Anyone else work in the oil field?

[TimbyMaTombo]

I will have to go see how much the welding classes near me are and start looking into what I can do. I handle difficult people well and I am good at sucking it up and doing what my superiors tell me to do no matter how stupid it may seem, so I think I could do well and progress quickly up the ladder. The ability to work with my hands and not just sit at a computer, taking calls all day also intrigues me.

Thanks for all the help guys!

Edit: This is the first hit on Google so I will still do more research, but this school is about 30 minutes from where I am currently and seems like it could be promising. http://www.laketech.org/programs/app...g-technologies

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Anyone else work in the oil field?

I'm honestly thinking about welding now to. Just heard valmont the company that makes the giant ass wind mills is hiring welders now and starting at 30 an hour. I'm about to finish my general classes so I could just jump right into the welding classes.

[Restoman]

Working in the oil/gas field can EAD. I took a career detour and learned my lesson. I sell to the industry now and prefer this much better.

[mrsleeve]

Welding is a very very good trade to get into for sure. I work with welders every day its my job to keep the honest and make sure their work has the integrity that its supposed to have, they make a lot more than me too.


That said working as a welder in a fab shop is going to pay the bills but its not going to do a whole lot more, unless you get in a very specialized shop and be very good at specialized technical process and procedures. This is not something your going to get right out of welding school. Underwater is fine an dandy but its like the being a pilot in the military everyone wants to be one, but very few actually make it

My advise take a few welding classes to get the basics and general understanding of how it all works. Pack your shit and head for the patch, hire on for 12-18 bucks an hour as a welders helper with a well service outfit, a pipeline contractor, or a independent rig welder. Your going to work for/with some prima donna dick head welders that are going to treat you like shit and make you DO ALL THE BITCH WORK and then yell at you for not doing it right, other guys will treat you right and try to teach you.

Put a few years in helping a rig welder or pipeline hand, then put your own shit together, and the practice, practice, practice,practice, practice, practice every chance you get. Once you get where you think you have it down, practice some more until someone is willing to take a shot an you and break you out as welder. Keep your reputation up, dont bitch, do what you have to get the job done what ever it takes with the margins for safety that is. Once you break out with a few jobs under your belt with a good reputation, you just about write your own pay package at that point.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Yeah, I remember reading stuff about that. I have also always wanted to get a SCUBA license so it'd be the best of both it seems. It sounds like it would a pretty awesome job and I feel I would be comfortable enough with the risks that could be involved.

Plus your in Florida that's a + and you only gotta work like half month but get paid the big bucks. I can see where the money is well earned though. Welding oil pipe 100ft deep in the middle of the gulf could get hairy at times.

[TimbyMaTombo]

Become an underwater welder. Your only allowed by law to work 2 weeks or something like that out of the month and a year ago when I had a guy come to my school to talk about the welding field he said the under water welder a can make up to 200k a year or something like that and starts out at right around 100k a year.

Yeah, I remember reading stuff about that. I have also always wanted to get a SCUBA license so it'd be the best of both it seems. It sounds like it would a pretty awesome job and I feel I would be comfortable enough with the risks that could be involved.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Anyone else work in the oil field?

Thanks for the quick reply. Not to derail the thread, but I have been looking into something like a welding apprenticeship and there is a welding school near me in Orlando that I was thinking of saving up for. I have always wanted to learn how to weld in the first place and from what I've read, they can make pretty good money if they are willing to travel and do the less favorable jobs. I have nothing really tying me anywhere other than all of my belongings and two cars so I wouldn't mind traveling for a good job and settling down a little later in life.

Become an underwater welder. Your only allowed by law to work 2 weeks or something like that out of the month and a year ago when I had a guy come to my school to talk about the welding field he said the under water welder a can make up to 200k a year or something like that and starts out at right around 100k a year.

[TimbyMaTombo]

Thanks for the quick reply. Not to derail the thread, but I have been looking into something like a welding apprenticeship and there is a welding school near me in Orlando that I was thinking of saving up for. I have always wanted to learn how to weld in the first place and from what I've read, they can make pretty good money if they are willing to travel and do the less favorable jobs. I have nothing really tying me anywhere other than all of my belongings and two cars so I wouldn't mind traveling for a good job and settling down a little later in life.

[LSM3]

I get what you are saying completely.

I used to do a 7 day stretch of on-call, 24 hours a day, every 6 weeks. It made me enough money to buy my first "house" in our absurd housing market here, but once my son was born I had no interest in being away from him for that amount of time.

I now just work my m-f 7:30-4:00 shift and go home to the family every night.

. Im away from home alot as well and it sucks. Last year I was gone 50% of the time....it gets old. The plus for me is that I only work 14 days a month. Im transferring closer to home next year but taking a 60k pay cut. To me its worth it though to wake up in my own bed every morning. I cant wait.

