(12-15-2012 08:51 PM)Ferro Wrote:  

(12-15-2012 06:04 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Fast forward to 2 weeks ago, I registered for a 1 week course in Hamilton in non destructive testing. The course will be held the 3rd week of Jan. The course's fee is 1100$. Once that is completed, I will have a much better chance of getting into the trade I want to. This is a very nicely paid skill. And it’s not as demanding physically as say working as labourer or on a rig. After a year, once I have the necessary tickets, that will take me into the 6 figures and be able to live it up like Scotian is doing. And after 3-4 years, with more tickets and experience, then I will be golden and can get overseas in more desirable locations. In the words of the Great Scotian, all of this for a 1 week 1100$ course!!!! Who needs a 40-50K useless BA in basket weaving?

What is the difference between your $1100 course and the $8800 NDT course at SAIT in Calgary? Something seems amiss.

He's taking a one week course which is included in the 15 week course at SAIT.

(12-15-2012 11:34 PM)ikemen Wrote:  Just wanting to ask your advice for clarification on a few things specific to my circumstances, and hopefully this isn't rehashing what's already been said.
Thanks VP also for offering constructive ideas after trying and failing.

So I'm a TFW from Australia - currently working in retail travel sales and never previously employed in an industrial/trade field.
I'm very interested in doing a 3 to 4 month stint from the start of April during the busy shutdown phase. Not so keen on doing something so intensely physically demanding, but it seemed from the original few posts that this won't be necessary. Is that a safe assumption?

I was already planning on getting my First Aid certification, and now will look into the H2S and PST as VP mentioned.
On this, how do the online cert causes appear in the eyes of a prospective employer?
For example - https://www.alertfirstaid.com/onlinecourses/H2S

And are there any specific companies I should be targeting who'll be more open to hiring a green worker such as myself?
I just don't want to make a rash decision to race up to Alberta come spring and fall into a hole because I couldn't find anything. I'm on a tight schedule to work, travel around and go back home by Feb 2014.

Any advice would be perfect, thanks guys

Probably the best type of company to get on with would be a safety company such as United Safety or HSE integrated or an industrial cleaning company such as Clean Harbors or CEDA. All of those companies are busy during shut down season and all hire unskilled labour for entry level positions.

They should pay around $20-22 to start so you'll make decent money and they provide accommodation, although I strongly suggest haivng a car if you don't already.

Another thing is since you're from Oz, any type of industrial job that you can do in Canada, you can do back home so keep that in mind as you may want to acquire a skill which you can use back home.

One thing that I've been meaning to write about, especially in light of the recent success of Irishman, is drilling and how it is probably the best option for guys from overseas.

Some of you may notice that in the early parts of this thread I often wrote that "I would never work on a rig" and I always push the trades pretty hard. Well since the provincial and federal governments make it hard for guys to become apprentices here until they are permanent residents, a process which can take a few years, I recommend going to work on the rigs for non-Canadians guys.

You'll make some serious cash and hopefully work your way up the ladder and if by the time you get your papers, you still want to go into a trade, you can do so then.

I'll admit that I don't know too much about the actual work that goes down on the rigs, I've just heard the horror stories (mostly urban legends) about the "rig pig" lifestyle. So hopefully Irishman continues to post here to shed light onto what rig life is all about.

From my understanding and experience (Scotian, please feel free to add and or correct me if I'm wrong) is that the only ticket you can do online prior to getting to AB safely is the Petroleum Safety Ticket (PST). All the others, just wait till you get to Alberta as they will be cheaper (even as much as half the cost of say the same tickets in Ontario) but also you'd run less into the problem of them being accepted or viewed as highly as say the ones you'd take in AB.

Once you get to AB, for example, in Edmonton, for H2SAlive, you can register online at Enform http://www.enform.ca/coursesearch/ and register to to them in their Nisku office/training facilities. It's a one day course, very very easy and fun. You'd meet some good and cool people and potentially make some contacts along the way that day.
The H2SAlive course runs for 145$, PST was 100$. First Aid you can do it outside of Enform. Do a quick search online for First Aid courses in Edmonton and you will have a bunch of options. From memory, it should run about 150 bucks and there are two courses, one day and two days.

