Offshore work is NOT for everyone, nor for the faint of heart. If you miss your pet rock after 3 days, then this career path is not for you. It is a bit like joining the Army - it's not just a job, it's an adventure - and it is. The places you can go and see once you are an offshore 'veteran' boggle the mind: The North Sea, Australia, Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Alaska, and the World. There are no limits, and the future will have exploration going to the extreme, as the big fields in Saudi Arabia, the North Sea, and Mexico go into terminal decline.



Even if you have never worked on an oil rig before, it is still quite possible to get hired for an offshore job, providing you are flexible in what kind of starting work you are willing to accept. For example, many drilling hands and crew actually got their starts as galley hands! How? They hung around, got to know the rigging and drilling crews, and when a roustabout opening came up, they were first in line.

There is truth in the adage that when it comes to employment, who you know is as important as what you know - and getting to know the people you want to work with and for is actually a better route to getting hired than simply interviewing well with strangers (though that is important as well).

More than specific skill sets, it takes a special breed to really make a living at this. A lot of folks work one or two 'hitches' then call it quits. Those who stay and take full advantage of everything a career working offshore has to offer generally have the following traits, and if you are serious, then so should you:

- You are willing and able to work long hours for 2 - 4 weeks straight. One of the appeals of working offshore is being able to have long periods off. Having long periods ON goes with that, and you need to be able to handle working 12 hour days without a day off for up to a month. Most would find that a bit crazy - and it is.

- You enjoy having 2 - 4 weeks off at a time. Not everyone likes having free time for those extended periods; they get bored, listless, and anxious. So be sure you are the type of person who loves free time, and have enough hobbies and interests beyond work (i.e., a life) to keep busy when you're not working your butt off out on the platforms.

- You enjoy traveling. There are two types of people in this world - Settlers and Pioneers. This is a job experience for the Pioneer types, who want to go somewhere just for the sake of going. If you are a homebody, forget about it - this is NOT for you. Strange and new places await those who launch on this career path, and you have to enjoy that sort of thing to really make it in this industry.

- You work well with others. You are going to be working in close quarters with people from all over the world for up 2 - 4 weeks at a time. It is essential to be able to get along with those different from yourself, moreover, to enjoy working with those from different cultures and backgrounds. If you like this sort of thing, you will do quite well, and enjoy your hitches a great deal. If you don't like this sort of thing, stay home!

- You enjoy hard, crazy work in extreme environments. Offshore work is the Extreme Sports of the job market. It can be a little crazy on a platform when the waves are 40 feet high and the winds can blow you off if you aren't careful. The work is very demanding, and the weather is usually irrelevant. For the most part, when hurricanes hit, you'll be evacuated. Usually even in time. Hence, the safety training before you set foot on a rig, which we will cover in a later issue.

- You are able to handle close quarters and limited recreational opportunities for extended periods of time. There isn't really anywhere to go on an offshore platform - it's not like you can take a long walk. You have your quarters, the mess hall, and recreation areas. But modern rigs are actually pretty nice - weight rooms, saunas, mini-theatres, game rooms, and a lot of other amenities. The food is great, and it's all you can eat. Real Chefs work on these rigs, and they love to make the crew smile. Good food is a real pleasure when you have put in 12 hours and are two weeks into your hitch.

If this is you, or you think it could be you, then you have passed the first hurdle - that of self-knowledge. KNOWING you can do this is essential; that confidence, desire and ambition will show in the interview, and get you in the door regardless of experience.