subject: 3 Ways To Host Your Way Onto An Oil Rig [print this page] The Tertiary Industry is a lieThe Tertiary Industry is a lie. Look at the service sector in the 21st century: instead of the creative economy that we've been promised twenty years ago, the majority of the revenue stream has fed into the hospitality and F/B business. Every other reader here has either previously held a catering/waiting job, or is working in one as we speak.
At least a chef gets to create on a plate. Casual labour has its place in every society, and it does bridge the occasional employment shortfall for even the well-off amongst us, but our generation is relying on it like a heroin addict is reliant on methadone. And of course, for the select few that really enjoys taking care of customers, their profession has been inundated by a horde of unskilled hacks.
So if you are yet to gain experience in hospitality trade, but wouldn't mind giving it a go so long as it doesn't kill your soul, you should take a look at housekeeping crew on an offshore oil platform.
*What does it entail? Serving In a Storm? An oil platform in the North Sea can easily host up to two hundred people: people that work twelve hours shifts for seven to fourteen days at a time. They need to be housed on the spot, and if you've ever worked in manual labour you know how much of an appetite you can work up.
Of course, it sometimes helps if you've worked as a chef before, but you'd be surprised how often it doesn't. Previous experience is one thing, adaptability to the artificial enclave that is oil rig another. A line cook translates to a second cook; baking experience means night baker; and galley hands are almost always needed.
The same applies to housekeeping: little or no prior experience is good enough most days, given the exorbitantly high staff turnover rate in the field. If you've worked in a hotel before as a porter, bellhop or janitor, you're all set.
*What Is The Caveat? It sounds almost too good to be true, and of course there are horrible downsides to the job. The pay, for instance, is merely double the going rate in the market; and there is a paltry 180 days off in a year.
That's not a typo. The excellent working conditions that apply to offshore crew works for you as well, for no other reason than the fact that you will be recognised as a full member as well. Of course, there will be the occasional storm and the longer-than-average working hours, but the exotic environments will more than make up for it.
So send over an application right now and you'll be packing your bags in no time at all. If you're going to serve food for a living, you might as well do it at the restaurant in the middle of the sea.