Scotian, which one would you recommend for us newbies? The 1 day or 2 day First Aid Course? Which is the standard in the industry?

Hope this helps you Ikemen and anyone else in here on the verge of making this life changing for the better move.

(12-15-2012 11:34 PM)ikemen Wrote:  Just wanting to ask your advice for clarification on a few things specific to my circumstances, and hopefully this isn't rehashing what's already been said.
Thanks VP also for offering constructive ideas after trying and failing.

So I'm a TFW from Australia - currently working in retail travel sales and never previously employed in an industrial/trade field.
I'm very interested in doing a 3 to 4 month stint from the start of April during the busy shutdown phase. Not so keen on doing something so intensely physically demanding, but it seemed from the original few posts that this won't be necessary. Is that a safe assumption?

I was already planning on getting my First Aid certification, and now will look into the H2S and PST as VP mentioned.
On this, how do the online cert causes appear in the eyes of a prospective employer?
For example - https://www.alertfirstaid.com/onlinecourses/H2S

And are there any specific companies I should be targeting who'll be more open to hiring a green worker such as myself?
I just don't want to make a rash decision to race up to Alberta come spring and fall into a hole because I couldn't find anything. I'm on a tight schedule to work, travel around and go back home by Feb 2014.

Any advice would be perfect, thanks guys

Ya I can't really speak for any other trades but Scotian is right about the rig work being good if you are moving from abroad. I am at work at the moment and not too busy so Ill post up on what I reckon for people joining the rigs. It is actually kind of crazy how easy going my current position is, last night I watched Casino Royale, Die Hard 1 and Aliens vs Predators 2 (rubbish haha). In fact it is a joke on the rig that I am the movie watching dude (M-W-D) haha. Means I get to read the board a lot, do some POF pipe-lining and catch up on emails. In fact I am reading up on Ducati bikes because I was watching Tron earlier and they look pretty sick. All while keeping well on top of my work. Anyways..

I am far from an expert but I did a lot of research before I left:

I will give a basic overview of the rig as best I can and then give the options for people starting off:



Drilling rigs once set up go non stop round the clock. They might not always be drilling but you will be constantly working. It is 14 days of 12 hours shifts, the first week will be from 7am to 7pm and then the next 7pm to 7am. Or maybe you will do nights first. The drilling floor works on a hierarchic system. Leasehand to Floorhand to Motorhand to Derrickhand to Driller. Sometimes they have a roughneck position which is above a floorhand and below a motorhand.

http://www.savannaenergy.com/default.asp?id=174

You take orders from those above you and give them to people below you. The lower down the ladder you are, with lease-hand being the very bottom, the harder you work and more shit you get. The driller could drop his lunch and you are expected to clean it up. That being said all the different positions on the drill floor are extremely physical demanding and as you more up increasing technical and not until you get to the Drillers position do you get to relax a bit more. But they still work hard and have to be on the ball. Basically you want to be prepared to work hard and have a high tolerance for taking shit and following orders. I just took it all on the chin and either kept quite or just go with the joke. Don't react and take it personally. It is kind of a test to see if you can handle the pressure of work and them too. In fact half way through my first week as a leasehand the roughneck brought me out all night drinking and partying and we only arrived back 5 minutes before shift with no sleep. He said he needed to check if I can handle working after no sleep and being out drinking all night haha. H said the same had been done to him when he started. Being Irish and having worked everyday all summer back home hungover I passed handy enough. That earned me some more respect from the rest of the drilling crew.

That is how it seems to be, handle yourself like a man, earn your keep, realize your place on the ladder and you will do well.

