You're about to read a datasheet on how to get a job making 6 figures in 6 months, its definitely not a lifestyle for everyone, but if you're interested, please read on......
Since you guys have been such a great help and this forum has provided me with so much great info about travel, lifestyle, fashion, game, etc. I've decided to give back by writing up a comprehensive guide to working in the oil sands, a line of work which can afford a very comfortable lifestyle.
Hopefully by reading this, some of you younger guys may consider a career in the trades. Not too many people on this forum appear to be the blue collar tradesmen types (am I the only one???), but I wish more guys wold consider it, because trust me, it can be good I wish someone told me when I was 18 that if I took a trade, I'd be making 100K by the time I was 20 and likely be my own boss by 25. This is going to be an extensive data sheet, and of course, I welcome all input and will try my best to answer all questions.
Even if this type of work isn't for you, maybe you can use this info to steer a friend or family member in the right direction. We have a serious issue with a lack of skilled labour in the Oil sands, and it'll only get worse as the forecasted projects ramp up, so anyone from the USA, Europe, etc who is or knows a skilled tradesman, please inform them of the opportunities in the oil sands.
So where and what are the oil sands? check out this video, it pretty much sums it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpBMnUNKqgA
So, as you can see from this video:
-There's a lot of money to be made up there )I know kids 18-20 years old making $150K/year and still living at home with mom and dad.
-Its a rough, frontier town; gangs, drugs, prostitution, etc. If you're going to the bars and clubs, be ready to scrap.
-Real estate is INSANE, a mobile home costs half a million.
Here's some more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabasca_oil_sands
Another excellent video on the oil sands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALCTOs2zakc
Getting a job in the oil sands: There are many options and many different jobs up there, it doesn't matter if you're a PHD in engineering, an MBA or a high school drop out with a rap sheet longer than Manute Bol (I work with A LOT of ex-cons, they don't do criminal record checks in the oil sands!).
The biggest number of jobs are those in the building trades, they are fairly easy to get into and are all very WELL PAYING jobs, these include: welder, pipe fitter, electrician, boiler maker, scaffolder, iron worker, crane operator, industrial insulator, etc. All of these trades are in high demand, if you take a pre-employment course at a community college (4-12 weeks, depends on trade), you WILL get a job and you WILL make 6 figures, I know several welders who make 8-10,000 PER WEEK!
Then there's also more technical trades that are less physically demanding than the building trades but still require field work in the elements; instrumentation tech, industrial automation tech, safety officer, PLC programmer, etc.
There's many engineers too; civil, mechanical, material, chemical, electrical, etc.
And then there's MANY other jobs that don't require much,if any, special training: Labourer, janitor, kitchen staff, camp staff, security guards, man/hatch watch (monitoring confined space entry), water/vac truck operator, etc.
The work: It can be very difficult and for 6 months of the year, especially Dec/Jan/Feb, its FUCKING COLD!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn-ZBdKu7O8
It can also be very easy, I worked on a project last year (unscheduled shut down of a refinery after a major furnace explosion/fire in the coker) and for the last 10 weeks, I did absolutely nothing for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week (well I watched a lot of movies and read books, surfed web, etc).
WORK CAMPS: If you come work up here, chances are that you will be living in a work camp, they're massive housing complexes where the workers live. Everything is taken care of and you don't spend much money when staying in them (I think I was spending about $30/week on coffee and newspapers), I used to enjoy it but after 2 years of staying in camps, it became more and more like prison.
Some camps are VERY nice, big rooms, big beds, big plasma TV with 100 channels, nice big gyms with personal trainers, games rooms (ping pong, snooker, foosball,etc), out door hockey rinks, baseball diamonds, basketball courts, concert hall with full music sets to jam, decent pubs/bars, etc. Then again, some SUCK and don't have any of those services! I remember one shitty camp I stayed at had a sever black bear problem, bears were getting into the camps, fucking up the kitchen, etc. One morning I got into my truck and there's bear paw prints all over the wind screen!!!
Most guys work a rotation and fly in/out from Calgary or Edmonton, lots fly from other parts of Canada and some fly from the USA. The last rotation I worked was one month on then one off, my company gave me $800/month to fly where ever I wanted, they didn't care where I went as long as I came back on time! IF YOU ARE SKILLED, THEY WILL FLY YOU FROM ANYWHERE IN THE USA, I hope some of you American guys come up here to work, tell your friends and family, we need more skilled trades and I'd rather see my USA brother and sisters come up here than hire from overseas.
