(07-23-2014 09:28 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  2 things.

1) Of course you don't stay in the trade the whole time. The smart people become consultants etc. My co-worker gets 2 job offers a month doing other stuff.

2) I would shoot myself if I had to work in an office. I would rather stare at men the whole day then listen to the vapid conversation office people (mostly women but quite a few men, too) have.
Also the bullshit with HR and office politics and all that crap.

1) I agree man you don't want to stay on the tools forever but you need at least 4 years to consult to attain your jman ticket and probably a few more after that to be taken seriously. So in the city you're looking at 45, 50, 60, 65, 80k working the 9-5. Or you go up north or a hotspot area and make 80k right off the bat.

2) Bullshit is everywhere. Just because we're in trades doesn't mean we're immune. You have guys that don't want to work, the complainers who can't be satisfied with anything, and the guys making 150k a year talking about their two ex-wives and can barely afford their mortgage. The key is to survive in many different environments.

Anyone know information about oilfield services excluding rigs service/drilling and well testing?

From what I understand there's a lot of services out there from fraccing, wireline, coil tubing, cementing, etc. They all heat up hiring when winter's about to hit. I understand that these jobs pay better than well testing but less than rigs and are less hard on the body compared to the rigs and you can make good money as well.

Specifics like pay, promotions, work schedules? are they mainly busy in the winter or do they work all year round?
I just heard the number of 80k/yr for a new guy into fraccing working most of the year like 8-10 months? not sure though.

(07-24-2014 08:03 PM)NFallin Wrote:  

(07-23-2014 09:28 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  2 things.

1) Of course you don't stay in the trade the whole time. The smart people become consultants etc. My co-worker gets 2 job offers a month doing other stuff.

2) I would shoot myself if I had to work in an office. I would rather stare at men the whole day then listen to the vapid conversation office people (mostly women but quite a few men, too) have.
Also the bullshit with HR and office politics and all that crap.

1) I agree man you don't want to stay on the tools forever but you need at least 4 years to consult to attain your jman ticket and probably a few more after that to be taken seriously. So in the city you're looking at 45, 50, 60, 65, 80k working the 9-5. Or you go up north or a hotspot area and make 80k right off the bat.

2) Bullshit is everywhere. Just because we're in trades doesn't mean we're immune. You have guys that don't want to work, the complainers who can't be satisfied with anything, and the guys making 150k a year talking about their two ex-wives and can barely afford their mortgage. The key is to survive in many different environments.

The key is to not have two ex-wives and a mortgage you can't afford. I have no problem being a tradesman on the tools until I retire. I enjoy telling everyone to fuck off all day long, try that at the water cooler.

Interesting (brief) article on food on-site (exception to the rule)
http://munchies.vice.com/articles/austra...ten-fancy/

Quote:Oil companies go where there’s oil, and not where there’s food. That often means a few hours out to sea, but for isolated onshore rigs, they face the problem of feeding large crews, where the nearest produce center is a plane ride away. This is the challenging reality for some Australian outback oil companies.

One of the continent’s most profitable fields is the Cooper Basin, about twenty-one hours inland from the state capital of Adelaide. It’s all desert, salt-bush, and oil rigs, usually hosting forty employees, running twenty-four hours a day. You’d think that such camps would exclusively serve deep-fried garbage, but surprising, this is far from the truth. In fact, good eating is seen as vital for staff moral in a place that has (literally) nothing else surrounding it.

(07-24-2014 08:34 PM)Jack Of All Trades Wrote:  Anyone know information about oilfield services excluding rigs service/drilling and well testing?

From what I understand there's a lot of services out there from fraccing, wireline, coil tubing, cementing, etc. They all heat up hiring when winter's about to hit. I understand that these jobs pay better than well testing but less than rigs and are less hard on the body compared to the rigs and you can make good money as well.

Specifics like pay, promotions, work schedules? are they mainly busy in the winter or do they work all year round?
I just heard the number of 80k/yr for a new guy into fraccing working most of the year like 8-10 months? not sure though.

Man, the fraccing companies are hot now. I advise you to go to Red Deer. It helps to have your class one but I'm sure many of the big frac companies will take you on and train you for it. The thing is you have stay on a year or they will want like 2000 or so for your class one training.