I worked with one of the main companies and got all my gear included as part of my training package. Since I quit it will come out of my paycheck but if I didn't it would have been free after 3 months. I didn't need to bring anything with me. Camp job so all my food, towels, blankets, soap etc. included Some thermals and clothes for the evenings that's about it.

http://www.toughnecks.com/pdf/Drilling-rig-brochure.pdf

I have heard of people moving up to drilling in as little as 2-3 years. That is 170k a year or more and lots of time off. Good job. If you did get this far you will likely be pretty alpha (hate using that word) and built like a house. You pretty much have to be since you have had a couple of years of hard labor and are in charge of 5 other guys full time. That is one downside to working inside as an MWD- lack of physical work but I am going to start working out in the mornings to compensate for that.

The other route if you want to avoid working on the floor too long (fair enough- it is pretty dangerous and hard on you body long term) is once you have a bit of experience on the rigs or/and a technical course or degree you can try get an inside job. The easiest and best one to start is as an MWD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement_while_drilling

http://www.halliburton.com/careers/defau...navid=2013

Most sites make it out to be super hard and technical but it is not too bad. You are expected to pick it up at a reasonalbe pace but as long as you have a good attitude and eager to learn they will love you. As a trainee I work from 5pm to 7am and am kind of in charge of training myself. I have to figure out what I don't know and then ask the next day on my own time how it should have been done. This is because the guy training me isn't directly hired by the company so he doesn't really have to train me if he doesn't want to haha. These guys really call the shots after a few years and as long as you are good at your job.

My wages are kind of crazy right now, between 12k-14k a month. That is only starting rates too, once you 'break out' you earn around a 1000 a day. By then though you are a consultant though so you take care of all your own expenses. Means you can write off tax expenses though which seems to be pretty much everything. I make in a day right now what I made in a week back home. Plus all my expenses are covered. I have not spent anything in about 8 days now. Good for saving.

From here you can go into Directional Drilling (1200-2000 a day) after about 3-5 years. Once you are this far it is easy to get work abroad and you will be highly sought out. They have a lot more responsibly though and have to be paying attention a lot more.

Down the line there are other positions like toolpusher, rig manager, company man etc. Google those. Plus the geologist but I don't know too much about that. After a few years in any position and especially if you have a petroleum engineering course done ( 2 years I think ) you can go into sales. The guys here were saying they get back handers all the time for choosing who to pick and can end up making close to a million a year. It is mad corrupt and all under the table. Again I don't know too much about that yet but sounds kind of crazy, fixing lucrative drilling licences and hiding all this secret bribery cash. Maybe down the line haha...

I would recommend it to anyone who thinks they can hack it. Google some sites, do a little research and you will start getting the picture pretty fast of how it all works. The money is good no matter where you start and as long as you work hard and get on with people you will move up fast. Plus it is a good laugh, no BS work atmosphere and lots of funny stories and banter. Kind of like being in a rugby club or something similar.

Oh ya you get spring break every year. 6-8 weeks off around March and June to spend all your cash and travel wherever you want.

Right any questions on rigs post em up and Ill see what I can do.

Pretty sure you have to do the 2 day. first aid course. It is very easy though and nearly impossible to fail. I did it over the weekend, Saturday and Sunday and showed up hungover both days. It is a group test at the end so you can ask anyone in the class what they think the answer is. Was kind of like bingo with people just shouting out 'question 10 -a, question 11 -d, question...'. I think everyone in the class got the exact same score haha.

I would do them in Alberta for sure. Good networking chance, allows you to get used to the city and of course the most creditable.

Thanks for all your posts Irishman.
How long do you think it will take to get into MWD without a degree like yours?

@ Tresdus-

I would think of it like a point system:

Points for any technical engineering experience- a job doing reports, tests, using computers etc.

Points for any sort of technical qualification- degree, technical course etc.

Points for Rig exp- the more the better but anything close to one year should be enough if you check the other boxes and don't have a degree

Points for being young (21-25), male, single, motivated and coming across as semi professional

Points for researching the job, having a truck and licence and showing a high level of potential commitment to the job

Points for not having any other thing that might take away from being able to work: kids, gf, whatever else


I would do you research, know the job and put time into preparing for the interview. Once you are hired you will be grand.

