If you’re looking for a high paying job, consider working in the oil fields. Though the work can be very difficult, and yes, even dangerous, the pay is better than many other blue collar jobs. In fact, the average annual pay for rig workers is $99,175.
Low man on the oil drilling totem pole is a roustabout, tasked with physical labor and general maintenance, averages about $34,680 a year, while highly skilled “drilling consultants” make approximately $235,586 a year, CNN reports.
Getting on a rig isn’t as hard as you might think, and in areas where the natural gas drilling industry is booming, trade schools offer oil field work classes. Once you’re on a rig, the company you work for will have training programs that will help you move up the ladder relatively quick.
Office jobs are prevalent in the gas drill industry also, as companies have many communications and human resource needs.
While oilfield work pays well, I have relatives in the field, they work alot of overtime to make the large earnings. It's not a 40 hour work week to make 99k a year from what I have seen. Almost 30 years ago I heard of an offshore drilling company that was hiring people to work on their rigs at high pay. They wanted to pay their new hires when they came back from their first break ashore because too few were coming back once they were paid. I think it's a good field to work in but it's not for everyone.
Ashley:
You are correct in that the money is very good and rw is correct in that this type work is not for everyone as the hours are long and sometimes the working conditions are not the greatest. I was involved for numerous years on many drilling sites but in the capacity of a State Enforcement Agency. The turnover rate on rigs is sometimes great due to individuals that can't handle the long hours or can't pass a suprise drug test. If a failed drug test occurs, the individual is fired on the spot which at times, I've seen several leave at one time. This unexpected turnover is why the rig foreman must always have a list of experienced backups to call on as the drilling operations do not stop. If someone is willing to work hard and live for days in sometimes "undesireable" conditons, the pay is tops.
Oil drillers do make fat paychecks, drilling superintendants make better paychecks, I know because my brother was one, but do not think for a moment that you can get there in a few years, he spent a lifetime in the patch gathering experience and knowledge, the experience and knowledge is where the fat paycheck comes from. I worked the patch in the seventies into the eighties when the bust came. For every boom, there is a bust, but for some reason this boom looks better than others. The small town of Williston that I grew up in was a nice place even in the boom of the seventies to the eighties. That will never be the same again, the small town mentality has lingered to some, but when you realize you need an escort to go to wal-mart to feel safe, it changes your perspective. The money is good, yes, but when you come to town and realize there is no-where to live, to lay your head at night, then the hardships begin. Yes indeed the money is good, and the jobs are abundant but the motto remains the same, Work hard and Play harder..... and if you can't get it you cannot stay.........
I never met a rich driller - and not many with all their digits still intact.
It is good money. But you earn every dime of it. I used to work on rigs. Day rate. 14 hr day and slept on the location. When drilling on air and making both gas and water, the trailer would vibrate like a car with a bad tire. You slept thru it all but when the motors revved, you were wide away and peeking out the window to see what was going on. To this day, I wake up at the slightest sounds outside.
Mr. Shields:
I inspected rigs and drilling operations for 20 years and yes, you are correct in that it is not the best lifestyle but the money is good. Anything can happen at anytime in regards to accidents, etc. As one gentleman put it one time, it is "hours of boredom, seconds of terror".
T L Shields said:
I never met a rich driller - and not many with all their digits still intact.
It is good money. But you earn every dime of it. I used to work on rigs. Day rate. 14 hr day and slept on the location. When drilling on air and making both gas and water, the trailer would vibrate like a car with a bad tire. You slept thru it all but when the motors revved, you were wide away and peeking out the window to see what was going on. To this day, I wake up at the slightest sounds outside.
Where else can you earn a years wages and work 26 weeks, plus benefits. 7 on and 7 off. It is not for everyone but those who stick it out the rewards go upward.