Offshore Working Forums?

Hardwired · Feb 28, 2012

Does anyone know of a forum similar to this specialising in Offshore working?

vaughant · Mar 9, 2012

Not sure exactly what your after but if it's advice on trying for a job within this industry then it's a nightmare and a bit of a minefield.
I came up to Aberdeen for this very purpose because if youve never worked offshore before or don't have any contacts within it's nigh on impossible to get a foot in the door.
The tips I've been given are:
1.get your cv sorted,send it to as many oil companies as possible(there's a big list in the jobs section here).
2.phone a week later to check they received your cv,they will almost always say they did when chances are they made a paper aeroplane out of it!!!
3.ideally book a cheap flight and a few days up here and personally call into these places and ask if possible to speak with hr,explain that you've travelled up to Aberdeen as you feel it better to meet in person so they can put a face to the name on the cv.
4.be prepared for a lot of disappointment,it can be a bit of a closed shop in terms of getting a foot in the door as generally there's so many people who are friends of friends/family etc in front of you HOWEVER opportunities do arise and you only need to do a few trips with a crap company contracting and you can then put down on application forms that you have "rig experience".
5.people are very friendly up here so play on that by being very polite and chatty if possible to the girl on reception,aberdonians are by nature quite polite people who won't just fob you off like a lot of these YTS types you see in offices in London etc so be prepared that they may want to speak to you there and then so make sure your house is in order.
6.can you relocate?there's tons of work up here and most of it in oil or related industries,can be a good way in as a lot of these companies will have you in the workshop working on their product and then eventually it will need testing or if problems arise you can get sent offshore to test it.chances are the company will do your survival for you then,although this has dropped a lot in price over the years and there's now a place near Aberdeen doing it for £550 plus vat for BOSIET and MIST.
be aware though it's a really expensive place to live,property is comparable to London and even a bedsit in a crap area is £350 a month,having said that crime is very low and it's a good place to be.

I got a job up here in a papermill as a shift spark and it's going well,I've earned £43000 this year so far and still get 10 days off per month which is cool but I still really want to get offshore as my family live in Wales and 2 weeks on,3 weeks off would be great.
I'm doing my survival in april then really going for it on the CV front.