3 Offshore Oil Rig Jobs cover letter strategies you must know

If you are searching for offshore oil rig employment, and in fact any oil rig job, which requires a written application, the cover letter is maybe the most significant element. It is what gets your resume read... or not. If you flub it, you may kiss your opportunity of an  oil rig job interview goodbye. Before looking at the 3 advanced strategies for finding oil rig jobs, lets look at 3 important basic principles of writing this document.

Basic Principles when writing Oil Rig Job Resume

The 1st of these basic principles is to send more oil rig job applications out. It is common to send five  oil rig job applications and get no response. But send out 100 competently written cover letters/resume and you must start to see some decent results. Prosecuting a successful oil rig job hunt is much the same as prosecuting a successful war. You need both quantity and quality - offshore oil rig jobs.

The 2nd basic principle is to ensure your letter is looking neat and professional. Yes, this significant even for an oil rig job, which requires physical labor like an offshore roustabout or roughneck on the offshore oil rigs. Besides looking neat, the spelling and grammar when applying for an offshore oil rig job (an generally, applying for whatever job) needs to be correct. However, you don't need to pay a professional writer to write your cover letter if you really want the oil rig job. Just run it through the spelling and grammar checker in MS-Word or some other program. You may also use OpenOffice or LibreOffice (a free clone of MS-Word).

The 3rd important principle when writing a resume is to ensure you include the oil rig job title in the subject heading of your letter. Use the same oil rig job title, which is in the advertisement. Include any codes, which are in the advertisement. This is very important. If you don't tell the oil rig company why you are applying, they are going to trash it without even reading it your oil rig job resume.

All the 3 basic principles seem laughably apparent. But too it's a fact that too many job seekers are too rushed, or are too lazy or simply too careless to do things right, which can really gets them an oil rig job. They basically shoot themselves in the foot. Now, let's move on to the 3 advanced principles when applying for an offshore oil rig job. Even though the following strategies do not guarantee you an interview (or even an offshore oil rig job), they are definitely going to get you a foot up in the game.

Advanced Strategies when applying for oil rig jobs

The 1st advanced strategy when writing a resume is to tell the oil drilling company why they need to hire exactly you. The simplest way to do this is to copy each point of the job advertisements scope and responsibilities list, and then write down your prior experiences in the oil rig industry, which demonstrate that skill or ability - offshore oil rig jobs.

The 2nd advanced strategy is to show the human resource staffer what makes you more special than your rivals when applying for an offshore oil rig job. Again, here is a simple way to do this: just note down additional job oil rig skills, which are relevant to an offshore drilling job but not included in the advertisement. For example, related (or at least useful additional) oil rig job skills for a roustabout oil rig job would include painting, scaffolding, crane operations, welding, firefighting (as a real fireman, not learned in a course), etc.

The 3rd advanced strategy when applying for oil rig job is to make an irresistible offer. This comes in 2 parts. The 1st is to show that you may start work instantly. This means you should not be working now or serving out your notice. It means you should also have all the relevant medical certifications, skills certifications (e.g. HUET for work on board an offshore oil rig), union memberships and licensing. The second part is to end your cover letter by asking them to call you for an interview (for the oil rig job). Successful salesmen know this last strategy very well (both parts of it). It is what makes them successful - daring to make an irresistible offer and daring to close the deal.

When you are searching for an offshore oil rig job, your cover letter is going to make or break your job hunt. Violate the 3 basic principles above and you might as well just stick to flipping burgers for McDonalds. But the 3 advanced strategies for applying for oil rig job are what is going to give you a leg up on 90% of your rivals.

The Offshore Oil Rig Industry

The offshore oil rigs industry is right now booming, with lots of offshore oil rig jobs needed to crew members the new drilling offshore oil rigs. 

 

Top economists project the oil boom to last the next fourteen to twenty years that is likely going to lead to offshore oil rig jobs outstripping financial and IT jobs. While a lot of people are puzzled about how to get started on offshore oil rigs, the truth is that if you are young, fit, hard-working and willing to get your hands dirty, you must have no trouble getting started on offshore oil rigs. 