[mrsleeve]

If you want into the trades college is ok, but can be skipped, try and find a good apprenticeship to get in with, but like any area that trains a skill be ready to leave that area when you break out a journeyman or you will not work much.... Just like with the tech schools for Auto/Motorcycle/Boat/heavy equipment etc... the labor rates in that area are low because many people dont want to leave after they finish school because they have spent 3-4 years establishing a life in that area. With apprenticeships the apprentices are cheaper labor and several can work under 1 journeyman so most jobs have more apprentices that journeyman. When you move to an area with a less established apprenticeship school/program your likely to work much more....

[TimbyMaTombo]

I have been wondering about some of the Blue-collar jobs people on here have because I am 21 and I feel like I'm way behind the game because I still have no idea what I want to do with my life. I failed out of University and am going to try and go back next year but I have to figure out what I want to major in before I can do that.

I have always loved working with my hands and I have never been one to shy away from manual labor or long hours so I have been thinking that a more "skilled labor" type job would better suit me. I would like to avoid being an expendable, easily replaceable construction worker but if that is the only way to get anywhere in that type of industry, I wouldn't have a choice.

Do you guys have any suggestions? I was thinking of going back to school and getting a basic, general degree because honestly, my only motivation to go to school is to be on the bowling team, but after that, I have no idea what I want to do.

[MF DOOM]

Ive been doing MWD and/or hotshot since I turned 18. Absolutely love it. Well, MWD at least. Hotshot sucks dick but I worked over the summer and made enough to cover my tuition for the year. But its like the rest of the jobs really. Get back from a run, maybe get a few hours of sleep then get called out on another. Boring as shit too. With MWD theres always new things to learn and room for growth. Not so much in the trucking department. And the truckers diet is terrible..

[Todd Black 88]

Oh I get the pick while the pickings good mentality. I worked 6 days a week for 6 months at the end of '13 with the odd 7th day popped in there. It wasn't really that bad beyond a bit tiring. But, the family life suffered so much so that it honestly just wasn't worth it. Not to say things went to shit but you come to realize after a kid or two that the 500$ + a day OT just really isn't worth it to your kids when they don't ever see you. I realize I'm probably preaching at a lot of married w/o kids or single dudes so take it with a grain of salt. If I was a single dude I'd be putting in massive hours, heh.

It comes down to priorities, I guess.

I actually kinda like the manliness aspect of working oil fields. I just couldn't ever convince my wife to let me go make 100k + a year and be gone 9-12 months of it ;) Why be married at that point.

I get what you are saying completely.

I used to do a 7 day stretch of on-call, 24 hours a day, every 6 weeks. It made me enough money to buy my first "house" in our absurd housing market here, but once my son was born I had no interest in being away from him for that amount of time.

I now just work my m-f 7:30-4:00 shift and go home to the family every night.

[mrsleeve]

Hey nando you driving to billings or flying, or did you make that trip already?? I be home


Buddy: you guys are still relatively new to the travel for work game. Yeah it sucks, no doubt about that. Its a big change when your used to being home every night (or in your case your wife being home) and it takes a while, a long while to for the separation to become the "new normal". Once it becomes normal it still sucks but you both figure out how to cope and deal with it both together and individually. Where I live I would be hard pressed to make even a 1/4-1/3 of what I currently make most years. I will have taken nearly 6 months off this year if I dont go back out and have still doubled what my earning potential would be near the house as my general skill set is very common here and we dont have that much industry out side of tourism anymore.

Sure I could move to your neck of the woods and work locally, be home most night but still have to put in 70-90 hour 6-7 day work weeks it just the way the energy sector is. But who actually wants to live in OK or TX anyway ;)

[ck_taft325is]

by the end of the year I'll have worked over 500 hours of overtime. I'm fucking exhausted.. but, I'm going to keep dancing until the music stops. like sleeve says, we're in a boom right now. in 2 years it could be completely dead. 80 hours a week sounds insane, but if you're out on a rig, what else are you going to do?

I don't mind the odd trip but mine are usually short (3 days) and only a few times a year. it's almost like a vacation, lol.

Oh I get the pick while the pickings good mentality. I worked 6 days a week for 6 months at the end of '13 with the odd 7th day popped in there. It wasn't really that bad beyond a bit tiring. But, the family life suffered so much so that it honestly just wasn't worth it. Not to say things went to shit but you come to realize after a kid or two that the 500$ + a day OT just really isn't worth it to your kids when they don't ever see you. I realize I'm probably preaching at a lot of married w/o kids or single dudes so take it with a grain of salt. If I was a single dude I'd be putting in massive hours, heh.

It comes down to priorities, I guess.

I actually kinda like the manliness aspect of working oil fields. I just couldn't ever convince my wife to let me go make 100k + a year and be gone 9-12 months of it ;) Why be married at that point.