Career for Outdoorsmen

[Liljozie495]

it is nice working 4-10s only crappy part about my shift is its 3pm to 130am... the wife on the other hand she works full time and does floral/ wedding flowers/ wedding planning (which surprisingly she makes bank doing it lol, fyi local WA guys getting married or know anyone that is shoot me a hollar for a deal haha)

 

[Coueshunter]

How many Petroleum Engineers do we have on RokSlide? I am nearly through my second year of engineering and transferring to University of Texas Austin, from the UA. Looking forward to getting into reservoir engineering, and having decent time & cash to go hunting and pay (those darn) out of state fee's.

 

[bigeasygator]

How many Petroleum Engineers do we have on RokSlide? I am nearly through my second year of engineering and transferring to University of Texas Austin, from the UA. Looking forward to getting into reservoir engineering, and having decent time & cash to go hunting and pay (those darn) out of state fee's.

My degree is in Chemical Engineering but I've spent my career doing Petroleum Engineering work. Currently I'm a production engineering manager for a major oil company working in support of our deepwater operations. I love it!

 

[Coueshunter]

Thats awesome bigeasygator! How do you like working in the gulf? Are you in the field primarily or a mix of office and field?

 

[bigeasygator]

Thats awesome bigeasygator! How do you like working in the gulf? Are you in the field primarily or a mix of office and field?

I love it here! I do wish I was closer to the mountains, but south Louisiana is its own Sportsman's Paradise! I work 98% of the time out of the office, which is okay for me. I take a few trips a year offshore for a few days each time, but other than that I'm in front of a computer screen...or in a meeting! Seriously though, deepwater is utlra high-tech and ultra risky and those two elements make it extremely exciting.

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

I don't know wyobowhunter21 I work for a large gathering and treating company I work seven on seven off and also get five weeks vacation. I get lots of time to hunt. Shift work is not for everyone though and sometimes the seven on is a drag, but having that following week off always gives me something to look forward to.

I agree. When you have equal time on and time off it would be a lot better. However with my career the engineer is always on call and may not get days off. I don't mind that but with only two weeks vacation a year it's hard to do anything.

 

[Highcountry_Hellrazor]

Would someone who has experience as an Engineer in the Civil Construction field have a shot at breaking into the oil industry?

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

Would someone who has experience as an Engineer in the Civil Construction field have a shot at breaking into the oil industry?

I would say yes, 100%.

 

[2rocky]

To further expand on SDHNTR's suggestion of Sales, many of the technical fields have sales reps with a technical background. One great way to develop a relationship with clients is a shared love of the outdoors.

 

[Jon Boy]

For all of you oil and gas guys, any tips on breaking into the industry for entry level positions? I'm young, single and motivated so the idea of working long hours and weeks in return for a good amount of time off is intriguing.

 

[squeekieslayer]

For all of you oil and gas guys, any tips on breaking into the industry for entry level positions? I'm young, single and motivated so the idea of working long hours and weeks in return for a good amount of time off is intriguing.

Up here in great falls you can go 5 minutes without hearing radio ads for bakkenshalehelpwanted.com... actually pretty funny commercials. Do a search for bakken shale help wanted and you will have more jobs than you can shake a stick at. I was just through Williston over thankgiving, I saw about 5 oilfield pickups in the ditch or upside down between crosby and williston where the roads are icy, so they must be hiring just about anyone with a drivers license.

Only worry with the oil field is that when the formation is done, the work is done and you may end up working somewhere you really dont want to be. I had lots of friends doing well in the Jonah field in Wyo, but because of antelope, sage chickens, and fracking they have slowed production drastically and now many are in ND or Pennsylvania.

JOe

 

[Ray]

I used P6 in school for a scheduling course. However I haven't scheduled with it in the real world. It is one complicated software not very user friendly imo. I will look into AE firms thanks that seems like a good career path with my experience.

P6, or P3 or whatever, is driven by the Corps of Engineers scheduling specification from nearly 30 years ago. It’s just too large and cumbersome for every day needs, but federal agencies have adapted various cost scheduling functions within it into their financial management. Way overboard IMO.

