How is it like to work on an oil rig? I'm studying economics

>>1491589
It's great, they let me drink all the oil I want!

>>1491589
Many people have quit because their life was at risk being of the negligence of their coworkers. You need to get a comfy job not roughnecking.

>>1491592
>life at risk
It's that bad?

>a comfy job
Like what, though?
I live in france so the opportunities aren't plentiful. Wish I could move, but that seems impossible.

>>1491589
It's labor intensive and they fire you or lay you off at the drop of a hat based on oil prices, which are unstable . It has very little crossover skills. My experience comes from living in Texas and watching the same cycle repeatedly with friends /family.

>>1491595
Yeah, that does sound pretty shitty.
Too bad, I thought I had found something worthwhile. I don't know what else I could look into.

>>1491594
What about south west Switzerland (French speaking)? Jobs in abundance and great pay.

>>1491589
I was in a similar position as yours. hated my degree and wanted to do something crazy like work at an oil rig.

Let me tell you how the story ends.

You end up as a NEET

>>1491616
>Jobs in abundance
If you're qualified, that is. Which I'm not and won't be. As I said, I'm not very ambitious, I don't care about the pay since I'm frugal anyways.
>>1491623
>You end up as a NEET
I want to move out as soon as possible, so that might not be an option.
I don't want to do something crazy, just get a job that allows me to lead a comfy life. That shouldn't be too difficult, yet I can't find shit.

Jimmy Carr worked on oilrigs when he left uni. Now he tells dead baby and rape jokes for a living.

Make of that what you will.

You'll need some experience drilling on land before you can move offshore. If you can last a year as a roughneck you can survive any job/crew. The money is great but be prepared to say goodbye to your social life.

>>1491639
>be prepared to say goodbye to your social life.
I don't have one.

But other anons in this thread said it wasn't worth it because of the conditions. Given that I've never really done any hard work I don't know what that entails and if I'd be able to deal with it.

>>1491631
You don`t need to be qualified, just speak one of their languages which you do. Pay starts at 20 Franks.

You said you were looking for a job "that will leave me some time for myself". That`s why I mentioned Switzerland. Working part time would be more than enough. I would do it myself if I didn`t have family here.

>>1491644
>You don`t need to be qualified
What kind of jobs are we talking about, then?
I thought Switzerland was only open to those who wanted to work in banking and finance.
Would I be able to live there or will I have to stay in France?
>if I didn't have family here
Are you French?

>>1491647
>What kind of jobs?
Production, warehouse, obviously you can work your way up.
>Would I be able to live there or will I have to stay in France?
You can live anywhere in the EU and work in Switzerland. Or move there.
>Are you French?
German

>>1491661
That sounds deceptively easy. Can I really search for a low-level job there and live a comfortable, modest life just like that? If so, then I guess it's great. I'll definitely look into it.
Why doesn't everyone do it, though?

>>1491666
>That sounds deceptively easy.
The catch is the high cost of living. But if you`re living frugally and don`t have family, it shouldn`t affect you.
>I'll definitely look into it.
indeed.ch
>Why doesn't everyone do it, though?
I guess some people like their home too much, others don`t want to make much money, some don`t speak the language,...

>>1491675
>if you`re living frugally and don`t have family
Well, no girlfriend and no kids, yeah. And as long as I'm able to eat, afford a small studio, and occasionally buy weebshit then it's all good.

Thanks a bunch for the link.

>some people like their home too much
Well, Switzerland is a pretty great country though, isn't it? In terms of the quality of life and such.

>>1491589
I know this has already been said, but let me leave this message for anyone thinking necking is an easy way to live life. I'm an oil field layoff. Not because I didn't perform, but because of fucking oil prices. No matter how hard you work, ultimately your success is determined by it, so it's not a sound career choice unless you're a petroleum engineer. To add to this, working on a rig is fucking dangerous and pretty much everyone on your crew is not going to give a shit about safety no matter how much a company claims they care. People still die more often than people think on rigs, and that doesn't include the guys who lose fingers/limbs or get permanent damage of any sort. The conditions are shit, and although the money may be okay, the company won't give a shit about you either.

tl;dr if you aren't a felon or white trash who can do no better, you aren't going to make it for one reason or the other.