Examples of rotations, or hitches are: 2 weeks on, 1 off (most common), 24 days on 4 off (most legally allowed to work, I did this for 8 months straight!), week on, week off, etc.
Me personally, I'm only going to work 6 months up there from now on. Its a hard lifestyle guys and not everyone is cut out for it, you have to deal with isolation, not getting laid often and probably the biggest issue for me, working with a lot of morons! Because of the severe labour shortage, they will hire anyone, including ex-cons, some crack heads, dead beats, etc. However, there are a few interesting cool people who only work there for the money then get the fuck out, like me!
Here's a video on camp life, its for an oil company so they try to make it look as nice as they can, its pretty close to reality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct7bziwvY0E
This short clip is from the same camp (and closer to reality lol): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcabfzmW_fg
Here's a list of most of the oil sands operations:
Suncor-1st ever oil sands operation, built in 1967
Syncrude-Largest oil sands operation
CNRL Horizon
Shell Albian Sands
Imperial oil (EXXON) Kearl Lake
Suncor Firebag
Husky Sunrise
Cenovus-Christina Lake
MEG Energy-Christin Lake
Most likely, you will find work with a contractor or subcontractor (like me), here's some big ones in the oil sands:
-PCL (Canada)
-Kiewit (USA)
-KBR (USA)
-Ledcor (Canada)
-Transfield (Australia)
-TIC (USA)
-Bechtel (USA)
-Kentz engineering
-DCM (Canada)
-Bradken (Australia)
Of course there's MANY more, here's some websites to find work in the oil sands:
Rig Zone, Oil Careers, jobbank.gc.ca, workopolis, monster.ca,
http://oilsands.infomine.com/careers/
fortmcmurrayjobshop.ca
Like I say, definitely not a career option for everyone, myself I'm even thinking about getting out of it, but I"m glad that its an option, I can always go there and work a maintenance shutdown and make 15-20K, in a month.
However, its easy to get caught up in the big money, give er' til ya quiver lifestyle, I know one guy last year, who was 25 and he grossed about 330K, he worked an insane amount of days and hours, we call it "the golden hand cuffs syndrome", you become obsessed with money and watch the bank account grow, I guess there's worse things to get into but I've seen some guys waste their 20's working and not enjoying the fruits of their labour!
Anyway, I'll write some more later because there's a lot I left out
peace
Since you guys have been such a great help and this forum has provided me with so much great info about travel, lifestyle, fashion, game, etc. I've decided to give back by writing up a comprehensive guide to working in the oil sands, a line of work which can afford a very comfortable lifestyle.
Hopefully by reading this, some of you younger guys may consider a career in the trades. Not too many people on this forum appear to be the blue collar tradesmen types (am I the only one???), but I wish more guys wold consider it, because trust me, it can be good I wish someone told me when I was 18 that if I took a trade, I'd be making 100K by the time I was 20 and likely be my own boss by 25. This is going to be an extensive data sheet, and of course, I welcome all input and will try my best to answer all questions.
Even if this type of work isn't for you, maybe you can use this info to steer a friend or family member in the right direction. We have a serious issue with a lack of skilled labour in the Oil sands, and it'll only get worse as the forecasted projects ramp up, so anyone from the USA, Europe, etc who is or knows a skilled tradesman, please inform them of the opportunities in the oil sands.
So where and what are the oil sands? check out this video, it pretty much sums it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpBMnUNKqgA
So, as you can see from this video:
-There's a lot of money to be made up there )I know kids 18-20 years old making $150K/year and still living at home with mom and dad.
-Its a rough, frontier town; gangs, drugs, prostitution, etc. If you're going to the bars and clubs, be ready to scrap.
-Real estate is INSANE, a mobile home costs half a million.
Here's some more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabasca_oil_sands
Another excellent video on the oil sands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALCTOs2zakc
Getting a job in the oil sands: There are many options and many different jobs up there, it doesn't matter if you're a PHD in engineering, an MBA or a high school drop out with a rap sheet longer than Manute Bol (I work with A LOT of ex-cons, they don't do criminal record checks in the oil sands!).
The biggest number of jobs are those in the building trades, they are fairly easy to get into and are all very WELL PAYING jobs, these include: welder, pipe fitter, electrician, boiler maker, scaffolder, iron worker, crane operator, industrial insulator, etc. All of these trades are in high demand, if you take a pre-employment course at a community college (4-12 weeks, depends on trade), you WILL get a job and you WILL make 6 figures, I know several welders who make 8-10,000 PER WEEK!
