subject: 3 Important Things About Oil Rig Jobs [print this page] Henry Ford wasn't a pioneer in automobile manufacturing, just a very creative manager. He was the first businessman to push a "five-dollars-a-day" agenda - a generous wage at the time - because not having to train disgruntled workers only to lose them a month later saved him a lot more than the extra pay. He would walk into a factory floor, try putting in brighter lights just for the fun of it, and then spend a fortune doing the same throughout his assembly line just because workers felt cosier and therefore got more productive.
*While not a lot of conglomerates have learnt his lessons since, there are a few that nevertheless have. Fire-fighters are envied for their kitchen lounge (you've got to see their chest freezers to believe it) because you'd rather not have a hypoglycaemic one putting out your fire. But there are industries that go beyond that.
Let's not mince our words here: life on an oil rig can be a pain in the neck. Everything that you used to take for granted, like a pint after work or socialising with fellow human beings with whom you do not have a business relationship, becomes a luxury when you're cooped up with your colleagues for one or two weeks on end. Even taking a stroll can become downright impossible when you're surrounded by one 360-degree panorama of nothingness.
*Given the potentially hazardous nature of restless workers making mistakes on the clock, oil rig employers do everything in their power to facilitate a normal-ish sort of accommodation. Privacy with cable and internet - the modern-day equivalent of Virginia Woolf's A Room Of One's Own - is standard fare on the newer rigs, so there's no excuse for not being in touch with your mates simply because you're on an oil platform anymore. Fancy a movie date? At least there's the "tower": popcorn and movies starting an hour after every 12-hour shift. (No, it's not a euphemism.) Pump some iron because you're going to need it, and some of the top gigs around even come with a sauna and a pool table.
*Of course, nobody's trying to run an actual social club out there: these facilities exist to give oil rig workers a semblance of normality in their lives. Like many maritime professions, jobs on an oil rig go unfulfilled every day because of their inherent risks and hectic schedules. While the recession has hit every business under the sky, the oil industry will go on employing people with hard currencies so long as we keep buying gas.
If you think you've got what it takes to pack your bags and fling yourself to an unknown post in the deep sea, then you might want to consider an offshore oil rig job. It's not as if countless people haven't made a good chunk of money and built a very liveable life on top of those tiny islands. You say you live on land: when was the last time you hit the gym?