Signed,
An oklahoma layoff

>>1491714
Specifically what kind of dangerous conditions did you had to work in? What did the job consist of

>>1491616
Thats not true for the french speaking parts of the country, it is completely full because everybody wants to go there especially for a junior. Plus Switzerland is trying its best to stop immigration, qualified or not.

>>1491589
Like many things (especially in France), it was really good at the time but now the contracts are not as advantageous as they were. Besides it has became very dangerous for french people to be in Africa. However it is still way above average salary.

>>1491595
Same sort of experience (Texas as well)

But if you can make it work for a year or two, and don't blow your money like an idiot...you can afford to go to school and not work at school after roughnecking.

>>1491589
The oil industry is in the shitter right now and it'll be impossible to get a job on one unless you already have a shitload of experience

>>1491761
I'll also add that even when oil prices were high it's hard as fuck to get on an oil rig, it's mostly nepotism, you'd be better off going to bumfuck, north dakota

>>1491589
I wasn't into all the anal sex
End of the day I just wanted to rest
I'm pretty progressive and liberal but come on leave me alone when I already told you a thousand times I'm straight

>>1491589
>comfy, minimalistic life
You'd hate the rigs. 12 hour shifts, too cold or too hot, exhausting, often repetitive manual labour, needing to stay sharp through all of this or shit could go sideways... and don't get me started on your coworkers. Minimalism is so far from most riggers' motivations that you'd basically have to be an outsider from day one to keep your values. And being an outsider is a bad idea in a group of people who have to trust each other with their lives.

>>1491594
>That bad?
It's not a huge danger, I'd say soldiers on deployment and police in rough neighborhoods face more danger. So long as you follow the proper precautions, you're not actually likely to get injured, but keeping all the precautions in mind adds to the general stress.

>wat tho?
Have you considered teaching? One of my comfiest gigs was teaching Chinese preschoolers English. Plus, you get almost as much time off, possibly more if you're a contract teacher.

>>1491766
That was never my experience (in Alberta). All I did was send out resumes to all the service companies and wait until someone no-showed. Of course, I had to quit my retail job with one day's notice. This was pre-2008 though, so I wouldn't be surprised to learn it's changed.

>>1492454
I meant a comfy, minimal life outside of the job. Rigs seemed like a good deal because of the fact that roughnecks work six months per year; I didn't expect the job itself to be comfy.

>Have you considered teaching
Well, I'm not very good with kids, but how was your experience with teaching? I guess I could look into it as well.

I've been thinking of becoming a electrician on a rig, working a few years and investing my saved income. Is there any companies that treat you better than others? And from what I hear you get feed like a king and as long as you keep your chin up you can make it out ok. Any thoughts on my idea?

>>1491714

Any stories?

>>1492454
>teaching
How do you get into that
I thought everyone hated foreign english teachers in Asia

>>1493683
Lmao nooooo.
Some 12 year old Bonglander has made like 50k or something silly helping slants come up with English names.

>>1491589
I actually looked into this a while ago.

IIRC, you need NO skills to begin at the bottom. Training is all on the job.
It's 12 hour workdays, and something like 8 days on, 4 days off.
Pay's pretty good, but 12-hour workdays literally doing nothing but lubricating drills.

>>1493890
Also, all the americans here are giving advice on ground-based oil stuff. You'd be applying for North Sea oil in europe, which is literally at fucking sea, then transferred back to land by helicopters that have a habit of crashing.

This is a REAL mans job, and you sound like a little bitch. By all means, come try it and waste your time.

>>1494153
>acting like a tough guy on the internet
You sure showed me bud

>>1491589

North sea oil rigs have been laying off people left and right, getting a gig there is difficult unless you are an engineer or machine master

>>1491589
If you're studying at university, you're not going to be working on an oil rig.

Trust me, I've tried the "tough guy" route and it didn't work out well.

>>1494490
What was your experience like

>>1491589
this looks so comfy

>>1494509
>oil platforms
>comfy

>>1494494
I was fresh out of high school and tried joining the military first. I passed all the physical tests, but the psychologists there said my mindset was too young and if I really wanted to join, I'd better wait a couple more years (I was 17 at that time).

