Chesaw area in Washington by chance? I was on a fire there in 2015 that gave no fucks about borders..but it was cool, got to meeet the local volunteer FD guys and work alongside till USFS gents showed up. They were all 'Which ways the border, I gotta go get a pic!" lol

And did you have to request permission to cross over every day? We had to request permission each day from the USBP before we were authorized. Also on our first time over we were asked by BP through our IC if any of us had a record that would prevent us from going into the US normally. lol. USBP was on top of it at least, ours probably wasnt

But youre also a US wildlands guy and can probably give more useful and specific advice about the gig down there :^)

Oregon. In my opinion the easiest way to get in is to call a company and tell them you want to get into a class. 9/10 they'll pay for it and youll work for them. Was very easy for me. Im non military too.

It was around Twisp/Okinogan

Crew boss/incident command may have requested permission, but from my view we just went right over

Coolest thing I experienced was working with an aussie crew in washington desu

Top notch blokes

>give me advice on how to enter this career field
Build a time machine and go back to 2010

>I do have a lot of contacts who work in the oil & gas business, but I'd prefer to get a job on my own merits.

Just so you know, contacts and family friends are how most people get good jobs.

You get in by starting at a 3rd party oilfield service company.
I did it for 2 years and it was gay. I was 20-21/yo and made like 1300-1800/week being entry level labor.

Pic: one I took while on a rig move.

Are oil workers unionized?
t. elevator guy with dosh benefits

Oh my no

Any of the guys ever get too sexually frustrated and take it out on each other?

>It was around Twisp/Okinogan
Name rings a bell for sure, but I think there were a few along the border that year. I think was deployed on another one though during twisp

>Crew boss/incident command may have requested permission, but from my view we just went right over
Yeah, sometimes the overhead doesn't have time or bother informing crews...most times its need to know (for us, anyways)

>Coolest thing I experienced was working with an aussie crew in washington desu
>Top notch blokes

We do crew exchange with Aussies and NZ as well, we get them during our season and we send our guys there in their fire season...One of my 2015 fires, the IC was an Aussie...great guy. First thing I said to him was 'Drier than a dead dingo's donger' and got him laughing, was a bro and tasked my crew with sweet jobs like using our truck to drop bottled water and fuel along the line on the way to our sector which was like 3k from staging...so we didnt have to hump it on foot

Suck up your pride and use your connections. That's how this stuff is done.

If you do elavators fucking stay the fuck in bro thats probably the best blue collar job to ever exist

Got an uncle doin that he wanted me to get in but i went different routes

Youll make so goddamned much money once youre fully skilled

Get on a service crew, not a rig crew. Better pay and the work is not as hard. Also start on-shore, not off-shore. It's easier to get into it on-shore and they'll likely pay for a CDL.

The patch is still in the shitter right now but hiring is starting to pick up in anticipation of a boom that might never happen.

Drive out to one of the regions where things are picking up, which will be Midland right now or maybe in the future Pleasanton if Eagle Ford takes off again, and start walking into company offices asking for interviews. Put in applications on their websites before you head out there in case they tell you to do that first. Be able to piss clean for a drug test.

>stay the fuck in
Oh I intend to I was just wondering

Yeah it's like the military/prison mentality.
But if u mean like gay shit? Nah... we went to strip clubs

Only if you're out of shape. If you really do have connections in the industry then use them, I would highly recommend getting into a position that provides a CDL at some point.

The only guy I've known that worked on a rig was a 5'2 and 180 of solid muscle. I doubt the height requirement

If you dont have the wits about you to figure out who to call and what to give them you are absolutely fucked.

Youre right. Im 6ft and 150lbs. Some people can do the work merely because theyre insane. Those insane people are your friends.

Do you think rig work is harder than being a grunt in wildland fire? I know crew boss is a whole different level mostly b.c of the lack of sleep and having to be responsible for peoples lives

If you're a neet and have never got a real job, if you're weak, you'll get killed or will lose some limbs
Also, its going to be harder since you're new and there are lot of guys with experience who are looking for the same
I would work for free to learn what they do and move on from that. I used to work on the field, as a supervisor, as a chango, then I jumped into lab testing for oil samples
It's a hard job and requires strength but you'll make good money, just don't get any fingers chopped off

I haven't done rig work, but some of the work there might be harder like working on the deck and hustlin pipes and shit. My step father was an exploratory driller and his helper ran his bag off the entire time.

For us though, we can expect the first few days to be high intensity, then it settles down mopup (as you are intimately familiar with) then finally into patrol lookin for and GPSing smokes. But even thats hard, my last fire we were patrolling a mountain we had to climb every day - it was 10-12km patrol a day in rough terrain. In the high desert. With rattlers. And scorpions. In 38c heat. With fucking cactuses. My boot flicked a cactus bulb up and it stuck into my calf. Fuck, man.

I think either way though they're both hard jobs, just in different ways