Medusa

Consider a Career in the Offshore Drilling Industry

<p>Petroleum is an essential component of nearly all the world&&num;8217&semi;s processes&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s in the fuel for our planes&comma; trains&comma; ships&comma; and automobiles&comma; it’s in the asphalt on which we drive&comma; and it’s even in the aluminum cans of our favorite soda&period; Thus it&&num;8217&semi;s easy to understand why oil companies continue to provide numerous employment opportunities&comma; despite what many consider to be a lull in the overall job market&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In fact&comma; total US private sector employment has increased by roughly 1 percent since 2007&semi; over that same period&comma; the oil and natural gas industry increased by more than 40 percent&period; More specifically&comma; the Labor Department&&num;8217&semi;s Bureau of Labor Statistics &lpar;BLS&rpar; reports that jobs in the &&num;8220&semi;drilling&&num;8221&semi; category alone increased by over 6&comma;000 positions since 2007&period; Offshore drilling provides an exciting employment opportunity for those willing to do the work&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<b> <&sol;b><br &sol;>&NewLine;<b>Types of Jobs in Offshore Drilling<&sol;b><br &sol;>&NewLine;Because of the complicated process of oil extraction&comma; there are a number of different positions on an offshore rig&period; Broadly speaking&comma; there are four categories&colon; leadership&comma; equipment operators&comma; roustabouts&comma; and pumpers&period; As you can imagine&comma; qualifications and salary for each vary depending on the job responsibilities and the hiring company&period; Some positions require advanced degrees in petroleum engineering&comma; and others simply require a high school diploma&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><b>Leadership<&sol;b><br &sol;>&NewLine;These are the men and women that oversee drilling operations and try to devise even more efficient ways to extract larger and larger amounts of crude oil&period; The BLS estimates that the average salary for this kind of work is approximately &dollar;150&comma;000 per year&period; Any college students&comma; or prospective students&comma; reading this article should note that Petroleum Engineering is the most profitable college major&comma; according to Forbes&period; In 2011&comma; the average starting salary for a petroleum engineer was &dollar;80&comma;000&period; Furthermore&comma; the BLS predicts that petroleum engineers will see excellent job growth over the next decade—an estimated 18 percent&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<b> <&sol;b><br &sol;>&NewLine;<b>Equipment Operators<&sol;b><br &sol;>&NewLine;Derrick operators &lpar;who build the drilling equipment&rpar; and service unit operators &lpar;who handle equipment monitoring and maintenance&rpar; also make good money&period; The average salary for both is around &dollar;50&comma;000 per year&period; Typically this kind of work also requires an advanced degree in engineering&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<b> <&sol;b><br &sol;>&NewLine;<b>Roustabouts and Pumpers<&sol;b><br &sol;>&NewLine;These are the manual laborers that clean and inspect equipment&period; Usually companies don&&num;8217&semi;t require advanced degrees for this type of work&comma; but some do require an apprenticeship with a seasoned worker&period; Typical salaries for this position hover around &dollar;40&comma;000 per year&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<b> <&sol;b><br &sol;>&NewLine;<b>Pros and Cons<&sol;b><br &sol;>&NewLine;More often than not&comma; the headline for offshore drilling work is the large salaries&period; However&comma; there are a number of other factors to consider&period; For one&comma; the annual salary figure is somewhat misleading&comma; as rig workers typically operate in shifts&period; Shifts are 12 hours a day for 14 days straight&semi; after which workers are given 14 days off the rig to recover&period; According to the BLS&comma; hourly wages range from &dollar;19-22 per hour&period; Rooms are tiny&comma; the rig is noisy&comma; and the workers are under constant threat of malfunction&period; What&&num;8217&semi;s more&comma; on an offshore rig it&&num;8217&semi;s not possible to escape your work during your shift&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On the other hand&comma; total vacation time &lpar;including off weeks&rpar; is about 30 weeks per year in some cases&period; Due to the rig&&num;8217&semi;s constant operation&comma; many workers have access to an inordinate amount of overtime pay&period; Add to that the fact that most rigs come equipped with their own restaurants&comma; gyms&comma; and sometimes even a movie theater&period; Moreover&comma; meals and laundry are usually provided free of charge&period; If you can deal with the physical demands and occasional inconvenience&comma; this is an excellent way to make a living&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>This article was written by career advice blogger&comma; John Perry&period;  If you are interested in a career in offshore drilling&comma; check out the offshore accommodations and living areas that each company offers&comma; to be sure you will be comfortable in your home away from home&period; <&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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