Page 358 - Drilling Technology in Nontechnical Language

Chapter 15 – GETTING WORK IN THE DRILLING INDUSTRY 349

Drilling contractors

These companies provide drilling rigs to the operators. The larger ones
may recruit a small number of university graduates to follow a training
program, but in general, a high school education or some experience in an
engineering environment would be of interest.

Those with modest educational achievements interested in working

on the rigs should do some homework first by checking out the different
contractors. (One such Web site is for the International Association of
Drilling Contractors, www.iadc.org.) The next step is to determine where
the nearest oilfield center of activity is (Houston, Aberdeen, Stavanger,

Singapore, Perth, Calgary, Rio, or Cape Town, for instance) where there

is a concentration of oilfield organizations. Once those companies with
offices in the region are located, a job seeker can make a list and check out

the corporate Web sites to see if they offer information about what kind of
people they might recruit.
There are some training centers that run courses for people starting to
work offshore, and information may be obtained by searching the Internet
for “Roustabout course.” A prospective employee might consider funding
himself on one of these courses, and having obtained that training, apply
to the drilling contractors in the area. This offers an advantage over others
who just fire off letters to try to get a job without any preparation. This also

reduces the risk for the contractor in trying out a new employee. Before
a new employee would go onto a rig, he would otherwise have to be sent
on this type of course anyway. A person can compensate to some extent
for modest academic achievement if he can demonstrate willingness to
do that bit extra and to make a financial commitment to his effort to enter

the industry.
Working for a drilling contractor offers a path to work up from the
bottom to the top. However, an employee will be judged on how hard he
works, how well he gets on with others, and how willing he is to put himself
out. People who moan a lot are more likely to simply not progress upwards.
In this business, an employee on a rig might have his plans changed if

fog prevents the chopper flying in to pick him up. This is just part of the

job, and someone who cannot handle those things should find a different
industry to work in.

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