Working offshore.

[Totality]

It's coming in because of that last crash, you won't be able to sit at an non-window seat without one from 1st September I think it is.

Then's the whole too fat to fly thing which I think is April next year, though I suspect that may yet get knocked on the head as putting thousands of people out of work probably isn't that great a move to save a couple of lives maybe.

Its so annoying on the helicopter when you get someone massive next to you as the seats are tiny. I don't agree with banning people though due to their weight. A lot of the guys from America with experience are obese lol. The easiest way is to not give fatties a window seat so others can get out and if they can't fit then they had the option or not to work offshore at least and it doesnt affect other people.

I don't understand the whole BOSIET nonsense anyway. I fly out to rigs a few times a month and yet all the commercial airlines I fly in have no such safety measures when I fly to the other countries to get on said helicopter... You can't even fail the BOSIET. When I did mine, people were panicking under water and being retards but they still passed :/

I don't understand why people think its glamorous and highly paid to work offshore these days. The pay isn't that great unless you are very high up and the work hours and time away from home result in a lot of mental health issues with workers, marriage breakups, forget trying to organise anything remotely past a few days away (even that is pushing it!), etc. You are away from home 24 hours a day and even more so than people who stay in hotels for work as you never escape the rig - it is your life away from home.

I work 12 hours a day for 28 days straight with no days off and you can't go to the pub in the evenings or hang out with mates after a bad day in "the office". You are stuck in close proximity to people you may not like for long periods of time and your body takes a battering thanks to the long hours and shift work.

I am looking at moving back to 9-5 as you really are a pawn in the oil companies hands these days. I was due back Friday after my hitch, but they have said I need to stay on until the end of the well and cancelled my return helicopter on Thursday (the day before I was due to fly home from the rig!). I had plans at the weekend which I had to cancel for the umpteenth time (I never learn!). I may be off Monday, it could be Wednesday or who knows...

Just want you to be aware that it isn't all rosey offshore and isn't easy money at all!

 

[Quartz]

Aberdonian here. There is apparently negative unemployment up here. That is there are plenty of unfilled jobs.

 

[Efour]

I'm gonna pitch in with Totality. I worked offshore for 4 years Mudlogger>Data Engineer a few hitches as Well-site Geologist.

You are selling your life/youth which sounds great but for me it didn't work out. My company basically wanted to work me nonstop and after an argument with my manager told him to do one right there and then. In hindsight I was stupid but I had a lot going on in my family and needed to be there and they wouldn't be flexible, said one thing and did another.

I have good friends that got what they needed offshore then moved back onto normal hour consultancy land jobs on good money.

I don't see that happening from a Roustabout position in all honesty.

I met very few people on rigs that had normal family relationships...

It is exciting for a while but becomes very mundane.

Good luck though, don't be put off just know what you are getting into.

 

[Amp34]

Aberdonian here. There is apparently negative unemployment up here. That is there are plenty of unfilled jobs.

That's because no one wants to work there.

We keep getting recruiters trying to move us up there but very few people are interested, even with higher wages.

 

[KaHn]

Aberdonian here. There is apparently negative unemployment up here. That is there are plenty of unfilled jobs.

Unfilled skilled jobs, the majority you will see advertised will be management or engineering roles.

KaHn

 

[Dunks]

Pah, nothing wrong with Aberdeen!

 

[Amp34]

Problem is its not London (same problem a lot of the majors have now they have moved outside to reading etc.) or somewhere more exotic like Perth (Australia) or Oslo.

If you're willing to relocate hundreds of miles then you'll probably end up moving to somewhere better paid and outside of the UK.

 

[KaHn]

Problem is its not London (same problem a lot of the majors have now they have moved outside to reading etc.) or somewhere more exotic like Perth (Australia) or Oslo.

If you're willing to relocate hundreds of miles then you'll probably end up moving to somewhere better paid and outside of the UK.