Down in Denver is the headquarters for CH2M Hill. At least the money headquarters is there. If you are not opposed to traveling all over the globe an AE firm like CH2 can give you a solid career in project management. Focus on QA/QC and the inspection and acceptance process to become indispensable to management. If you are unfortunate they could stick in some backwoods hell hole like Anchorage, AK and you'll be forced to obtain residency and go hunt dall sheep. We all have to make sacrifices. Of course the biggest issue with construction in AK is that the busiest days are in August and September when you should be out hunting.

 

[Sundodger]

My buddy is a Fish Bio, thats pretty good. But the honest truth is my friend that is a nurse works 3 12's spends the most time on personal outdoor activites. He can set up his schedual to work the first 3 days of a week and the last three days of the next. Makes me wish I was a nurse.

 

[gobbler1662]

IMO hands down the best career for the avid outdoorsman is a firefighter/paramedic. Most work either a 24/48 shift or a 48/96 shift. Now this translates to only working 10 shifts a month. And that's not including union Kelly days or vacation shifts. In today's world to be hired you need a paramedic degree and a fire science degree, usually takes two to three years.. Oh and did I mention the amazing full benefits including probably one of the best public employee retirement systems. And the pay ain't bad either. Most larger departments start a ff/ paramedic at at around 50k with the average salary of a 5 year veteran is around 8o-90K. And that's just the start lots of room for advancement, you can go the officer route or prevention such as fire Marshall and really make bank. Think about it you can do a lot of scouting only working 10 days a month. These guys have a national certification so they can test in any state. I have friends that work in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

 

[Nick Muche]

P6, or P3 or whatever, is driven by the Corps of Engineers scheduling specification from nearly 30 years ago. It’s just too large and cumbersome for every day needs, but federal agencies have adapted various cost scheduling functions within it into their financial management. Way overboard IMO.

Down in Denver is the headquarters for CH2M Hill. At least the money headquarters is there. If you are not opposed to traveling all over the globe an AE firm like CH2 can give you a solid career in project management. Focus on QA/QC and the inspection and acceptance process to become indispensable to management. If you are unfortunate they could stick in some backwoods hell hole like Anchorage, AK and you'll be forced to obtain residency and go hunt dall sheep. We all have to make sacrifices. Of course the biggest issue with construction in AK is that the busiest days are in August and September when you should be out hunting.

I worked with a division of CH2M Hill for 3 years, great firm and they have some very good employees.

 

[maverick]

My 2 cents. Get a job that you truly enjoy in a location that has all your outdoor activities close by. It's nice to be able to hunt after work, weekends and on vacation. The closer you are the more time you get to spend doing it. I lived in Minnesota for 7 years when I was younger. Work was good, the people were nice and I had allot of fun. But it was a far cry from Montana where I grew up. I missed the mountains and being able to hunt elk after work and on the weekends. I also missed being able to hunt different animals every year and the lack of public land that you only get in the Western states. Its pretty tough to scout for new spots when your 800 miles away. Good luck!!!!

 

[JWP58]

it is nice working 4-10s only crappy part about my shift is its 3pm to 130am...

try 10pm to 8am

 

[tuffcity]

any tips on breaking into the industry for entry level positions?

My middle kid headed east with a buddy in September looking for rig work. 18 yrs old, green and with a good work ethic. They stopped in Calgary and got their basic safety certificates and he was working a week after that. He rough necks on a service rig out of Saskatchewan. Works 11 days on, 4 off, 10-15 hours a day and anything after 40 hours in that 11 days is OT. He'll probably made $70K this year or better. Not a career job for him but an end to a means- loan free university education in a couple of years.

RC

 

[Highcountry_Hellrazor]

That's what I did with Fly Fishing guiding. The only way to go school is if you can pay for it. Glad to say I graduated debt free on my own in four years.

 

[Jon Boy]

My middle kid headed east with a buddy in September looking for rig work. 18 yrs old, green and with a good work ethic. They stopped in Calgary and got their basic safety certificates and he was working a week after that. He rough necks on a service rig out of Saskatchewan. Works 11 days on, 4 off, 10-15 hours a day and anything after 40 hours in that 11 days is OT. He'll probably made $70K this year or better. Not a career job for him but an end to a means- loan free university education in a couple of years.

RC

Basically my plan as well. I'm pretty good with my money and have hardly any bills so if I can rack up some cash while im young it could put me ahead in the long run. Im having trouble finding a job for what I went to college for so I'm looking for other options at the moment.