How to Get A Job Working On An Oil Rig For Good Pay
Oil drilling companies are still hiring new workers every day for very competitive salaries despite the tough economy. Do you have what it takes?
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Instructions
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Realize that working in the oilfield is that it is not for everyone. It is still one of the toughest and most physically demanding jobs that exist. There are all kinds of jobs in the oilfield including ones that do not require much physical labor on the rigs such as mudloggers. (See my article on mudlogger jobs) but the roughneck positions are still very manual labor intense.
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Realize that the oilfield is not a nine to five job. You will be expected to work at least a 12 hour shift or "tour" and perhaps longer if the next rig crew is short handed. Work locations are usually in some of the most remote areas of the country however new discoveries like the Barnett shale near Dallas and the Marcellus Formation under Pennsylvania and New York are bringing the oilfield "closer to town" for some areas of the country.
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Be in good physical shape and ready to travel. If you are able bodied, and that of course can be almost any age, however younger workers may be more readily hired, and you have no ties that keep you living in a particular part of the country then you will probably end up relocating to where wells are being drilled such as Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, etc. A travel trailer that you can pull behind a pickup truck is a good way to have your home nearby until you become established. If you have a family you may have to move on to the oilfield in your trailer and visit your family on days off. In some cases you will be able to stay in a crew quarters during the 7 to 14 days you are on the job and you won't need lodging elsewhere.
For most new hires or "worms" as they are called, you will start out doing the hardest manual labor jobs or even as a "roustabout" before joining the roughneck crew. Shows like "Black Gold", while somewhat over dramatized are an indication of the kind of work you will be doing.
Try sites like rigzone.com for job listings and agencies like rigworker.com to help you find a job. Also check the local papers in areas such as Midland - Odessa, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City and Houston for job postings.
Try the Oilfield Bookstore for books such as "A Primer Of Oilwell Drilling" to get you up to speed on how wells are drilled and what things are called on a rig. See the resources section below for a list of sites with job postings and oilfield employment tips.
Good Luck
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Tips & Warnings
Be drug free. All companies test for drug use before hiring and most test randomly after you are hired.