Pretty much all of the jobs I have seen (UK and else where) don't pay as much as Aberdeen, the draw for me with up here is the ease of moving companies for different projects, even the likes of Saipem and SS7 in London are miles apart with huge commutes but to do that here you can literally take jobs at different companies across the road to each other.

KaHn

 

[bJN]

I'll chime in with my two cents and experiences so far. For reference, I've now entered my third year of the OPITO Modern Apprenticeship scheme as an Instrument Technician. I've done the two years at college learning the theory and now I'm at the worksite to continue training - albeit onshore.

First of all, you won't get offshore without the BOSIET, but I think you already know that, so get that done and you can move on. You might want to not do it right now though, as although it does last for four years before needing a refresher, there may well be other courses you could be getting on with first. Also for reference, I had a medical done at the same time and included with my BOSIET through Petrofac at Altens.

MIST is a complete farce of a course, but may be worth looking into as a lot of contracts going through agencies seem to be asking for it recently. It's better than when it was first introduced, but most of what it teaches is common sense really - as with most training courses!

As your step-dad already works in the industry, it really will help you get into - I think it's very much a case of "who" you know more than "what" you know in terms of general work.

As for the apprenticeship side of things... I'm turning 23 at the tail end of the year, so there isn't that much of an age difference between us. On my course, there were some lads who were fresh out of school at 16 up to a lad that was 25 when we started the course, so you're definitely not too old. Heck, I had a chap contact me recently about the course as he's applied and is 31. You're never too old. That being said, it is difficult financially. I jumped into the scheme coming from a fairly well paid job and quite an easy lifestyle where if I wanted something, I'd have the funds to buy it. That certainly wasn't the case whilst I was in Scotland doing the college segment of the course. The first year I think was something circa £900 a month and the second year a touch over £1000 for me with a food allowance (our accommodation was self-catering). But you have to consider that you do get accommodation paid for and travel organised for you. It's easily doable to live on that, but I struggled for the first six months or so.

Now that I've moved onto the work-site, the pay works a bit differently. I'm now on a salary of £12k p/a working onshore, and this can rise to £14.5k p/a after a year if I'm progressing well. Offshore apprentices are earning, from memory, £16k p/a in the first year rising to £19k. Personally I think the difference in pay is unfounded and ridiculous, considering I have a 70 mile and 2 hour round trip to work each day that is not expensed, so I'm down to about £650 a month after fuel and tax if not less. But I diverge!

The OPITO courses will put in the best position to walk into the industry. I don't like some of the employees of OPITO after many a heated discussion, but they are right in saying that four years of your life is an investment. If you can stick it out and put in the work then you'll be set nicely to walk into near-enough any oil & gas establishment around the world with a year or two experience.

ECITB courses, from what I've heard, are not as comprehensive or involved as the OPTIO course. They are more theory based and a lot more generic, but I'm only basing this off what I have been told by one of my colleagues who progressed through that scheme rather than OPTIO, and he is now fully qualified but had to put in a LOT more effort in his own time to get to where he is.

I think it all depends on where you want to end up in the industry - what job do you want to do?

 

[Amp34]

Pretty much all of the jobs I have seen (UK and else where) don't pay as much as Aberdeen, the draw for me with up here is the ease of moving companies for different projects, even the likes of Saipem and SS7 in London are miles apart with huge commutes but to do that here you can literally take jobs at different companies across the road to each other.

KaHn

Perhaps it's different with engineering but geoscience Aberdeen is better paid compared to London (largely because no one wants to move up there) but working abroad is even better paidd than Aberdeen. Other than grads a move from London to Aberdeen is just as big a move from London to Oslo or Perth.

 

[Efour]

One perk of my Job was it didn't matter where i lived as long as i would come into the office for training or with a few days notice so i stayed in London or Spent my time of travelling and visiting the countries where i worked. In that respect it was very good.

Sod living in Aberdeen for long....

