A better choice for someone

Offshore oil rig jobs are the hot new jobs for this coming decade, bumping IT and finance from their perch. These are some of the jobs in the upstream oil industry, where you look for oil and drill for it. Then there is the midstream, where you refine and transport the oil. Finally, there are the downstream oil jobs, where you sell and distribute the finished product.
Upstream is where both the greatest demand and the greatest competition lies. Most of these jobs are international and require a lot of travel. Employees here often work in Alaska, the Arctic, Canada and the Middle East. The people on the really sharp end are the geologists who look for oil and the people who support them, doing seismic testing and test drilling. Should you try to get in here? This is a judgment call. If you started a university degree with the related qualifications 2 to 5 years ago, you would be in a very good position. Many of the oil company staff here would be in their 50s and 60s, some of them recalled from retirement. If you start today, you'll get your degree in 3 to 5 years time. Demand for a geologist would probably not be as strong. If you have started your geology degree, this is a good time to get the specializations you need to branch into this line of work.
A better choice for someone starting out is to get an offshore oil rig job as a roughneck or roustabout. While you are technically a laborer, your salary is better than many managers (unless they work for a tobacco company). Let your high school peers enjoy their better-sounding titles. You get to laugh all the way to the bank. In addition, if you show the right attitude and skills, you can work your way up the hierarchy from roustabout all the way up to derrickman, driller and oil rig manager. Whether or not you make it to oil rig manager, do remember history. Oil prices will eventually drop again after about 1 decade. Save some of your salary and use it to build your nest egg. Don't blow all your salary on beer and cigarettes and living the high life. Make sure you can retire when the oil boom ends.
Another good choice is to get a good trade skill like electrician, mechanic, medic or cook. These are some of the support positions also needed on an oil rig. You don't get labeled as a laborer, but you still get a good salary and excellent benefits. For spending 6 months every year in the middle of nowhere, you get more pay than your peer working on land. It is still a pretty good deal. In addition, when the oil market bubble bursts again, you have your trade skills to get by.
Even without the specialized skills of the driller, you can still get an offshore oil rig job. You can work your way up from roustabout, or you can get in through a tradeskill in a support position.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1170895

Offshore Drilling Jobs - How To Get Hired Without Drilling Experience

So, you want to work an offshore drilling job. Do you know which companies are involved in offshore oil drilling? Besides the super-big players like Esso, BP, Shell, etc. Did you know that these big boys do not always do their own drilling? Quite often nowadays, they are forced to subcontract some of the work to smaller players.

Have you heard of these companies: Diamond Offshore (Houston, USA), Dolphin Drilling (Tananger, Norway), and Frigstad Offshore (Singapore)? How about Offrig Drilling ASA, Scorpion Offshore, Songa Offshore and Thule Drilling ASA? These are just some of the companies in the modern oil industry. In their own way, you can call them the modern wildcatters. During the last slump in oil prices, the giants like BP and Shell stopped investing in their staff and oil drilling technologies. But some smaller companies correctly predicted that prices would rise again. They invested in R&D to develop new drilling techniques and technologies. They build new oil rigs for deep-ocean drilling. These are the boys that Shell and BP are sub-contracting for oil drilling services.

If you want to work on an offshore oil drilling rig, you have two main choices. The path most people think of is to go on board as part of the drill crew. If you have prior experience, you will probably be a pumpman or derrickman. If not, you have to get in as a roughneck or roustabout. Drillers are pretty much the 2nd-in-command and assistant of the oil rig manager. Technically, a roughneck/roustabout is a laborer. On the other hand, how many laborers earn $50,000 per year for just 6 months of work every year? Unlike a normal laborer, who never gets the chance to work his way up to manager level, a roughneck with the proper attitude has a reasonable chance to become a manager on an oil rig. Of course, first he has to work his way through derrickman and driller.

This is not the only way to get an offshore drilling job. If you have some useful trade, like a cook or medic, this will be a good choice regardless of your offshore oil rig experience. You get the same generous living conditions of the drill crew, and better salary than a comparable job on dry land.

Just because it is an offshore oil rig does not mean it does not need office staff. No matter where you go, you can't escape paperwork. You'll still find your paper pushers. Except that on the oil rig they are called tool pushers. They work in the rig offices and rig floors.

You also have the mechanical department and electrical department. The mechanical department hires motormen, mechanics and maintenance supervisors who are responsible for all mechanical operations. The electrical department includes jobs like electrician, electronics technician and maintenance supervisors who repair and look after of all the electrical equipment.

An offshore drilling job is a very lucrative career. As you can see, you do not need drilling experience to get hired on an offshore oil rig. And now that you know there are companies other than Shell hiring people, you have many ways to get in on the action. You can get in as part of the drill crew, or as a tradesman.