Working in the Canadian oil sands: 6 figures in 6 months!

Laurifer

Laurifer

Woodpecker
Gold Member
I decided to go back to my former employer for a couple months while I wait for my other job to start back up in the Spring. Got a decent deal out of them. One location only, fly-in/fly-out, on rotation, and they're activating my benefits right away. Also on a day-shift only crew for now which will be nice. Gonna stack cash, eat good food, and hit the gym everyday. Of course it has to be cold as shit right when I decide to go back! Fly out tomorrow.
 
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Xlmightyx

Chicken
Yo bro thanks for the info what's the situation like right now and I'm a 21 year old living in the UK dropped out of high school ive been looking for a job like this and I wouldn't mind moving to Canada if I could be making 6 figures can you leave your email or something so I can contact you directly thanks
 
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ChicagoFire

Kingfisher
^^

Reread the information again as you're not ready. There's oil companies all over the world why the fuck would you fly over to Canada? If you're serious about flying over I'd even look into extreme cold winter pointers, defensive driving, and how to winterize your car. Good luck.
 
Disco_Volante

Disco_Volante

 
I finally found a major who wants to buy my automated mudlogging system. It's not finished but they see the value on what I'm trying to do. It's been 5 long years and at this point I don't even fucking care anymore. I was 26 when I had the idea, it should've been quickly and aggressively executed then. But 2014-2017 was completely dead, then 2017-2018 I tried to finish it myself needing some expensive parts. I finally caved.

At this point I'd just be happy to get like 800k so I can go to eastern europe and smoke weed and party while I still look young and tell girls I'm 25.

There's no career anymore, several of the senior R&D guys I tried to sell my device to in 2015-2018, I checked their linkedin's and they've been layed off and they're only 45-55. These guys have publications, patents, and were perfect employees now they'll probably never get hired again as they're over-qualified to do anything else. If you follow the crowd You'll get fucked.

If you don't aggressively cash out and build a nest you're going to end up very fucked. Only fools think there's some job waiting for you because of your "skills" or whatever. I think the validates my strategy of cashing out instead of begging an employer for a job. Alot of these older guys got 15+ years with a company thinking their "skills" and "value" to their employer until they get layed off and noone will hire them anymore.

If you can own a new digital oilfield tech you will do very well, instead of being a sucker employee who gets paid salary to create it for your company. Lucky for me, noone wants to be a mudlogger I think that's why this niche went un-touched just for me :)

I personally think my device is worth about 10 million, but I've seen how brutal the economy is I think parachuting out with 500k - 1.5 million cash I'd be happy with the W.

I remember october 2014 everything seemed okay then BAM everyone's fucked so I'm not holding out lest something terrible happen.
 
Captain Gh

Captain Gh

Ostrich
Gold Member
Disco_Volante said:
I finally found a major who wants to buy my automated mudlogging system. It's not finished but they see the value on what I'm trying to do. It's been 5 long years and at this point I don't even fucking care anymore. I was 26 when I had the idea, it should've been quickly and aggressively executed then. But 2014-2017 was completely dead, then 2017-2018 I tried to finish it myself needing some expensive parts. I finally caved.

At this point I'd just be happy to get like 800k so I can go to eastern europe and smoke weed and party while I still look young and tell girls I'm 25.

There's no career anymore, several of the senior R&D guys I tried to sell my device to in 2015-2018, I checked their linkedin's and they've been layed off and they're only 45-55. These guys have publications, patents, and were perfect employees now they'll probably never get hired again as they're over-qualified to do anything else. If you follow the crowd You'll get fucked.

If you don't aggressively cash out and build a nest you're going to end up very fucked. Only fools think there's some job waiting for you because of your "skills" or whatever. I think the validates my strategy of cashing out instead of begging an employer for a job. Alot of these older guys got 15+ years with a company thinking their "skills" and "value" to their employer until they get layed off and noone will hire them anymore.