Most frac companies offer a 15/6 rotation, base salary (3000 or a little more or less), and bonuses depending on the job. I don't think you get great bonuses until you have your class one. You can check out this site as well--a lot of guys on that forum that are in the frac industry.

I'm currently in Fort St. John and had an interesting conversation with a sand hauler. He goes, do you work for Caron Transport, I go no. And then I go on to say unfortunately I don't have a class one. He goes that's too bad, I'd hire you. So for all you guys with a class one, get your butts out west and get paid! Hope this helps Jack. Take care.

Expanding my horizons with the various oil-related career options out here right now. I will discuss my experience at the Rack on Wed night when I am finally off. Great wings.

Okay I started a gig with a sheet metal/hvac company and I'm a little pissed off

The dude I'm under,(I'm a green hand/apprentice) is a 4th year or a journeyman and he's a shit.... Teacher I suppose. Probably due to the fact that he's on piece pay and just wants to get shit done, but it's annoying having to ask him every single question about what goes here, does that look good, and he'd be like yeah that looks good.....2 hours later, actually that looks shit. Do it again.

Fair enough I'm slow, but for fuck sake you'd think they'd put me with someone who was on an hourly rate so it wasn't so rushed. He is a cool dude, picks me up etc but it's just the nature of the work.I keep questioning why im getting into this trade , I am thinking long term here, and fuck me is cutting pipe and fitting them into the tightest of spaces hard. I'm residential not commercial

It's as if he expects me to know shit straight off the bat, I am asking questions, but it's just frustrating as fuck

That'll happen. I can remember my first day at work you could almost feel the guys saying '' For fuck sakes another newbie''. Luckily I caught on fast and got along with everyone. I was luckier than you though cause there was some old guys and young I just stuck with the younger guys who were more chilled out until I knew my shit to go worth with the older guys.

Hey Bro,s

1st off thanks so much Temm for the link to Truckers Report. It took about 2 solid days to plow through the thread.

Roll Call -- who,s all gonna be in E-Town next week? Look forward to meet up in the evening .

Greetings fellow Rooshers. An update on my ongoings : Since im landing in Edmonton on the 9th at 9am. Ill have the entire weekend for myself to do what ever I want. Starting off , I booked a car for rent, from Saturday to Wednesday for a total of $110 everything included (provided you have your own insurance). Rig fall safety courses are booked for the 11th and 12th. Right now I applied at a couple of companies, Suncor, Ledcor, DCM for shutdown operations which go for around 3-4 months average (not sure if really shutdowns or menial labour work - as per conversation with a recruiter). Yesterday I also received a call from Tervita about hiring me as a Floorhand on a service rig. Gave my dates of arrival and told her I would rather prefer a Drilling rig, but once I come see you, lets go from there. Had a conversation with her again today ( I called) just to build some rapport. Remember guys, good rapport with recruiters (no matter how hot they are) is VERY important !! I have also been looking into getting in welding. Now im not sure how that works but if someone can correct me on the following, that would be awesome:

So how I understand is, that you work as a welder's helper. If you are good enough, you bug your company to acredit (forgot the technical word for apprenticeship) you as an apprentice, after which you apply to NAIT/SAIT, get the forms, have the employer sign them, attach fees and register in the 8 week apprentice period 1 program. Is that the correct procedure ? OR you can do a welding pre-employment from a trade college for roughly $7000 for 12 weeks.

Further more, on the fun side, I have managed to pipeline 3 girls. 2 are in Edmonton. One of them is a personal trainer, so had to change my online game and conversations directed towards lifting shit (im in pretty good shape myself), the other one is a hard working level headed no bs chick who has hots for brown dudes with an english accent (had to fake my accent to pipeline her). Since the english accent trick worked for one, I tried it on another one in Red Deer, and MAGIC happened. All these girls are from the app called OkCupid.