It is all about convincing these guys you want it and that you are capable.

Once you are in its well over 100k first year, close to 200k next year. All depends on how much you can work and how busy it is.

Good cash for what you do but be prepared for not being able to commit to anything else while you are an MWD. The idea of me having any sort of a girlfriend right now is laughable. Best thing you can hope for is some reliable f-buddy for time off. That said most of the guys working with me have wives but who knows how much of a challenge that is.

Once you research the job more and more you will start seeing what you need to come across as to increase the chances of being hired. Plus take into account other factors like time of year and how busy that particular season is. People do a 4 year degree with the hopes of earning half what this job pays. The year you put in to prepare you will make over 100k anyways on the rig floor.

Of course though maybe you will luck out and get in with two weeks rig exp and no background in anything. The oil fields are a funny place and nothing is set in stone.

Thanks for your drilling post irishman.

I was so motivated to go work on the rigs but after reading this "The driller could drop his lunch and you are expected to clean it up". Im like, fuck that. I would take a little shouting, a little disrespect but im not looking to become a slave. Thats just mad disrespectful.

I need to go research another area hehe (this is becoming tough, i cant do welding, i cant do drilling, damn).

(12-16-2012 09:06 AM)pitt Wrote:  Thanks for your drilling post irishman.

I was so motivated to go work on the rigs but after reading this "The driller could drop his lunch and you are expected to clean it up". Im like, fuck that. I would take a little shouting, a little disrespect but im not looking to become a slave. Thats just mad disrespectful.

I need to go research another area hehe (this is becoming tough, i cant do welding, i cant do drilling, damn).

That is only as a lease hand. That one position is like a bootcamp and only lasts between a few days and at the most 2 weeks. Once you're past that stage you get treated a lot better. I would still consider drilling.

(12-16-2012 09:06 AM)pitt Wrote:  Thanks for your drilling post irishman.

I was so motivated to go work on the rigs but after reading this "The driller could drop his lunch and you are expected to clean it up". Im like, fuck that. I would take a little shouting, a little disrespect but im not looking to become a slave. Thats just mad disrespectful.

I need to go research another area hehe (this is becoming tough, i cant do welding, i cant do drilling, damn).

That is only as a lease hand. That one position is like a bootcamp and only lasts between a few days and at the most 2 weeks. Once your past that stage you get treated a lot better. I would still consider drilling.

Hey guys trying to find out some information on the position of a floor-hand on a service rig anyone on here working in that field? i am busy Googlein and trying to tailor my CV to make me stand out more for a job that i am applying for the pay is 27 dollars an hour for 45 hours a week. It list some duties of the job Operateing powered tongs, hydraulic air-operated cranes.just wondering would it be easy to get up to speed working with these as i would have never done any of this kind of work in the past..I feel this could be the brake i need so i am prepared to tell a few white lies to get me the job thanks for any help ross

Thanks again Irishman, I'm 18 straight out of school next year, so obvious no exp. I'll reconsider going into MWD, because that looks good and like a lot of money.

One more question for you: How long do you think you'll be doing this?

You may have mentioned it previously Irishman, but I couldn't find it scanning your posts.. Do you have a Engineering degree or something unrelated?

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/...-12-10.asp

For those with qualifications and so on - get on this ASAP. Have the application form filled out and ready to go to be shipped when they start accepting applications.

For those here on temp work permits the Canada Experience Class has been relaxed down to 1 year of skilled work experience required.

CIC are not idiots, people have been commenting recently on temporary immigrants potentially harming wages. That is propaganda from whatever media source. The reality is that CIC routinely turn down work permit requests based on uncompetitive wages and the unions wouldn't have it anyway. A driller in BC I was speaking to the other day told me how a Chinese drilling company sulked about how they couldn't exploit their own nationals coming over so they shut the mine for the season. Big deal, they are already back because the contract will go elsewhere. This stuff is too valuable to Canada so it will ALL be mined and extracted and it will take more than our lifetime to get done - ie the work will always be there.