If you can own a new digital oilfield tech you will do very well, instead of being a sucker employee who gets paid salary to create it for your company. Lucky for me, noone wants to be a mudlogger I think that's why this niche went un-touched just for me :)

I personally think my device is worth about 10 million, but I've seen how brutal the economy is I think parachuting out with 500k - 1.5 million cash I'd be happy with the W.

I remember october 2014 everything seemed okay then BAM everyone's fucked so I'm not holding out lest something terrible happen.
Click to expand...

Good to read my friend! However... make sure to fight til the end! Don't settle for 500k if you think it's worth 10Mil no way! Shell makes 9 figures daily... and that industry NEEDS your invention... to make even more! If I was you... knowing that a Payday is coming... I'd work at McDonald or worse to make sure I'm not needy for cash... and fight til the death for the millions you believe your invention is worth. Don't let them off the hook. Get some of that daily 9 figures they're currently making without you. Good luck
 
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ChicagoFire

Kingfisher
Tomorrow is my big day!

I don't remember how I got noticed by the recruiter but a couple days ago one of the companies scotian PMed me about reached out to me telling me they are willing to train me. All I need to do is show up for a casual interview. I'm rereading what scotian PMed me about so I don't look like a doofus tomorrow. Will smile and say recruiter's name. Don't be desperate, don't bad mouth former employers. Should be like taking candy from a baby.

FUCK man I'm seriously happy no more working my dead end jobs. I can't confidently say this yet but I might give my 2 week notice in a couple days and fuck off to the oil industry. To make it even sweeter one of the forum members here can get me a job in a separate industry. All this job searching shit has finally paid off to a point where I can get the pick of the litter.
 
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ChicagoFire

Kingfisher
I'm going to be cocky here but add me to the list. A service provider gave me an offer. Pretty much 4X my income. Thank you again scotian. I have a lot of people to thank as well as work to do for the next few hours. I still have no idea how the company found me, maybe one of the thousands of job applications I have sent over the years finally hit their mark.

I elaborated here and for anybody that wants to turn their life around opportunities are always out there you just have to put yourself out there:
https://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-57296-post-1946668.html#pid1946668
 
H

hedonist

Woodpecker
There are a couple of companies hiring Canadians down in New Mexico/Texas....pay isn't great and they must be making a mint off the Canadian workers.....still its gotta beat -40!
 
Laurifer

Laurifer

Woodpecker
Gold Member
hedonist said:
There are a couple of companies hiring Canadians down in New Mexico/Texas....pay isn't great and they must be making a mint off the Canadian workers.....still its gotta beat -40!
Click to expand...

I talked to a baker tech up here who has been sent to Texas several times this year. They're having trouble holding on to guys. He said they're so busy there that everyone keeps jumping ship to go elsewhere for more pay haha. I just applied to a few gigs in Texas, maybe some Americans will be willing to train me in the skills I want that these Canadians refuse to do. Would love to get on a rotation there if I wanted to stay in this industry full-time.
 
Soundbyte

Soundbyte

Woodpecker
Haven't posted in a while. I got into the oil field, and got a pretty shitty job. But I did make a lot of connections as to where some guys with a company said I could probably apply with a cdl permit and get a much better job by the end of the month just because there was a huge shortage of drivers on their shift.

One thing I noticed is the insane turnover rates. only 5 guys have stayed with the company longer than 6 months. in the past month we lost all the night shift guys ( 5-8 guys, not being specific) and the company had to hire literally anyone to make up for it. I'm about to jump ship also, got my foot in the door and i'd be a fool to let it go to waste.
 
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ChicagoFire

Kingfisher
^^

I might eat my words but as long as you're getting paid more money work is work. I bumped into an excoworker of mine months ago who currently works at TSA and as far as I know he wouldn't come back to the food industry for a significant paycut. You could always work a "balanced" job like some of the food industry jobs I've worked and still be unhappy.

I will say this since day 1 I'm not going to be working in the oil industry forever I will be reinvesting my money into location independent businesses. I know I can multiply my income now and not settle for scraps. Always be making dat $$$$
 
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Corrigan.Spear

Chicken
Hey guys, I need some advice.