Anyway, really want to work on the drilling rigs steady till april, and then get on the welding bandwagon after the spring break up. I think thats a pretty good plan ! But until I get on the rig, Im not shy to do menial labour work with one of the construction companies I named above. They have 14/7, chartered flights to and from Calgary/Edmonton, average pay $24-$27, 12hr/day PLUS LOA. So its pretty decent gig till you get what you really want !

So people still thinking of coming out here, there is work, there is money, there are opportunities. Book that one way ticket, and get'er done ! Hope to see some of you rooshers on the 9th

^Insider tip: rigs will should be very busy this winter

The money is making it tempting to go back to the rigs this winter, knowing I could put away a very fat stack of cash well into the 5 figures and travel, pay for a master's degree etc is alluring.

Sometimes when I deliver to a rig I'm glad I dont work on one, other times I think "oh its not so bad, I could tough it out again"

It would be nice to find something that pays similarly without having to go in to a trade. I envy the engineers, geos, and consultants that sit in the nice alta-fab shacks on site in clean clothes and on computers making more than the rig crew while not labouring away for 12 hours straight.

The insider tip has raised my motivation ten folds now !

I used to get a kick out of the fact that how people used to call riggers as rig pigs. Im sure they still do. So last year while on a one truck service rig, we made a rap about the rigs, but I only remember one line of it lol.. Something like this :

3 weeks on day after day they call us the rig pigs,
making stacks on stacks on days off they still wonderin where their bitch is,

Most boys on the rig are far exceeding the pay of engrs & geos.

Consultants, that may be something else...but a lot of those guys have operating expenses so their $100+/hr rate is ate up by expenses. No OT or DT either.

I have to listen to contractors bitch all day long about how much more the qc/engrs/non-manual support get paid...that is, until we trade pay stubs.

(07-30-2014 12:24 PM)Laurifer Wrote:  The money is making it tempting to go back to the rigs this winter, knowing I could put away a very fat stack of cash well into the 5 figures and travel, pay for a master's degree etc is alluring.

Sometimes when I deliver to a rig I'm glad I dont work on one, other times I think "oh its not so bad, I could tough it out again"

It would be nice to find something that pays similarly without having to go in to a trade. I envy the engineers, geos, and consultants that sit in the nice alta-fab shacks on site in clean clothes and on computers making more than the rig crew while not labouring away for 12 hours straight.

(07-30-2014 10:41 AM)PakiRambo Wrote:  Greetings fellow Rooshers. An update on my ongoings : Since im landing in Edmonton on the 9th at 9am. Ill have the entire weekend for myself to do what ever I want. Starting off , I booked a car for rent, from Saturday to Wednesday for a total of $110 everything included (provided you have your own insurance). Rig fall safety courses are booked for the 11th and 12th. Right now I applied at a couple of companies, Suncor, Ledcor, DCM for shutdown operations which go for around 3-4 months average (not sure if really shutdowns or menial labour work - as per conversation with a recruiter). Yesterday I also received a call from Tervita about hiring me as a Floorhand on a service rig. Gave my dates of arrival and told her I would rather prefer a Drilling rig, but once I come see you, lets go from there. Had a conversation with her again today ( I called) just to build some rapport. Remember guys, good rapport with recruiters (no matter how hot they are) is VERY important !! I have also been looking into getting in welding. Now im not sure how that works but if someone can correct me on the following, that would be awesome:

So how I understand is, that you work as a welder's helper. If you are good enough, you bug your company to acredit (forgot the technical word for apprenticeship) you as an apprentice, after which you apply to NAIT/SAIT, get the forms, have the employer sign them, attach fees and register in the 8 week apprentice period 1 program. Is that the correct procedure ? OR you can do a welding pre-employment from a trade college for roughly $7000 for 12 weeks.

Further more, on the fun side, I have managed to pipeline 3 girls. 2 are in Edmonton. One of them is a personal trainer, so had to change my online game and conversations directed towards lifting shit (im in pretty good shape myself), the other one is a hard working level headed no bs chick who has hots for brown dudes with an english accent (had to fake my accent to pipeline her). Since the english accent trick worked for one, I tried it on another one in Red Deer, and MAGIC happened. All these girls are from the app called OkCupid.