 

If you don't have any previous experience on oil rigs, the best way to get started on offshore oil rigs is to get a job on a land-based oil rig platform. You may get hired as a roustabout on oil rigs, basically a general laborer, work hard for six months and climb up the ladder to the position of roughneck on oil rigs. As a roughneck, you are still going to do a lot of manual labor, but you can also have a chance to supervise a few roustabouts and help out the more specialized positions like the derrick hands and drillers on oil rigs. You have to show the right attitude on the oil rig platform, work hard and you can find yourself promoted all the way up to driller (second highest rank on the offshore oil rig platform) in five years. 

 

A university degree isn't very useful onboard an oil rig platform. On the other hand, a useful technical certificate or diploma for work on offshore oil rigs, for example as an electrician or mechanic, may land you a oil rig job in the motor room or electrical department. These aren't the only useful trade skills onboard an offshore oil rigs. The oil rig crew should eat, so a good cook is always welcome onboard the offshore oil rigs. A medic also plays avaluable part on the offshore oil rigs. Even though modern technology, an offshore oil rig jobs are still pretty hazardous places to work in. Accidents occur, and a medic always has work to do. 

 

Offshore Oil Rig Jobs

An important point to keep in mind is that an offshore oil rig is covered under maritime law. Therefore,it's good if you take the trouble to get a basic working knowledge of how it is going to affect you. Besides this, there are vaccinations and skills certifications specific to where the offshore oil rig is positioned. For example, in the United Kingdom you should take an offshore survival and firefighting course. Different Canadian provinces have their own First Aid certifications. And different US states have their own requirements when it comes to offshore oil rig jobs. 

 

As you may see, there isn't any secret to getting started in offshore oil rig jobs. Just start small, onshore, from the bottom of the offshore oil rig industry. Once you prove yourself as a good offshore oil rig worker, you may then move to the more lucrative offshore drilling rigs.

Oil rig jobs - Life conditions and Opportunities onboard

Oil rig jobs - Life conditions and Opportunities onboard

We won't deny that life and work conditions on the board of this sort of offshore oil rigs are heavy and strict.

Everyone who wants to apply for a job on oil rigs wonders how must be like to live in such environment. Indeed, the extreme isolation of so specific a place, the presence of such hostile surroundings as it is the open ocean and the cold or very hot weather leave nobody passionless.

It should be carefully considered that conditions vary according to the distinct posts of oil rig jobs. Drilling, construction or metallurgical workers on offshore oil rigs and their respective assistants work outdoors in rough weather conditions. Other oil rig jobs, such as geologists and engineers divide their tasks among offices, inside the oil rig platform, and deck zones, outside, enjoying an intermediate conditions; and managers, executive and administrative staff work in the offices, in the most comfortable situation.

Despite, living conditions on the oil rigs have improved significantly and, nowadays, many offshore oil rigs meet hotel standards.

On arrival at the offshore oil rigs, new oil rig workers are secured with all they need to guarantee a safe and comfortable work conditions. Everybody is secured with overall, safety boots and glasses and hard hat, and, thereafter, they are all shown the whole installation.

Economically, working offshore an oil rig or platform is quite profitable. Indeed, income and benefits in this sort of oil rig jobs are significantly higher than any similar land-based positions. In addition, all the potential expenditures, like food, accommodation and travel when going to and leaving from the workplace, are being paid for by oil rig company and that means that you may bank everything, you have earned. And it is this way even working aboard a local oil rig platform. Despite, working in a foreign country is financially more attractive.

Most of the oil rig companies and companies in the gas industry are based on areas as Venezuela, Middle East, Brazil, North Sea or Scandinavian coast. This means that the oil rig workers should fly long distances to reach their respective oil rig workplaces or to meet family and friends. All this is at the company´s expenditure.

Timetables and shifts are another very important subject when it comes to oil rig jobs. They vary, depending on the company and the type of position. A very general type of timetable is consisted in fourteen days on, followed by twenty-one days of. Another schedule systems for oil rig jobs are based on working for one or two weeks, rotating off the oil rig platform for the same period; or one month on and one month off; and, sometimes, due to the specialty of the service, you are going to have to work until the oil rig job is accomplished.