After that I went with some HVAC technicians and assisted them working on a construction site for some months. I learned a lot and we had a good time, but ultimately decided this wasn't something I'd want a career in.

Now I'm in university and happier than I've ever been. Believe it or not, you're really going to miss the intellectual challenges an academic environment offers you.

Still I'm happy I've done all those things, I've got more general experience than my peers at uni, and I'm less of an arrogant douchebag than I was right out of high school.

>>1494791
>you're really going to miss the intellectual challenges an academic environment offers
Not to sound like a dick but most academic environments don't offer a huge intellectual challenge outside of STEM.

>>1495145
I am in STEM, I don't know about other fields. I thought Economics (like OP is studying) is alright as well?

>>1495145
music theory is just as complex as engineering

Money is damn good and where I work it's 12 hour days, 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off. They fly you out to the rig on a chopper so it doesn't take too long. Work is hard, but the food is great, private rooms, private bathrooms, satellite television, internet, a game room with pool tables n shit.

Took home 150,000 last year after tax.

10/10 would recommend.

>>1495280
That truly sounds like my dream job, especially the 3 week scheme
how did you get that job ?

>>1495296
just put my name in at a job fair they were hosting. East coast of Canada. They provide all your required training such as your MED (Marine Emergency Duties), fire safety, whimis, H2S gas safety, marine survival, etc etc.

Literally went in with no training and worked my way up.

>>1495254
It's like you're not even trying

File: Foot-Collapse.gif (61KB, 356x300px) Image search: [Google]

61KB, 356x300px

I have bad feet and can't stand or walk around for over four hours each day. Is there a place for me on a rig?

>>1495489
Probably not, it's physical work

>>1495301
What are the activities that you do in the 12h period
Any people that got seriously injured / died in your time there?
How are the coworkers?

>>1495489
You just need to work out the muscles on the top left of the foot and wear a shoe that fits or go barefoot as much as possible man. Fucking retard doctors telling people they're crippled because of muscles weaknesses. It's sad that i see so many people walking around in pain because their muscles are weak and unbalanced who believe they can never recover from it because the doctors told them so

>>1491616

Source?

I speak French (I'm Canadian but know "proper" French) so if you have more information, please let me know. I would absolutely love to live and work in Europe.

>>1496406

Is this actually true? I am skeptical about both sides of the claim ("just wear insoles" vs. "just go barefoot"). Have you personally healed your feet? I have been wearing minimalist shoes for several years and my condition isn't better or worse than when I used to wear orthopedic insoles.

>>1496292
>Any people that got seriously injured / died in your time there?

Lol no. Safety is fucking crazy these days. This isn't China, this is Canada lol. You need to do a marine medical to ensure you're fit for work before you go out. If you're working at heights, you have a harness on 100% of the time, hard hat is on 100% of the time as well as safety glasses, safety boots, and gloves.

Anyone seen showing any kind of disregard to safety is sent home. So no, people don't die out here unless it's some kind of a freak accident.

>>1496292
as for activities, I do mostly maintenance and support work. If something needs greasing, I go grease it, if something needs oiling, I go oil it, if someone needs chemicals mixed, I go throw on my chemical suit and full face mask/respirator, and go mix it.

Co workers are all great people, of course with any job there is going to be at least one or two assholes, but thats true on any job site.

>>1495280

stories?

>>1496682

The reason they have those seemingly insane safety policies is because it is dangerous. If you're trying to say roughnecking or working on an offshore oil platform isn't relatively dangerous you're out of your mind.

>>1496682
>>1496701
You said you worked in Canada, do you know if the environment is the same for European offshore platforms?

What would you say are the "requirements" for that kind of work? I'm not talking about the training, but one's character

>>1496677
Go see a podiatrist. Seeing one right now. Got a collapsed arch as well. Work in WasteWater so im on my feet 6 hours a day. B4 they give u custom soles they recommend stiff shoes so they stablize your foot and to strech out your hamstrings. If you have tight hams your foot has to bend to compensate.