Anyway, really want to work on the drilling rigs steady till april, and then get on the welding bandwagon after the spring break up. I think thats a pretty good plan ! But until I get on the rig, Im not shy to do menial labour work with one of the construction companies I named above. They have 14/7, chartered flights to and from Calgary/Edmonton, average pay $24-$27, 12hr/day PLUS LOA. So its pretty decent gig till you get what you really want !

So people still thinking of coming out here, there is work, there is money, there are opportunities. Book that one way ticket, and get'er done ! Hope to see some of you rooshers on the 9th

Quick question, did you get a job from Tervita without being present in Edmonton? How did you apply for it?

(07-30-2014 01:40 PM)pitt Wrote:  

(07-30-2014 10:41 AM)PakiRambo Wrote:  Greetings fellow Rooshers. An update on my ongoings : Since im landing in Edmonton on the 9th at 9am. Ill have the entire weekend for myself to do what ever I want. Starting off , I booked a car for rent, from Saturday to Wednesday for a total of $110 everything included (provided you have your own insurance). Rig fall safety courses are booked for the 11th and 12th. Right now I applied at a couple of companies, Suncor, Ledcor, DCM for shutdown operations which go for around 3-4 months average (not sure if really shutdowns or menial labour work - as per conversation with a recruiter). Yesterday I also received a call from Tervita about hiring me as a Floorhand on a service rig. Gave my dates of arrival and told her I would rather prefer a Drilling rig, but once I come see you, lets go from there. Had a conversation with her again today ( I called) just to build some rapport. Remember guys, good rapport with recruiters (no matter how hot they are) is VERY important !! I have also been looking into getting in welding. Now im not sure how that works but if someone can correct me on the following, that would be awesome:

So how I understand is, that you work as a welder's helper. If you are good enough, you bug your company to acredit (forgot the technical word for apprenticeship) you as an apprentice, after which you apply to NAIT/SAIT, get the forms, have the employer sign them, attach fees and register in the 8 week apprentice period 1 program. Is that the correct procedure ? OR you can do a welding pre-employment from a trade college for roughly $7000 for 12 weeks.

Further more, on the fun side, I have managed to pipeline 3 girls. 2 are in Edmonton. One of them is a personal trainer, so had to change my online game and conversations directed towards lifting shit (im in pretty good shape myself), the other one is a hard working level headed no bs chick who has hots for brown dudes with an english accent (had to fake my accent to pipeline her). Since the english accent trick worked for one, I tried it on another one in Red Deer, and MAGIC happened. All these girls are from the app called OkCupid.

Anyway, really want to work on the drilling rigs steady till april, and then get on the welding bandwagon after the spring break up. I think thats a pretty good plan ! But until I get on the rig, Im not shy to do menial labour work with one of the construction companies I named above. They have 14/7, chartered flights to and from Calgary/Edmonton, average pay $24-$27, 12hr/day PLUS LOA. So its pretty decent gig till you get what you really want !

So people still thinking of coming out here, there is work, there is money, there are opportunities. Book that one way ticket, and get'er done ! Hope to see some of you rooshers on the 9th

Quick question, did you get a job from Tervita without being present in Edmonton? How did you apply for it?

I kijiji replied to an ad posting. I had little labour experience, so I supped it upto a rig labour experience, plus Ive also worked on smaller rigs in 2012, either way it dsnt really matter cuz on the rig itself, if they see that you dont know certain stuff.. They curse the living shit out of you, but show you what to do and exactly how to do it. I stated on my resume that im in Edmonton (have actually paid 2 months of rent for a room there), and I told them im visiting Tdot for a week and ill be back by the first week of August. I think it was the experience on my resume and the safety tickets I had from 2 years ago that made them call me. From what I could gather from her, was the service rigs are looking for floorhands like crazy ! Plus there will be a Tervita ONLY job fair in Red Deer on the 10th September where Drilling/Service rig managers, HR, and contractors will be doing on spot hiring and tests, this is the address:

4847A 19 St
Red Deer, AB T4R 2N7, Canada
‎westernerpark.ca

(07-30-2014 11:38 AM)Atlantic Wrote:  ^Insider tip: rigs will should be very busy this winter

Rigs are already busy now. Ferro went around Nisku and had like 5 job offers and then took one.

