How to Get a Well Paying Job As A Roughneck in The Oilfield, Offshore or On Land

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By Doodlebugs
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Get a Well Paying Job As A Roughneck in The Oilfield, Offshore or On Land

Oilfield roughnecks work hard but they are also paid well and get one to two weeks off between jobs. If you think you have what it takes here is how you can get started.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Desire to Learn and Work Hard

Step 1

Get an overall picture of what the job of a roughneck is all about before applying. For many people the only exposure to the oilfield they have is occasional video clips on the news of oil rig workers or roughnecks working in the background as the newscaster discusses the cost of oil and gas. Others may have caught a recent reality show about oil rig workers.
The job of a roughneck is hard. It is perhaps one of the most physically demanding jobs that exist. There is the danger factor as well, although new safety rules and measures have cut down the number of accidents on drilling rigs by more than half of what they were twenty years ago.
Step 2

Be prepared to work very, very hard. Oilfield roughnecks work very hard. Learn about how shifts or "tours" operate. The typical shift is twelve hours at a time for a week with one week off or if on an offshore two weeks on and two weeks off or perhaps more if the distance to the rig is far. Learn what a roughneck does on a rig.
The job they perform is to connect the drill pipes to each other as the well is drilled down into the earth and to retrieve the drill pipe or "trip pipe" when it is required that the rig pull the pipe out of the earth which may be thousands of feet and hundreds of joints of pipe.
When they are drilling slowly and not tripping pipe or making a lot of connections a roughneck job may be to maintain the rig, paint, sandblast, work on equipment and so on. There is rarely any idle time and you will be quite tired after a full shift or "tour" which is pronounced like "tower".
Step 3

Get ready to start at the bottom of the ladder before becoming a "floor hand" or roughneck that has "broken out of worm corner". Often an oilfield roughneck will start out as a roustabout doing manual labor not related to work on the drill floor. Only with weeks of training can a new worker or "worm" be allowed on the rig floor to make connections and trip pipe. The "floor hands" are the ones that are allowed to do this. A "derrick hand" may not be as skilled in making connections but he has the dangerous and hard job of working up high in the derrick racking joints of pipe into slots against the side of the derrick as pipe is tripped out of the well or latching those joints of drilling pipe into the "elevators" as they trip into the hole.
If you think you have what it takes to do the job of oilfield roughneck then I suggest you get some good books about the oilfield and learn the basics of well drilling before going to an interview. You can have a better interview if you know what you are getting into.
Some oilfield employment agencies are good and some are not so good. You will have to weight the merits of their claims. Cold calling works as well so you can visit rigzone.com and start calling companies to request an interview. Try local classifieds in oilfield areas too.
For more oilfield employment resources see the sites in the resources section below. Be persistent and try to convey that you are reliable and ready to work hard. Follow up any resumes with a follow up letter or phone call. Like the squeaky wheel, those that try the hardest often are the ones who get hired.

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Doodlebugs said

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on 4/2/2009 While the oil industry has slowed down the outlook for the future is good. Consider enrolling now in an oil and gas technology program at a junior college to give you a leg up on the ladder when the industry revives.