Paul Crabtree ⋅ Mason, OH Procter & Gamble ⋅ 38 years experience

Rameon,

First I want to say thanks for your service to our country.

Second, I have a brother who has been in the Oil drilling industry, and he's said he'd be willing to help you if you contact him at crabtreem01@gmail.com.

He did pass on some perspective I thought I should share:

The corporate/Human Resources offices of most of the drilling companies are in Texas and Louisiana. Applicants would probably need to visit these offices to be hired. Several of the drilling companies offer "new hire" training for the starting positions.

If you would, refer interested individuals to me. I'll make contacts within the major companies as a starting point. One question that each applicant would need to answer in advance as a self-assessment is whether he/she wants to work onshore or offshore. Land drilling jobs are different than offshore drilling jobs, including differences in work schedules, accommodations and actual tasks. There is a great deal of difference in pay scales, as well, with offshore jobs the much better compensated.

The industry utilizes a broad range of technical disciplines such as mechanics, hydraulic systems specialists, electricians, IT, industrial safety, and even inventory management. My son is a specialist in Safety. He is studying on his time off to get a degree in Industrial Safety. His tuition and curricula costs are being reimbursed by his employer. In the meantime, at age 26, his annual base salary is probably $80,000 - $90,000. Since he is currently working overseas (out of Romania) on 28/28 on/off schedule, his overseas pay is probably $130k. He owns a house in Texas as a rental property and he and his wife own their home in Maryland. His employer pays for his transportation to and from work every month. Not bad for a young man!
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I hope this helps,

Paul

Jeff Shoemaker ⋅ Lake In The Hills, IL Colorado Technical University ⋅ 20 years experience

North Dakota's oil industry is still booming and offering good jobs with above average wages

Ed Neumann ⋅ Bend, OR Home Care I.V. of Bend, LLC ⋅ 23 years experience

As Ken said, there are other parts of the world where drilling has created a demand for positions that range from entry level to already skilled. Check North Dakota and eastern Montana Craigslist postings, for example, for opportunities in the Bakken fields/Williston Basin area . There are many other sites listing positions in that area but I suspect many are fee-driven.

As an alternative, consider heavy equipment operation opportunities. My son-in-law spent $5k to get his certificates in Alaska but within a year had a well-paid position with great benefits on the North Slope and advanced quickly as a Teamster.

Dale Krysinski ⋅ Zelienople, PA Hatch Mott MacDonald ⋅ 33 years experience

Most of the oil companies and oilfield serivce providers are looking to hire in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas (south of San Antonio) and in the Permian Basin (Midland area). Go to www.linkedin.com and do a search under Jobs for Oil & Energy. You may need to join Linkedin but you should do that anyways for networking opportunities. You could also Google "oilfield service providers Texas" and you'll get a lot of hits. Baker Hughes and Schlumberger are a couple of the "big boys" but there are a ton of smaller firms that might be hiring too. Good luck and thank you for your service.