Working offshore.

[aaron]

Hi everybody,

I was just wondering if any you guy's who work, or have worked offshore could offer any advice.

I'm currently looking into getting myself onto the career ladder of the offshore petroleum business.

I initially want to go on as a "Roustabout" and work my way from the bottom upwards with the intention of completing a Petroleum Open Working qualification once I get offshore.

Currently i'm looking at doing a BOSIET (Basic offshore safety induction and emergency training) course in the near future and will most likely book it come Monday when I can confirm time off work. I also do realize that a BOSIET is not a guaranteed job but instead is a stepping stone onto achieving employment.

My stepdad currently works in the sector and advised me that once I complete this my best bet is to get myself onto the agency's, such as petrofac's registers and obviously he'll put a good word in where he can.

Really I was just looking to get any advice you guy's can give on improving my chances of getting offshore and what your personal experiences have been?

I am currently 21 with no formal qualifications apart from good GCSE's and A levels and my only experience lie in sales.

Obviously the straightforward answer is to work towards more qualifications and make myself stand out. But any tidbits or pieces of advice you guy's could give would be genuinely and greatly appreciated.

 

[aaron]

Thank you very much for that.

I must admit Uni sadly isn't an option for me and I wont bore you with the details (all about cost and the lack of funding I would get because of me and my families socio-economic position). Apprenticeships seem like a good way to go and it is how my step dad managed to get on but again I'm concerned that I may be too old...or that if I did get one the wage would be too low to accommodate my lifestyle (got my own place, car on finance etc as I don't rely on my parents for anything) though it is not something I have looked into thoroughly yet so will be worth a punt.

Many thanks for suggesting the Banksman/slinger course though as it is not something I had even heard about so will definitely look into that and get myself on one to improve my odds.

And I completely agree with your final paragraph as i'm not going to get to the position I want by sitting on my laurels Sales is completely and utterly soul destroying without even the incentive of a nice steady wage so quite honestly the thing that will drive me towards doing this will be 1). do I waste my life away in a horrible job with horrible pay and hate myself or do I 2). Work hard, do everything it takes and make something of my life. Number 2 definitely wins haha.

I like the idea of taking a trip to Aberdeen though. Would you advise just walking into the building and handing my resume to whoever is on reception? (probably a silly question I know but I want to try and cover all angles)

 

[aaron]

Perfect guy's many thanks to you two as well.

You have a very good point Amp...I'm even wondering if it would be worth looking into an Open University course or something along those lines. I know this is a very general question as it depends what area I go into, but what degrees would actually be of value? Of course I imagine things like Physics or Geology would be highly advantageous but are there any others you can think of?

My intention is to do each course in a stepping stone fashion so for example do my BOSIET first, then maybe Banksman/Slinger as suggested and hopefully with each course completed my chances of getting a phonecall offering me a job improve. Uni most likely being my final step if I have no luck beforehand due to the financial implications.

I would love to just do everything all in one but unfortunately have very little disposable income and with the courses costing £600 to £1000 each I'm going to have to take my time...however I will get there one way or another .


Oh also I meant to ask is the medical done on the BOSIET or is that something you do separately?

 

[aaron]

Honestly that's brilliant Amp. To be honest the problem I have at the moment is I just don't know what area I want to develop in. It's the reason I want to go for Roustabout as I am hoping it will give me a good sense of where I want to go with my career, as until I get on the rig's I think it's hard to tell what appeals and what doesn't. All I know is I want to succeed which I know is a very wishy washy thing to say but the lifestyle and obviously the pay are huge incentives.

My step dad actually mentioned health and safety so will look into that also. I'm quite shocked that if what you said is true, that MWD etc are so underpaid for what I assume is a highly academic and skilled field. Especially when you take into account Roustabout, while being hard work is generally regarded as an unskilled laboring job yet the pay for that seems relatively high.

 

[aaron]

Yeah, Amp has pretty much nailed it there.

Mudlogging will start you on the lowest wage, but will give you the best experience for heading up the ladder. That starting wage looks about right, after a year or so you can get to data engineer, so around £25k. Then you can move on up to either MWD (I started on £18k + offshore bonus, which was £75 per day whilst training, and 9 months later that doubled. Wont tell you what I'm on now mind, but it is quite a bit better). But from there you can go other directions. Directional Driller, MLT, Company Man and so on. Or I have known people to go into drilling as Assistant Driller, which can take you onto driller, toolpusher, OIM. These are all offshore positions though, many jump to the office at various points in the chain, usually starting as co-ordinator, then manager or sales / business development, then regional manager.

