10 Tips to Make a Career in an Oilfield For New Personnel

Oil rig is basically a man made platform that is used for off-shore or land drilling. As an oil rig worker, one can work on both platforms, and is responsible for several tasks that are related to safely oil drilling. Usually the workers work for 14- 21 days at a stretch, prior to getting a shore relief. Apart from regular wages, the workers get all sort of facilities ranging from food, boarding and travel expenses. However, to get a job in oil rig as a rookie is quite difficult, because most of the oil rig managers seek for experience. Below we have mentioned some pointers that may come handy while trying to seek for a job in oil rig industry.

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Make sure that you meet all the basic requirements and are fully eligible for employment in oil rig.

Some of the key requirements are:

  • You must be over 18 years old
  • You must be physically and mentally fit. You must pass physical examination.
  • You must be a non-smoker and refrain from alcohol during 14- 21 days of duty.
  • You must be ready to take the odd schedule of oil rig worker. You must be prepared to work at night and for several days without any break in weekends.

Try to get some experience as a mechanic

Most of the oil rig workers have to deal with mechanical job. Hence, it would be better if you get some training as a cook, engineer, electrician, or medic.

Seek guidance from friends, relatives or acquaintances that are working in oil rig.

However, if you don’t know whom to ask, then this contact will come quite handy to you in getting all the valuable information about the industry. You can do an online research and go through the chat forums. With the help of chat forums, not only you will get valuable information, but you will also get to know whether there is some opening or job requirement in the oil rig sector.

Do a Proper Research before Applying in Oil Industry

You can go for an online course, community college course, or scroll through the library and get some books related to oil drilling, industry and its workers. Besides, you will also get to know the recent changes in rules and regulation of oil industry.

You must be able to convince your employers that you are truly interested in this sector and are eager enough to become a hardworking and valuable employee. If you do your home work properly and gain all the necessary basic information, you will not appear like a complete novice.

Look for job postings in newspapers or internet

Sites like Indeed, Monster and CareerBuilder are the best places online to find job postings. You can go through these postings and find out what oil rig companies are looking for in an oil worker, such as qualifications, experience, age criteria, etc. Usually you will come across oil rig titles such as Safety Man, Sub Sea Engineer, Derrick Man, Assistant Driller, Driller, Crane Operator, Storekeeper, Rig Welder, Rig Medic, Mudman, Tool Pusher, Mechanic, Electrician, Barge Engineer, etc. However, sometimes they need hard working labors in oil rigs that are called as “Roustabouts”.

You can search for job listings in local newspaper or through the contacts in oil industry. Find entry level positions that feature on-job training.

Prepare Cover Letter and Resume

Make sure to mention all the jobs you have done before that are relevant to oil rig. If you have worked as a labor, mechanic, or electrician, then make sure to highlight them.

  • A cover letter is usually a half to full page content that describes how your experience actually makes you a perfect candidate for this job.
  • Your resume must be about one to two pages long. Don’t forget to mention your qualification, achievements and quality in it. Your resume should be targeted for the job you are applying for, so it must be relevant enough.

Applying for the job

Make sure to apply at several places all at once; this will give you better chances of getting a call for interview.

Get BOSIET (Basic Offshore Safety Instruction & Emergency Training) Certification

This is mandatory for working in Denmark or Netherlands and UK. Besides you can even try to get certificate for Helicopter Underwater Escape Training.

  • You can get such training courses at marine safety schools or institutes. In fact, several seaside colleges in US and UK have marine safety schools.

Make sure to apply for TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Credential), in case you want to work in US in Offshore Drilling.

You can simply visit twicprogram.tsa.dhs.gov and get the form. Fill up the form and visit TWIC enrollment facility to submit the form for application.

  • You will be asked to provide biographic personal information, photographs, fingerprints and identification documents. The TSA (Transportation Security Administration would then verify the information and later send the TWIC approval to enrollment center.

Additional Resources

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Working in the oil field and loving to share knowledge.

3 Responses to 10 Tips to Make a Career in an Oilfield For New Personnel

  1. I like the briefing on this website and I will introduce it to my friends.
    Thanks
    S Chalokwu

  2. Elden Gatley says:

    I agree that getting some mechanical experience is definitely a plus when setting up your resume to get a job in oil drilling. I feel like there is something about hands-on work like that which is just as important as book learning. I have a friend who is going to need some of that type of experience because right now all he has to prepare him for the oil industry is a degree in geology.

  3. Jason Lavis says:

    Networking and making an effort on social media is likely to pay dividends over time. For example you you are active on LinkedIn.com industry related groups and Oilpro.com you might just get noticed by your next boss! Don’t make it your main purpose there, or bug people asking for opportunities. Just be a good member of different online communities and over time let serendipity help!

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