Hourly schedules timetables for oil rig jobs vary from 80 to 100 hours/week and this may seem like a very long and tiring working week on oil rig platform. But, it should be considered that the oil rig workers are in the workplace 24 hours per day. This avoids the issues like inherent in land-based jobs, like getting up hurriedly to drive to the job site, having meals or snacks hastily, etc.

On the other hand, time off oil rig jobs is one of the attractive side of this sort of posts. Few positions on oil rig platforms offer the oil rig workers so much time to carry out their private and familiar activities or to devote to another job or business.

While on board of oil rigs, oil rig workers may spend their time off in a wide diversity of amenities and amusements, because modern offshore oil rig installations offer an interesting range of leisure activities, made to ensure a comfortable rest of the oil rig workers. There are really modern satellite TV and phones, updated selection of videos, gym, sauna, video games, connection to Internet, etc., all for the comfort of the oil rig workers.

The well-being of the oil rig workers is vital to evade stress and ensure the quality of work on oil rigs.

Eventually, the best oil rig companies offer special services to their oil rig workers at little cost or even for free. Consequently, some oil rig companies secure ideal medical insurance, life and disability insurance, sick leave and, in some certain cases, profit sharing by taking a percentage of your wage and putting it in a profitable savings account.

Actually, oil rig job is a very hard and demanding activity, but really well-paid and free of any sort of expenditure, with good life conditions while your are off. This may compensate you for the harsh conditions while working. The sort of oil rig work, which gives the opportunity to travel for free to far and exotic places and meet people from all around the world.

Few employments offer so interest conditions when it comes to oil rig jobs.

Oil Rig Companies Offshore

There are more than 5000 oil rig and gas platform companies all over the world. One of the best ways for getting an oil rig job is using an online service, which is able to send your CV to most of the biggest oil rig companies in the drilling industry. The companies in the oil rig industry may be situated in many divers places throughout the world.

There are oil regions in North America, Australia, Nigeria, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE. The daily salary, which may be expected at one of those oil rig companies could be from 300 US dollars at starting rate to 600 US dollars for more skilled and experienced oil rig platform workers. Some of the oil projects, currently in progress are the Diana or Hoover fields, which are underway in the Gulf of Mexico organized by the oil company Exxon. These wells have a good flow of 4,800 barrels per day as a maximum record.

Another good example of an oil rig company in the drilling industry is the North Slope Operations in Alaska by the oil rig company BP. This drilling field is the largest in the oil industry in North America and is generating 3% of all the oil consumed in America. located in Prudhoe Bay, this oil field is spread over a region of 150,000 acres. Terra Nova is an oil company with an oil field located in Newfoundland's and is evaluated to produce 370 million barrels. Every year on average 115,000 barrels is generated over 6 years.

Another big company in the oil and gas drilling industry is Herbernia and started in November 1997. This oil field may make 135,000 and up to 150,000 barrels over the course of a year.

How to get Promotion in the Oil Rig Industry

If you want to start your careers as a Roustabout on offshore oil rig platform you will want to get the best possible start and find out how to get promoted on the new oil rig job. Have you ever seen how some of the people that are not necessarily the best at the job, still get promoted? It is much likely that they have a natural ability to influence people and be their friends at the same time.

Everybody is watching you particularly in the early days of employment. A good example of this is a Driller, that is searching for a Roughneck, and he is going to watch the Roustabouts when he gets the possibility and talk to others about the Roustabouts. He is also going to ask people he meets as he does his oil rig job, or in the 'smoko shack', he is also going to ask your direct boss.

The following goes for everyone that is searching for promotion into a different department in the oil rig industry. Whether it be a Roustabout who is searching for an oil rig job as a Roughneck or a qualified oil rig mechanic who is employed on the drilling rig platform as a Roustabout searching for a motorman's job.

If you want to get into the department you are skilled in, it isn't enough to present your certificates to the oil rig staff supervisor and hope they will think of you automatically when the next position for oil rig employer comes up. You must put great effort into pursuing the oil rig job you want, you have to constantly remind them of your skills and intentions.