>>1496673
>>1496673

>immigrating to Switzerland

topkek

>>1496677
absolutely. picked up running and after half a year my medical soles were useless

>>1494791
Horseshit. I dropped out of university to become an electrician. I am very well read but I follow intellectual pursuits on my own time, I certainly don't miss the left-wing circle jerk that passes for an "academic environment" on campus.

>>1496839

Already saw one when I was a kid. Wore insoles during my teens, never changed my feet or made the problem better. Started wearing minimalist shoes as an adult, feet haven't got better nor worse.

>>1496854

Are your feet physically different since you started running? Or they look the same, but you feel better regardless?

>>1496894
Agreed.

>>1496894
You are a working class plebeian, no matter how much Dan Brown you read you dip

I bet you listened to fancy classical music on youtube and reflected on how sophisticated you are in the last week

Anybody know anything about seafaring?

Third-worlder here about to graduate with a degree in psychology. Like the sound of adding to research and working in the field.

Don't need to worry about me having soft hands. Things are a bit different here in the third world.

>>1491641
If you havent done any hardwork (i.e. manual labour job) you may hate it for the first 6 months. After that depending on how much of an autistic skeleton you are you will adapt.

>>1497388
Unemployed/underemployed humanities grad detected. I met a guy like you last month. He was applying to rent an apartment in my investment property, and kept insisting that he was only working as a grocery clerk until someone recognized the superior critical thinking abilities he gained while completing his masters in philosophy. I didn't care what he did to make money but I picked a different applicant because he was an irritating knob.

>>1496682
>>1496701
Thanks for the answers anon, I will add this to my career path list if CS does not work out
Enjoy the time off

If you dont mind long as fuck shifts and dont spend lots you can save up some pretty good money really quickly.

Do you take a boat or helicopter to get out there?

>>1491589

>I'm studying economics in a mediocre euro university

why the fuck would they need a fucking accountant on an oil rig?
you would be underqualified and overqualified at the same time....

>>1491714

My husband is an R&D engineer for a large oil and gas company. Can confirm, it's not a great field if you want to stick around for long. Moreover, it's a boom industry which means when times are good they hire substandard engineers (as many as they can afford) who end up leeching and generally act like stupid, conformist, bigoted assholes. Toxic work environment and no job security.

>>1496673
Just check indeed.ch. I don't know if Switzerland is open fot non-EU workers thlugh.

>>1496842
Easy for EU citizens and OP is one.

I'm not sure why you all seem to think that only rig workers are required on offshore platforms. There are many different trades on these things. Electricians, scaffolders, welders, pipefitters, crane operators, power engineers, etc. The list goes on. The actual rig workers are only a small piece of the pie.

Your best bet is to get a trade and do that until you have some experience, then you'll know if you're cut out for this type of work. Plus, without experience you won't be put on an offshore rig, aside from some edge cases like the maritimer from earlier in the thread.

>>1496677
He is right. The amount of doctors that tell people they are permanently fucked up when the issue is really imbalances/lack of muscles is just insane. Things like "yeah your back is bad you can't do X anymore" is very common. When the fix do that would be to do strength training to build the back up to a healthy point again. Makes people believe they are crippled when they aren't. Get in to lifting, work on hip mobility and tight hamstrings as the other anon said, do some calf work and squats and deadlifts and you'll be fine. Hire a personal trainer aor see a physician that can help identity the weaknesses/imbalances/mobility problems. Or you can believe the problem is permanent and just watch it get worse over time.

>>1491589
How about fishing? On large boats they are 1 month on sea and 1 month off.

>>1499741
Fishing is a hard fucking job and I don't think OP has that sort of dedication. Same with roughnecking on a rig to be honest. Like someone else said, they hire all kinds of people on oil rigs, but right now your chances are pretty low unless you are an experienced skilled tradesman, which OP is not. If (and this is a very big if) the market for oil improves significantly we may go back to the days when any loser can earn a good living as a janitor or something on a rig, but right now I would say that OP is out of luck.

It's unfortunate really. Oil was arguably the last industry where a hardworking man could earn a respectable wage with nothing more than a strong back.

>>1491594
>It's that bad?
no fucking shit moron why do you think they're paying you so much? what do you think working on an oil rig entails for fucks sake?