Page 356 - Drilling Technology in Nontechnical Language

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GETTING WORK IN THE

DRILLING INDUSTRY

Overview

The drilling industry is fascinating. It is technologically advanced,
operates worldwide in every type of territory, and has enormous capital
expenditures. The people who work in the industry are, in general,
paid well. They can travel frequently and find themselves with greater

responsibilities at younger ages than is the case in other industries. In
many positions, they have almost half the year free to do as they please,
while living where they want to live. What’s not to like? Well, employment
in the drilling industry requires someone who is willing to work very hard,
sometimes with long days and nights, do whatever is needed to get the job

done, study, and serve an apprenticeship. I qualified as an aeronautical
engineer in 1978, and when I joined the drilling industry in 1979, found
myself doing hard manual labor on a drilling rig in Holland, starting on the
bottom rung of the ladder.
This chapter will set out some of the pathways into the industry for
those interested in joining the select group of people who succeed in it.
Happily, women are increasingly getting involved in the drilling
industry, and the industry is better for it.

Financial Health Warning

As in all walks of life, there are people who prey on inexperience
and hope for victims to rip off. I have seen Web sites that guarantee to
get someone an oilfield job in 90 days, once some “refundable” fee has

been paid. Or someone from an agency promises to help a person get
a job if a fee is paid to their agency. It is a con—there can be no such

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