Laborer jobs are the entry level jobs on oil rigs. On most oil rigs, you work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for 2-3 weeks straight. Working as a laborer is exhausting and dirty – you do everything from cleaning and painting the oil rig to mixing drilling mud and even moving supplies and equipment around the oil rig. On the other hand, virtually everyone who imports aboard the oil rig starts out as a laborer, so you have no right to complain.
For English-speaking workers, there are three main places that hire people for routine jobs: Canada, the US, and the UK. Alberta in Canada is still short-staffed, so it’s easier to get hired there. As long as you are strong enough and display the right attitude, many companies will be willing to pay for any courses or certifications that are required.
At the moment, it is also quite easy to get offshore jobs in the US, especially in the Gulf Coast region. In some places, it’s as simple as showing up at the temp agency. As in Canada, many companies urgently need workers and are willing to pay for the required training and certifications. As a rough guide, your employer will send you to get your offshore medical certificate, offshore survival certificate, and helicopter underwater escape training certificate before you set foot on the oil rig. After that there will probably be a 2-3 week induction course on your duties on board the oil rig.
UK residents have it harder. Most employers want you to show your BOSIET offshore survival training certificate, offshore medical certificate and what the British call a GreenHand course. In total, getting all of this could cost you £3500 depending on where you take these courses, and there’s no guarantee of a job. The offshore scene there is surprisingly small – you really need to know the right people. Most of the jobs are outside of Aberdeen, so if you live elsewhere you don’t really have a chance. For new hires with no connections, former members of the military find it easier to break in. The British military have a sort of skills conversion course that helps them get offshore oil jobs. Frankly, UK residents wanting to get into the oil industry are better off looking for work in Alberta or the US Gulf Coast states.
When applying for laborer jobs, remember to highlight work experience that involves manual labor and mechanical work. If you have any survival training or something like BOSIET or HUET certificates, please highlight those as well. Remember that Rusties do a lot of manual labor, so DO NOT brag about your college degree or some other highly technical skill; the employer can reject you for being overqualified. Some companies now want you to prove that you have completed your secondary education. Regardless of who you work for, there will be frequent drug testing, especially if an accident occurs.