The other route from Data Engineer, so long as you have a Geology degree / masters, is Geologist. They can go all the way though. Tony Hayward was a Geologist (the guy in charge of BP when DW Horizon happened).

Many people are looking for the move to the office. I did. Then I had a job that when I started, I had to go into the office everyday.

Yawn!!! Much prefer life offshore.

But the route I took has me ad-hoc, so no schedule. Still get my salary, and can book holidays and such, but I could get a call tomorrow morning putting me on a flight that afternoon. And whilst now it will only be for a couple weeks tops, usually, in the past, I have done 8 week hitches in rural China for example.

The other downside to staying offshore is you'll never be on the big big money. Company man is probably around the top paid gig offshore, and will be £100k - £150+k I would imagine (I know a lot who are contractors, so around $1500-2500 per day). But it's not until you get into the office you can get to Veyron money.

On the other hand, my mate who is now a CRO (Control Room Operator) easily broke 6 figures last year, including bonuses, and gets a 20% non contribution pension. So I would REALLY be trying for the apprentice route. I believe they start on around £38 - £42k as an apprentice. I have been considering making the switch, but couldn't take the pay cut with 2 young kids, big car, big house and wife on maternity.

And yes. Medical is 2 years, BOSIET is 4 years. And you need additional certs on both if you want to work in Norway.

My step dad is offshore (no idea what role, instument technician of some sort) but hes on 100k+ and i'd be rather happy with an income like that although the sky's the limit

I will definitely look into the apprenticeship route though as I do want as many angles as possible when it comes to moving up.

I take it mudlogger is a job that requires a degree though? [EDIT] answered my own question so generally yes.


Also as an aside do you guys have a rough idea of the cost of a medical? And in terms of the agency's how do they work? do you pay them a fee to put you on their books or do they take a commission etc?

Sorry about all the questions guy's i'm just trying to build myself a resource bank full of information.

 

[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.

 

[aaron]

Falck in teeside is a bit closer to home for op. They offer pretty much every course you could need and the instructors are fantastic. Only downside is the place tends to be full of smoggies but hey, nothing is perfect!

Haha well for my BOSIET I was looking at south shields marine college as my step dad does it there and says its fine. Any one else had experiences there?

 

[aaron]

Thanks guys's and I'll definitely trust you BJN if I have any questions so much apreciated.

Well rather stupidly I tried to book my BOSIET course yesterday but they dont have any advanced bookings for next month yet which is rather annoying as you would think you would be able to book months in advance.

Anyway ive booked 4 weeks holiday next month from work so when a place comes up on the course I can book straight away and just cancel the holidays I dont need.

 

[aaron]

Just a quick update guys. Just completed the first day of my BOSIET and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mind the gear you wear isnt made for comfort

Anyway its a 3 day course so finish that on Wednesday, then got my MIST on Thursday and Friday. All I need after that is me CA-EBS and offshore medical then i'll be ready.

CV's getting drafted up now so fingers crossed.

 

[aaron]

Glad you enjoyed it fella! It's all good fun, and it certainly helps you get through it with that mindset too!

As mentioned above though, find out if the course is adapted for the new EBS rules that came into effect recently.

It's not sadly, most of the centers are still operating on the old re-breathers (which I have to use tomorrow as it's helicopter time) as it's not mandatory till January, so they run the new EBS as a completely separate course.. Just a way of getting them extra cash I guess.

 

[aaron]

Yeah that's the oil companies themselves that are putting the deadline at the...Opito's deadline is something like January the 6th. meaning that the course centers don't have to put it in the BOSIET yet and instead offer it as an extra course. We got the spiel today that " its because the industry are still using the old re-breathers, therefore we train you on that", when it is just a way of extra cash tbh.

It's only 90 minute course so could have easily been tagged on the BOSIET somewhere. but nope costs you £70-£100.

 

[aaron]

Ahh that's a really good point actually. It was just what they had told us, however with it being in the NE they presumably cater for predominately Aberdeen workers.