 

[Traffic_Warden]

When i did mine i completed ther BOSIET , HUET and MIST , the latter is like what has been said a bit of a farce just sitting in a class for 2 days.... If you can do your Norwegian Escape Chute aswell, this will open opportunity up in the Norwegian sector also and get your Dutch Medical this will also open work up in the Netherlands.

I would say go for Survivex in Bridge of Don, Aberdeen. Pretty decent new facilitys and plenty of training courses like Banksman slinger etc which maybe of use to you.

Problem with the Oil Industry is they want people experience , and to get that experience you need to work offshore. So its a vicious circle , best thing is if you know someone who works offshore already, so they can put a good word in for you. When i started i left school and went to college for a year , which put me in a good place for an apprenticeship with an oil company which i got. Now travel across the world which is great, fixing our WPCE equipment.

^^^ Nothing wrong with Aberdeen.

 

[KaHn]

Sod living in Aberdeen for long....

Have you actually lived here tho? Other than pass through while staying in a hotel?

KaHn

 

[Efour]

Have you actually lived here tho? Other than pass through while staying in a hotel?

KaHn

Nope, i'm from London so most places didn't appeal to me back then.

Too many Scots with chips on their shoulder too. Other worst thing about Oil and Gas.

 

[Traffic_Warden]

Nope, i'm from London so most places didn't appeal to me back then.

Too many Scots with chips on their shoulder too. Other worst thing about Oil and Gas.

Maybe its you with the chip on your shoulder

 

[KaHn]

Maybe its you with the chip on your shoulder

Typical Londoner who thinks the world begins and ends with London then?

KaHn

 

[Efour]

Maybe its you with the chip on your shoulder

I promise you 100% i take people at face value no matter who you are ill give everyone equal opportunity.

Its pack mentality in some places, being the odd one out makes you the butt of the joke.

These are professional educated people, not rig crew. I found them much nicer and easier people to get on with once you learn their language. (that was a joke)

 

[Efour]

Typical Londoner who thinks the world begins and ends with London then?

KaHn

You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. Lets keep stereo typing its the intelligent way this has to go.

We are talking past tense here, so lots might have changed.

I doubt your job would even have brought you into contact with the people i mixed with in exploration. Maybe a few rig crews at a push.

 

[Surfer]

my brother got into the industry via an access course to university in chemistry/microbiology. Was earning peanuts at SEPA then managed to get a gig working offshore via an agency and then Talisman took him on...he kinda does 2 jobs...control room operator i think but he also does a lot of chemist stuff...checking measurements i dunno i dont really listen when he talks

 

[aaron]

I'm gonna pitch in with Totality. I worked offshore for 4 years Mudlogger>Data Engineer a few hitches as Well-site Geologist.

You are selling your life/youth which sounds great but for me it didn't work out. My company basically wanted to work me nonstop and after an argument with my manager told him to do one right there and then. In hindsight I was stupid but I had a lot going on in my family and needed to be there and they wouldn't be flexible, said one thing and did another.

I have good friends that got what they needed offshore then moved back onto normal hour consultancy land jobs on good money.

I don't see that happening from a Roustabout position in all honesty.

I met very few people on rigs that had normal family relationships...

It is exciting for a while but becomes very mundane.

Good luck though, don't be put off just know what you are getting into.

Oh I appreciate all that. But currently work in a call centre for one of the mobile networks and quite honestly am sick of life at the moment. It's just soul destroying with no opportunities for moving up or progressing past the level I am at currently.

All I have is sale's experience and as such can only really move into other sales positions. Unfortunately I have worked in sales since I was 16 and now just find it a morally detestable profession with no job satisfaction and very little in the way of monetary rewards. That's why i'm hoping this will be a new start for me, where I can learn a trade and progress so long as I put the hard graft in.


In regards to home relationships, I have a partner of nearly 5 years and while you can never say never we have no intention of starting a family, we both hate the idea of having kids and as she is doing a Genetics degree at Newcastle Uni we both appreciate the fact once she completes her degree, she could be moved anywhere for research.