On that note there are operations in other provinces going on - BC has Diamond and Coal mining. It is absolutely nothing like Brassed Off in Northern England.

I just wanted to follow up on Pre-apprenticeships.

Doing one won't necessarily hurt you, but they aren't necessary.

Th cost of an Electrical Pre-apprenticeship at SAIT is about $4000 and you are done your 1st year schooling. So when you do get hired and indentured, at the end of the first year you don't have to go to school. You automatically become 2nd year and work for another year. You can also do the 4 month course which gets you 1st and 2nd year. But, I would definitely not do this. Most companies don't want this. They would rather have green guys who they can teach rather than know it alls that think they know everything.

The cost of my schooling, which is exactly the same as the pre-apprenticeship, is $750. Yup. And-my union picks up the tab.

When I was searching, some companies told me they only hire -pre-app, but most said don't bother. Find the ones that would rather you don't have it.

Also, I would call them directly and/or visit them rather than just applying online or something. If you do apply online, go visit them, or call.

Also, I don't thing the companies out here hire helpers. They hire "general Labourers" and then move you to the trade you want. WHich is a grey area because by law, you aren't technically allowed to do this. A "helper" can't do duties that an apprentice would otherwise do and not be indentured.

Here's a start

http://goo.gl/eZFyr

(12-16-2012 11:45 AM)salmonfella Wrote:  Hey guys trying to find out some information on the position of a floor-hand on a service rig anyone on here working in that field? i am busy Googlein and trying to tailor my CV to make me stand out more for a job that i am applying for the pay is 27 dollars an hour for 45 hours a week. It list some duties of the job Operateing powered tongs, hydraulic air-operated cranes.just wondering would it be easy to get up to speed working with these as i would have never done any of this kind of work in the past..I feel this could be the brake i need so i am prepared to tell a few white lies to get me the job thanks for any help ross

It is pretty much the same as a drilling rig except you move around a lot more, travel to site each day instead of staying at camps and don't make as much. Some of my crew on the drilling rig had worked service rigs before. Said the money is better on the drilling side of things and more consistent . I am pretty sure you would apply the same way and through the same companies.

Ya tell some white lies and talk yourself up big time. It seems like no one actually checks resumes over here.

(12-16-2012 12:18 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  Thanks again Irishman, I'm 18 straight out of school next year, so obvious no exp. I'll reconsider going into MWD, because that looks good and like a lot of money.

One more question for you: How long do you think you'll be doing this?

Hard to answer right now. I know it will be hard to step away from these sort of wages but I always seen my self as owning my own business. I will stay at it till I have my full citizenship and lifestyle set up dialed and then see. An approach I make take is only working half the year, still banking over 100k and then working on other projects/travelling the other half.

Who knows how long it will all last 'so make hay while the sunshines' is my approach for the next 3 years anyway and then we will see. Will be interesting to see where all the oil field people posting here are in a few years time...

(12-16-2012 12:21 PM)christpuncher Wrote:  You may have mentioned it previously Irishman, but I couldn't find it scanning your posts.. Do you have a Engineering degree or something unrelated?

Yes- 4 years Engineering Degree, Slightly above average marks. But I always put it down as first class honors. Nobody has checked so far haha.

Plus I have 3-4 years of engineering experience on my resume. In truth I really have none but some of the companies I worked for in the past have names that sounds like they were engineering/oil related. A bit of creative writing and some acting lessons will go along way over here.

(12-16-2012 08:48 PM)Irishman Wrote:  

(12-16-2012 12:21 PM)christpuncher Wrote:  You may have mentioned it previously Irishman, but I couldn't find it scanning your posts.. Do you have a Engineering degree or something unrelated?

Yes- 4 years Engineering Degree, Slightly above average marks. But I always put it down as first class honors. Nobody has checked so far haha.

Plus I have 3-4 years of engineering experience on my resume. In truth I really have none but some of the companies I worked for in the past have names that sounds like they were engineering/oil related. A bit of creative writing and some acting lessons will go along way over here.