You have to do whatever it takes, for example go and talk to each person in that oil rig department, get to know them on a friendly basis initially, but do tell them of your trade. Some employers are going to be wary of helping someone who maybe after their job on the oil rig.

So go carefully, try to make some friends and do not be too pushy. If possible arrange it with the head of the department you are interested in and the head of the department you are currently working for, for you to take some time off your present work to work in your skilled area.

A word of warning however, you are probably going to be on 3 months probation for your Roustabouts job on the oil rig platform, and it is up to your direct supervisor whether you stay or leave. So your 1st priority is to your present job, doing it well and waiting for the right chance to arise.

How Much Do Oil Rig Jobs Pay?

Drilling rigs are the framework that is being used to extract crude oil from the earth; the term might refer to oil rigs used on land or offshore oil rig platforms used at sea. Workers on these drilling rig platforms (in some cases workers on liquefied natural gas company platforms) range from the well-educated engineers that develop tools and plan methodology to the roustabouts that do the "dirty work" which keeps the drilling rig running smoothly. What is the salary in the oil extraction industry depends upon the job; even for untrained employees, the pay can be attractive.

Supervisors and Engineers on Drilling Rigs

According to a report of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 162,570 people nationwide work on gas and oil drilling rig platforms, as of May 2011. The biggest number of these employees, about 15,720, were petroleum engineers. On the drilling rig, these employees ensure equipment they have designed is running fluently and safely, and they also monitor whether their work plan is being carried out properly. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported they earned an average annual wage of US$150,890, which is equal to US$72.55 per hour. Other overseers are including the 4,330 "toolpushers," or extraction foremen, that supervise drilling operations on the oil rig platform. Those people averaged US$79,710 annually, or US$38.32 per hour.

Roustabouts on Oil Rigs

The 2nd-largest group of workers can be found at the opposite end of the wage spectrum from petroleum engineers: the 7,740 roustabouts that clean and provide maintenance of the equipment on the drilling rig platform. The bureau reported that roustabouts are averaged US$35,590 per year, which is equal to US$17.11 per hour. Another hands-on job which is at the low end of the oil rig pay spectrum belonged to the employers that set up and repair rigging on the site. They averaged US$30,080 annually, or US$14.46 per hour.

Pumpers on Drilling Rig Platforms

The 3rd-largest group of workers on drilling rigs were the wellhead pumpers that are engaged with operating and maintaining the large pumps that draw the oil from the earth once the wellhole has reached the underground reservoir. The U.S. Statistics Bureau reported the 7,510 pumpers in the field of oil extraction industry averaged US$43,040 annually, or US$20.69 per hour.

Extraction Work on Oil Rigs

There are 3 main types of skilled employees on drilling rigs which are the service unit operators that maintain wells and pumps, the drillers that run the rotary drills on the oil rig platform and the derrick operators that maintain the support structure. According to the statistic 5,630 service unit operators as of 2011 are averaged US$47,120 annually, or US$22.65 per hour; 4,430 drillers are averaged US$63,400 annually, or US$30.48 per hour; and 2,370 derrick operators, who are averaged US$52,520 annually, or US$25.25 per hour.

Outlook

Oil rig jobs and gas drilling jobs are expected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to grow at 8% in the years between 2010 and 2020, slower than the average growth of 14% expected for all US jobs. Even though demand is going to be driven by the need for these products, advances in drilling techniques are being expected to result in more efficient production.

What Is It Like To Work on an Oil Rig?

Here is a story for Ryan Carlyle, BSChE and his experience as a Subsea Hydraulics Engineer on Drilling rig:

I've been a field engineer (for 2 distinct drilling companies) for the last 4 years. This means that I spend most of my time in the workshop or projects engaged with office planning, but very often go to the drilling rig to run a project for a few weeks. I work in the ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico on sailing oil rigs doing subsea oil well control - essentially preventing Deepwater Horizon type incidents. Companies in the drilling rigs industry are very publicity-shy, and I'm not authorized to represent the oil rig company that I work for to the public, so I would rather not say who I've worked for.