(07-29-2014 11:49 PM)alecks Wrote:  Okay I started a gig with a sheet metal/hvac company and I'm a little pissed off

The dude I'm under,(I'm a green hand/apprentice) is a 4th year or a journeyman and he's a shit.... Teacher I suppose. Probably due to the fact that he's on piece pay and just wants to get shit done, but it's annoying having to ask him every single question about what goes here, does that look good, and he'd be like yeah that looks good.....2 hours later, actually that looks shit. Do it again.

Fair enough I'm slow, but for fuck sake you'd think they'd put me with someone who was on an hourly rate so it wasn't so rushed. He is a cool dude, picks me up etc but it's just the nature of the work.I keep questioning why im getting into this trade , I am thinking long term here, and fuck me is cutting pipe and fitting them into the tightest of spaces hard. I'm residential not commercial

It's as if he expects me to know shit straight off the bat, I am asking questions, but it's just frustrating as fuck

Call them out on it. I always tell guys I work with I wanna know stuff, I wanna see what they do, why they do it etc. They aren't used to people actually caring about work.

Pro-Tip: I'm 18 years old no one wants to rent a car to me?

No worries, go to uhaul.com and rent one of their trucks. 20$/day and you can be 18 to rent one.

[quote}
Im not shy to do menial labour work with one of the construction companies I named above. They have 14/7, chartered flights to and from Calgary/Edmonton, average pay $24-$27, 12hr/day PLUS LOA. So its pretty decent gig till you get what you really want !

[/quote]

That actually doesn't sound bad at all. May have to check that out if I get tired of my current gig.

Sup guys! Much love to Scotian and the many other major contributors to this mega forum. I just made the move to Calgary and planned on becoming a class 3 driver with a frac crew. As soon as I landed I went on calgaryjobshop.ca found and landed a pretty good entry level gig in less that 2 weeks of landing.

Its a communications company that basically installs, repairs satellites, intercoms and gives the rig dudes phone connection/wifi out there. Its a 15/6 rotation paid hourly + OT. Lots of work as the company is growing. Best part is i have absolutely no experience but that's what they wanted. A good driving record is key as most of the work is driving to remote sites for service using company trucks. (Only a class 5 is required)
Doing all my safety courses now all supplied by the company and Im getting paid to attend. The is not labour intensive which is great, and we arent at all affected by the slow times in this industry as others may be.
Really, you just need to enjoy working on your own, driving and have good customer service skills.

They are still hiring 4/5 more field techs - no experience needed. Go to calgaryjobshop.ca under entry level, you'll figure out which company I'm talking about. Its no joke out here, tons of Jobs its insane. Just get your asses here!!!

Roughneck vs Labourer vs Tradesman

I have been seeing a lot of recent posts here on drilling rig jobs and would like to lend my perspective as someone who recently finished a shift as a floorhand, and then compare it and contrast it to my experiences as a construction site labourer and a tradesman.

TLDR: Do NOT do roughnecking when there are site labourer positions at other companies. It is not worth it.

Basically what goes on at the rig is the opposite of what goes on at a construction site. There are multiple instances of stuff you would get fired for doing at a construction site (running) that you would get fired for not doing on a rig, and vice versa.

Construction site labourer: Likely get a nice all-inclusiveish camp, two 15 minute breaks and a half hour lunch, great pay in the $24-$28 range with other perks/bonuses depending on the site, lots of random jobs to do (at worst just shovelling snow and breaking ice all day sometimes in the Winter), lots of time devoted to doing things safely and filling out the proper safety forms (could take half an hour), up North you mostly work with a fun and friendly group of people, and generally have a pleasant but not easy day. There is a reason that thin hot girls and disabled 66 year old men can still be site labourers. In fact the hottest girl I've ever dated turned out to have been a site labourer at one point.