Fake it until you make it

(12-16-2012 08:49 PM)Zeus Wrote:  

(12-16-2012 08:48 PM)Irishman Wrote:  

(12-16-2012 12:21 PM)christpuncher Wrote:  You may have mentioned it previously Irishman, but I couldn't find it scanning your posts.. Do you have a Engineering degree or something unrelated?

Yes- 4 years Engineering Degree, Slightly above average marks. But I always put it down as first class honors. Nobody has checked so far haha.

Plus I have 3-4 years of engineering experience on my resume. In truth I really have none but some of the companies I worked for in the past have names that sounds like they were engineering/oil related. A bit of creative writing and some acting lessons will go along way over here.

Fake it until you make it

Actually I wore a real sharp suit into every interview till I was fully hired.

I got a good haircut the day before.

I also had a nice briefcase with me that contained absolutely nothing.


One of my favourite movies is Catch Me if You Can based on the life of Frank Abagnale. Few tricks to learn of this guy for sure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale

(12-16-2012 08:48 PM)Irishman Wrote:  Yes- 4 years Engineering Degree, Slightly above average marks. But I always put it down as first class honors.

What's the point of getting the degree if you're going to fake it? You could have done that without the degree. Just curious...

(12-16-2012 09:50 PM)Mirthless Wrote:  

(12-16-2012 08:48 PM)Irishman Wrote:  Yes- 4 years Engineering Degree, Slightly above average marks. But I always put it down as first class honors.

What's the point of getting the degree if you're going to fake it? You could have done that without the degree. Just curious...

I not faking my degree just bumping up my grades a bit. Plus although I partied a lot and didn't go to class as much as I should have I did end up learning quite a lot. Plus remember that I never thought about working in the oil field till i had finished University. I originally wanted to buy old houses, modernise them and sell them at a profit. And had the Irish property market had not crashed I would probably be doing that right now. My dad had a natural flare for it and I learned a lot of him about it.

As for my University results -I lost a lot of marks for attendance but scored highly in project work and end of year exams. I would often score higher with a couple of hours of study then someone who went to every lecture all semester. Not being cocky just have good exam technique and real good short term memory.

Overall though my course had about 20-30% attendance marks for a lot of modules so ended up with second class honours. I always put it down as first class though because with the time difference between Canada and Ireland it would be quite hard to call and check that.

As for work exp: Ya fake that as much as you think you can get away with. Not saying pretend you were a doctor but if I did a a week of something it becomes a month, if I was a junior assistant I put down task manager. These companies are too busy to check the small details.

Again with University- I was overall disappointed with the structure of my course. Black and white slide shows and boring lectures just didn't work for me. I did make the most of it though. Student businesses, running student clubs and societies, networking, partying, travelling, enjoying being young. I had a great 4 years and the social and networking skills I learned I use daily.

If you were real ballsy you probably could just pretend you have a degree. But I have no idea how long you would last before they caught on.... Would be funny if someone on here gave it a go haha

(12-16-2012 08:45 PM)Irishman Wrote:  

(12-16-2012 12:18 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  Thanks again Irishman, I'm 18 straight out of school next year, so obvious no exp. I'll reconsider going into MWD, because that looks good and like a lot of money.

One more question for you: How long do you think you'll be doing this?

Hard to answer right now. I know it will be hard to step away from these sort of wages but I always seen my self as owning my own business. I will stay at it till I have my full citizenship and lifestyle set up dialed and then see. An approach I make take is only working half the year, still banking over 100k and then working on other projects/travelling the other half.

Who knows how long it will all last 'so make hay while the sunshines' is my approach for the next 3 years anyway and then we will see. Will be interesting to see where all the oil field people posting here are in a few years time...

For non-Canadians this is a great way to get citizenship.

One of the points I am trying to make is that you should not let a lack of education or experience get in your way of what you want.

With the right approach anyone is capable of getting a really well paid job out here. I really mean that.