I was on here years ago and took the plunge and did very well out in the patch before the oil price tanked. Since then Ive been living around the world, the last couple years in a former Soviet country loving every minute of it, but..

Now, I am coming back to Canada to seek some better paying and work and building myself up again for a permanent future. I need some advice where are some of the best places to find decent paying work these days and or what industries and companies? I am completely out of the loop.

Cheers.
 
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ChicagoFire

Kingfisher
1st week on the job here are my thoughts:

The industry is dangerous. Chemicals can kill you, someone could forget to inspect a scaffold, etc. If you're scared of heights I strongly suggest you take up rock climbing. On the first night I worked EMTs attended someone who was unconscious in the parking lot. Like Scotian said this isn't for everyone. In my case I need to pay off debt and wanted to leave the food industry because I was tired of the shit I had to deal with. I currently work the night shift 7PM-5:30AM and don't like it. I once had a 2 hour commute because I compete with the morning rush people and something happened where the lanes were jammed. A couple of my coworkers have commutes in the 1-1.5 hour range. You will meet very interesting people (brash 19 year olds, ex-business owners, vets, etc) and it's not unheard of for guys in their 50s to be working 16 hour days. I personally don't want to do this long term. I can't speak for everyone but in my company people work about 8 months out of the year. Financially speaking don't blow your paycheck on stupid stuff and you will not have to do this forever. Oil is cyclical so don't be the guy that buys a new truck and when they lay you off you have no idea how to pay that off.

The good:
The pay is in OT. Off the bat I rack in OT, something I rarely got in the food industry. Some companies will fly you out and give you per diem. There's a fair amount of downtime but have been told work can ramp up next week. I wish I could show you all the books, audiobooks, and podcasts I've knocked out in a matter of days. This is definitely a Fastlane option for MJ DeMarco fans here. Do this for a couple years and start your business.

And yes liberals (losers) get pissed off with what you do. My policy is to tell people I do janitorial work and change the conversation.

Going beyond the job
I have a degree and can always transition into that. Not sure if anyone on the thread mentioned this but I might transition into oil sales careers. I noticed a particular equipment company advertising their hardware and thought I could do that.
 
NFallin

NFallin

Robin
Well Alberta is officially dead for my trade. I came back from Latin America and blasted off resumes and checked out the union but heard absolutely nothing back.

Different story in BC. Blasted resumes out and got a job within a week. It's booming but you're going to make half of what you would in Alberta. There's a weird vibe too. Alberta was just giverrr. Here it seems like work life balance actually is the selling point in the lower mainland. Will be interesting to see how things go.
 
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flipper78

Pigeon
Hi scotian,
I am 40 y young and PhD in geochemistry/Radiation protection. I have German/British dual nationality and speak also French. Do you happen to know whether there is demand for someone with my qualifications in the oil sands Industry?
Kind regards
 
Disco_Volante

Disco_Volante

 
Anyone noticing a slowdown? It seems a lot of majors are laying off. I showed sperry drilling (halliburton) my auto logger system, they liked it, then a week later the manager I showed it to was laid off lol.
I check layoff message boards, there's insiders for each company and they're all reporting layoffs that don't make the news.

https://www.thelayoff.com/schlumberger
https://www.thelayoff.com/halliburton
https://www.thelayoff.com/devon-energy
etc..

Whoever buys anadarko petroleum is going to cut at least half of them.


Many of the boomers can't retire because they're getting laid off in their 50s, and I hear new graduates like engineers and geologists are having a really hard time with limited jobs.
 
redbeard

redbeard

Hummingbird
Moderator
About six months ago I started the job hunt and tried to get back into the field. I couldn’t get any callbacks despite having experience and an engineering degree.

I ended up getting a software sales job offer, so I said fuck it and dove right into sales.

I’m not saying the oilfield is dead, but my search did not go well. It seems there is still a huge supply imbalance of jobs vs applicants.

Software sales, on the other hand, is booming.
 
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