Roughneck: Between 100 and 1000 times more dangerous and 10 times harder than site labourer depending on how drunk and high your crew are during the shift (I was told mine was one of the better crews, so closer to 100). Basically everything on site is trying to hurt/kill you, and it's your job to stop that while running around everywhere. Whereas during my labourer stint there was only 1 near miss after months of doing it. You will likely be staying at a motel in town and driving to site or with others in a crew truck, you get zero breaks and must find ways to sneak food and water into your stomach whenever possible (good luck during 12 hrs of tripping), lack of strategic water placement during a very hot and sunny day of tripping can lead to dangerous dehydration hell, slightly better pay (not worth it), you are working with more of an angry/crazy tribe than a crew (satisfying to get accepted by them though), safety is a joke and people would get very pissed when I tried to read the token safety sheets before I signed them, worrisome repetitive injuries and hearing damage, and generally having a frantic/hellish day unless it is early on when you are just doing the odd connection and scrubbing down the site. One new guy only lasted a few days before ending up in the hospital.

Tradesman: Basically the same thing as a site labourer, but with more job satisfaction, easier work and pacing, and ultimately much higher pay as a journeyman (higher than driller too atm ignoring the varied LOA bonuses/perks).

My advice to someone coming out here ends up being the exact same as Scotian's: apply to every contractor as a site labourer, learn what trade you want to get into during your first few shifts on site, then progress into that trade.

MWD: for people that want to get into MWD, I will say that I have no direct experience as an MWD guy atm, but I have applied in person to a number of places and I am confident that as long as you have a good enough resume with a good technical background and a 4x4 truck with a 6' box then you are in. The conversations I had were basically "We like your experience, just come back when you have a truck." I don't think roughnecking experience is that important for guys trying to transition into MWD (it would actually hurt my resume if I put it on for construction site gigs).

Ultimately, I am not trying to shit on roughnecking, as there are more soul-crushing and much less paying jobs out there that I have done, but there are much better options out here as site labourers. In my opinion it is just not worth it for the slightly extra cash.

Why be a roughneck then? If you are bored one Sunday watching Deadliest Catch thinking "I could do that" and longing for some extra cash to buy some premium blackout curtains with the added bonus of all that extra cardio to support your current cutting program and ultimately adding some nice motivation to your life, then sure take a rotation as a floorhand (not leasehand, call around).

Thanks for the brutally honest insight into how life on the rigs is Ferro, I know I could never work on them, I'm too damn lazy! Guys, I'd take what Ferro says seriously, the guy is big and in good shape, he's not exaggerating, if he says the rigs are tough, I believe him. All the same, if a guy wants to work on a rig, its all good, just be prepared to work your bag off.

As for me, I'm still up in the Big Dirty, trying not to go crazy here, I basically have no life as I don't like going out and spending money in this town, so I haven't been doing much. Last week I thought I had a few days off so I drove down to Edmonton, I was an hour away when my boss called me and told me I had to work the next day, fuck! I still went to Etown and had a few beers with some RVF boys but then I had to drive all the way back to Fort McMurray, a ten hour round trip!

Anyway, I'm moving to Edmonton at the end of September and will probably fuck off somewhere warm again once it starts snowing, but until then I'll just try to stay sane up here in the Big Dirty!

Haha ya the rigs aint no playground. Good post Ferro.

Its a job that puts close to maximum strain on your physical and mental capabilities.

If you can push through that pain period of 1-2 years it gets easier with better pay but its a tough path.

Ive been up helping the guys out on the rig floor lately to keep myself busy and learn some things. Its definitely tough going. No day dreaming or zoning out - youll lose a limb in seconds.

Quote:you get zero breaks and must find ways to sneak food and water into your stomach whenever possible

This resonated with me. I remember grabbing food in the dog house, running into the tool shed with it, and scarfing it down like a fucking rat while watching the door hoping no one would come in and see me.

(08-03-2014 09:06 PM)Laurifer Wrote:  

Quote:you get zero breaks and must find ways to sneak food and water into your stomach whenever possible

This resonated with me. I remember grabbing food in the dog house, running into the tool shed with it, and scarfing it down like a fucking rat while watching the door hoping no one would come in and see me.

Today at work I did about 20 minutes of actual work then sat around and watched movies and read books all day, looks like I'll be doing the same thing for 2-3 more days. It actually gets pretty boring sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for running around like a mad man with no proper breaks all day, fuck that.