My drilling rig experience in the oilfield is not typical:

• I work on some of the nicest and biggest oil rig platforms in the world.
• I work on some of  the highest-profile energy projects of drilling rigs in the world.
• I am a part-timer on multiple drilling rigs instead of being part of a permanent rig crew members.
• I am a hydraulics engineer (and a Northerner).

Most of the drilling work is done on small, old land drilling rigs in fairly well-set fields doing repetitive cookie-cutter wells. Most of the people that work in the U.S. drilling field are southerners with a high school education. Please do not take that as disparaging them in any way - most college grads are too pretentious about grease and manual labor to survive in that type of job. There are a lot of intelligent people on oil rig platforms that just did not take the academic route for whatever reason. Of course, there are also a lot of unlearned, racist, sexist dumbasses! But this is the nature of the beast. Anyway .. there're a lot of people like me in the drilling rig field, but we are definitely in the minority.


Here's a typical drilling rig for my line of work:

The leasing price of this drilling rig to drill deepwater wells is nearly US$700,000 to US$1 million per day, and it usually takes 150-200 days to drill and accomplish a deepwater well. 

This ship is a dynamically-positioned 5th-generation drilling vessel with a dual derrick capable of supporting 2 million pounds of pipe. (It's three to six miles of vertically-hanging pipe which is depending on the size.) It uses GPS, sonar beacons, and 6 huge 360-degree thrusters to hold position over a subsea well. It's over 800 feet long and may keep the center of the oil rig stable within a few feet, in any weather short of a hurricane. A couple of my buddies were just in the Gulf riding out hurricane Isaac recently, actually. They had to stop operations, but stayed in the region because they were "only" experiencing fifteen foot seas and forty knot winds.

Once you arrive on the drilling rig for the 1st time there is a mandatory 1 to 2 hour safety briefing. You watch a short movie/video, fill out medical paperwork, and listen to a speech about drilling rig-specific rules such as what to do with laundry. Then you are free to go meet with co-workers, find your bed, grab a snack, get to work, or whatever.

Most deepwater drilling rig platforms may hold almost 180-200 people at a time. Most of the crew members onboard are employed by the drilling rig contractor. A few of the workers on the drilling rig (from 5 to 15) are employed by the oil rig company to supervise, direct operations, and make sure everything is made safely and in compliance with the law. There're also quite a few catering/cleaning crew members, as well as divers 3rd party contractors, which come and go to do specialized tasks.

In my current job as a hydraulic engineer on drilling rig, I'm one of the oil company representatives. I show up when a specific phase of the well construction process requires subsea expertise. We are trying to be friendly and develop good relationships with everybody on the drilling rig, but to be honest, the logo on my company shirt pretty much guarantees everyone treats me with respect whether I deserve it or not. I may remember a couple of times when I really put my foot in my mouth and the drilling rig crew members just dropped it. In contrast, in my previous job as 1 of the 3rd party contractors, the drilling rig crew was quite happy to tell me where to stick it, and then kick me off the drilling rig floor.

Nowadays, I am in an advisory/supervisory role for very complex equipment. I walk around and look at crew members to make sure it is being operated correctly. I help with writing and reviewing procedures. I propose what to do when things are going wrong. The bad side of the thing is that I need to write a lot of reports. I do risk-assessments and evaluations and look for possible failure modes. It is normally fairly low-key, but you remember how I told operating a drilling oil rig costs about a million dollars per day? Well, unfortunately for me, the subsea equipment is what breaks the most often and when the drilling rig platform goes on downtime there's a huge amount of pressure to do my job right. When something is not as it must be, we work around the clock and we work hard. It is pretty nerve-wracking when you are new (every minute of delay literally costs $700), but after a while, you get used to the big pressure on the oil rig. I love it now. The high stakes environment and satisfaction of saving millions of dollars is quite addictive.

For legal reasons I can not distribute most of the photos I take offshore, but here is one that must be pretty harmless. 

Pipe conveyor and knuckle-boom crane:

 And this is me as a trainee in front of a 60 ft gas flare during a gas well flow test.

 Sweet coveralls, right?