Then there's also more technical trades that are less physically demanding than the building trades but still require field work in the elements; instrumentation tech, industrial automation tech, safety officer, PLC programmer, etc.
There's many engineers too; civil, mechanical, material, chemical, electrical, etc.
And then there's MANY other jobs that don't require much,if any, special training: Labourer, janitor, kitchen staff, camp staff, security guards, man/hatch watch (monitoring confined space entry), water/vac truck operator, etc.
The work: It can be very difficult and for 6 months of the year, especially Dec/Jan/Feb, its FUCKING COLD!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn-ZBdKu7O8
It can also be very easy, I worked on a project last year (unscheduled shut down of a refinery after a major furnace explosion/fire in the coker) and for the last 10 weeks, I did absolutely nothing for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week (well I watched a lot of movies and read books, surfed web, etc).
WORK CAMPS: If you come work up here, chances are that you will be living in a work camp, they're massive housing complexes where the workers live. Everything is taken care of and you don't spend much money when staying in them (I think I was spending about $30/week on coffee and newspapers), I used to enjoy it but after 2 years of staying in camps, it became more and more like prison.
Some camps are VERY nice, big rooms, big beds, big plasma TV with 100 channels, nice big gyms with personal trainers, games rooms (ping pong, snooker, foosball,etc), out door hockey rinks, baseball diamonds, basketball courts, concert hall with full music sets to jam, decent pubs/bars, etc. Then again, some SUCK and don't have any of those services! I remember one shitty camp I stayed at had a sever black bear problem, bears were getting into the camps, fucking up the kitchen, etc. One morning I got into my truck and there's bear paw prints all over the wind screen!!!
Most guys work a rotation and fly in/out from Calgary or Edmonton, lots fly from other parts of Canada and some fly from the USA. The last rotation I worked was one month on then one off, my company gave me $800/month to fly where ever I wanted, they didn't care where I went as long as I came back on time! IF YOU ARE SKILLED, THEY WILL FLY YOU FROM ANYWHERE IN THE USA, I hope some of you American guys come up here to work, tell your friends and family, we need more skilled trades and I'd rather see my USA brother and sisters come up here than hire from overseas.
Examples of rotations, or hitches are: 2 weeks on, 1 off (most common), 24 days on 4 off (most legally allowed to work, I did this for 8 months straight!), week on, week off, etc.
Me personally, I'm only going to work 6 months up there from now on. Its a hard lifestyle guys and not everyone is cut out for it, you have to deal with isolation, not getting laid often and probably the biggest issue for me, working with a lot of morons! Because of the severe labour shortage, they will hire anyone, including ex-cons, some crack heads, dead beats, etc. However, there are a few interesting cool people who only work there for the money then get the fuck out, like me!
Here's a video on camp life, its for an oil company so they try to make it look as nice as they can, its pretty close to reality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct7bziwvY0E
This short clip is from the same camp (and closer to reality lol): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcabfzmW_fg
Here's a list of most of the oil sands operations:
Suncor-1st ever oil sands operation, built in 1967
Syncrude-Largest oil sands operation
CNRL Horizon
Shell Albian Sands
Imperial oil (EXXON) Kearl Lake
Suncor Firebag
Husky Sunrise
Cenovus-Christina Lake
MEG Energy-Christin Lake
Most likely, you will find work with a contractor or subcontractor (like me), here's some big ones in the oil sands:
-PCL (Canada)
-Kiewit (USA)
-KBR (USA)
-Ledcor (Canada)
-Transfield (Australia)
-TIC (USA)
-Bechtel (USA)
-Kentz engineering
-DCM (Canada)
-Bradken (Australia)
Of course there's MANY more, here's some websites to find work in the oil sands:
Rig Zone, Oil Careers, jobbank.gc.ca, workopolis, monster.ca,
http://oilsands.infomine.com/careers/
fortmcmurrayjobshop.ca
Like I say, definitely not a career option for everyone, myself I'm even thinking about getting out of it, but I"m glad that its an option, I can always go there and work a maintenance shutdown and make 15-20K, in a month.
However, its easy to get caught up in the big money, give er' til ya quiver lifestyle, I know one guy last year, who was 25 and he grossed about 330K, he worked an insane amount of days and hours, we call it "the golden hand cuffs syndrome", you become obsessed with money and watch the bank account grow, I guess there's worse things to get into but I've seen some guys waste their 20's working and not enjoying the fruits of their labour!
Anyway, I'll write some more later because there's a lot I left out
peace