In this article we discuss transferable experience that tradesman and prior military can leverage into fast-tracking themselves into jump-starting their new offshore job and career. One of the obstacles even experienced workers may encounter when applying for offshore work is not having worked offshore before. Often, the interviewer will ask this question even before asking what position the applicant is applying for. Fortunately, this obstacle is one that is easily overcome.

Everyone working in the offshore jobs market faced this question at the start of their career, and managed to get past it. The solution they employed is one easily employed by anyone - namely, being able to concisely point towards prior experience as sufficient reason to be considered for employment. The key is to point towards experience that is easily transferable into an offshore work setting.

If you are an experienced tradesman, or have prior military experience, you already have a huge advantage, as these are the types of employees that most rigs are looking for.

However, even if your prior experience would qualify for you for a higher-level land based position, it is to your advantage to accept offshore work that may be a

step down the totem pole, and then work your way higher by proving yourself and your abilities. The opportunities to do so will be almost unlimited.

There is a good reason for this. Regardless of your skill levels as an electrician, mechanic, painter or pipefitter, or any other job category, it takes time to become familiar with the distinctive differences in operations in an offshore environment. Mistakes will be a part of the learning curve, and the lower you start on the totem pole, the less serious those mistakes will be. So it is better to learn the ropes of your particular trade and how it translates when working on an oil platform, rather than starting at the top, then falling down because you weren't familiar with the specifics of how your trade operates in a sea-based environment.

With that caveat, there are multiple job categories in which to apply your prior land-based skill sets that will enable you to gain employment offshore in an accelerated fashion.

- Skilled and Semi-skilled Labor -

skilled and semi-skilled tradesmen with no prior offshore experience can point to their existing work history at any of the following, as people with these skills are always in high demand. This is only a partial list; there are many more positions and job titles than this, and if you have experience in any of these areas, you will a huge advantage when applying for an offshore job:

* Electricians

* Welders

* Scaffolders

* Painters

* Riggers and Crane Operators

* Pipe Fitters

* Mechanics

* Fork lift drivers

* Warehouseman and Storeroom Personnel

* Divers

* Medics and Nurses

* Dispatchers and Radio Operators

- Prior Military -

If you have prior or current military service, you have a huge leg up. Your military training will be a huge plus in your hireability. Much of the excellent training you have received in the military is directly transferable into a new career working offshore.

This applies to numerous military job categories. Welders, electrical workers, technicians, mechanics, truck drivers, those with jet aircraft and helicopter maintenance, turbine and diesel engine experience, and numerous other jobs all have valuable experience to bring offshore.

Being former military gives you another advantage - your value in the eyes of your future employer. Personnel managers love prior military, as veterans know how to follow instructions and orders, and are trained in reacting to emergencies, a real plus in an offshore work environment.

So the advantage that tradesmen and former military enjoy when applying for offshore work is quite substantial. That hard earned experience can easily be leveraged into a high paying and adventurous lifestyle that will make you the envy of all your land based family and friends. What are you waiting for?