I'll chime in with my two cents and experiences so far. For reference, I've now entered my third year of the OPITO Modern Apprenticeship scheme as an Instrument Technician. I've done the two years at college learning the theory and now I'm at the worksite to continue training - albeit onshore.

First of all, you won't get offshore without the BOSIET, but I think you already know that, so get that done and you can move on. You might want to not do it right now though, as although it does last for four years before needing a refresher, there may well be other courses you could be getting on with first. Also for reference, I had a medical done at the same time and included with my BOSIET through Petrofac at Altens.

MIST is a complete farce of a course, but may be worth looking into as a lot of contracts going through agencies seem to be asking for it recently. It's better than when it was first introduced, but most of what it teaches is common sense really - as with most training courses!

As your step-dad already works in the industry, it really will help you get into - I think it's very much a case of "who" you know more than "what" you know in terms of general work.

As for the apprenticeship side of things... I'm turning 23 at the tail end of the year, so there isn't that much of an age difference between us. On my course, there were some lads who were fresh out of school at 16 up to a lad that was 25 when we started the course, so you're definitely not too old. Heck, I had a chap contact me recently about the course as he's applied and is 31. You're never too old. That being said, it is difficult financially. I jumped into the scheme coming from a fairly well paid job and quite an easy lifestyle where if I wanted something, I'd have the funds to buy it. That certainly wasn't the case whilst I was in Scotland doing the college segment of the course. The first year I think was something circa £900 a month and the second year a touch over £1000 for me with a food allowance (our accommodation was self-catering). But you have to consider that you do get accommodation paid for and travel organised for you. It's easily doable to live on that, but I struggled for the first six months or so.

Now that I've moved onto the work-site, the pay works a bit differently. I'm now on a salary of £12k p/a working onshore, and this can rise to £14.5k p/a after a year if I'm progressing well. Offshore apprentices are earning, from memory, £16k p/a in the first year rising to £19k. Personally I think the difference in pay is unfounded and ridiculous, considering I have a 70 mile and 2 hour round trip to work each day that is not expensed, so I'm down to about £650 a month after fuel and tax if not less. But I diverge!

The OPITO courses will put in the best position to walk into the industry. I don't like some of the employees of OPITO after many a heated discussion, but they are right in saying that four years of your life is an investment. If you can stick it out and put in the work then you'll be set nicely to walk into near-enough any oil & gas establishment around the world with a year or two experience.

ECITB courses, from what I've heard, are not as comprehensive or involved as the OPTIO course. They are more theory based and a lot more generic, but I'm only basing this off what I have been told by one of my colleagues who progressed through that scheme rather than OPTIO, and he is now fully qualified but had to put in a LOT more effort in his own time to get to where he is.

I think it all depends on where you want to end up in the industry - what job do you want to do?

That's perfect BJN. I honestly did not realize that and it may be the way to go. In regards to the money side of things that does not seem half bad actually especially if accommodation etc are taken care of. (im on 16k at the moment, was 20k last year but they are refusing to pay out bonuses now by implementing impossible to reach targets as a form of bonus control.)

I think in regards to course it will definitely be OPITO for me as it seems the most widely accepted and the courses just generally seem better.

In regards to an apprenticeship is there any companies you can suggest looking at and what are the requirements generally? Sadly in the past few years I have come to realize that 6th form was a complete waste (despite good grades) and the promise of a good job at the end of it was a complete lie. I should have went to college instead and got myself a vocation. But yeah apprenticeship may be the way to go as it's how my step dad got on and he's on ridiculous money as an instrument tech.

In terms of what job I don't have the foggiest at the moment. I would probably like to go down the instrument tech route eventually as my step dad could really help me out with that and he's been all over the world, Azerbaijan, Baku etc. But for me I feel I need to get on and see whats what first before I decide, which is why being a roustabout may come in handy. When I'm investing all this time and money I want a job that I am happy with and I've seen quite a few people who went offshore with good intentions but couldn't hack the job they chose.

Thanks to everyone so far.