| High demand work? - Click HERE for Original Thread |
| stealth |
quote:
Originally posted by greatboy
If you can't keep yerself busy or entertained you will hate the job.
It is funny that you mention this. A guy I know of, dropped out after a few days into his practicum.
He couldn't see himself doing it for the rest of his life...
Cold Lake is a shit hole. I honestly rather work in Ft. Mac than Cold Lake. |
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| Blackout-spec |
| when im bored and have absolutely nothing to do, i go and nap to make time go by faster. |
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| EK9Hatch |
quote:
Originally posted by Blackout-spec
when im bored and have absolutely nothing to do, i go and nap to make time go by faster.
LMFAO
Must be nice to be able to do that :p
After working on the rigs for a few years...I would welcome the slower pace with open arms! When I'm at work, I'm usually swinging tongs with a sandwich hanging out of my mouth. You literally don't get 10 mins to eat or have a break. You get paid for 12 hours, but its because you WORK for 12 hours.
Jamie |
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| Realistic |
be an x-ray tech...
or a respiratory therapist
it sounds gay
it kinda is gay
but they're in high demand...
easy school, VERY high pay
and respiratory therapists make sick money
SICK
:holy: |
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| Blaze |
^ Haha, how sick?
I work in plants all the time, and the operators definitely do have it good depending on the plant. Some plants are unhealthy death traps though.
Another path you may want to consider is NDT (non destructive testing). Yes, you'll work out of town. But usually for short periods at a time, and there are opportunities to work some pretty cool schedules with this specialized trade. You can usually do so in a relatively short amount of time, too.
Many guys live somewhere else (as in somewhere nice!) for half the year or so, just work shutdowns for a few months every year and still make 6 figures.
PM me if you want. |
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| cupcake |
| So out of curiousity, how long do people stay in the fields that have been mentioned? Is it a life time career or a 5 to 10 year stint? Or do you move up to management/supervisor/other things after you put enough time in? Does it break your body down because of the inconsistent times and such? And how's job security? |
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| Blackout-spec |
you are never safe in any job. with industry, you can come in to work one morning and they will have your severance pay package all waiting for you at the gate. happened to one guy i heard.
there are some guys guys at my place that have been there their whole life, and look in pretty good shape for their age.
i wouldnt consider it a 5-10 yr stint, its not like working on the rigs... you can move up and get your tickets if you want, most places have a time line for upgrading, depending on what ticket you currently have and such. its not hard work so you dont get burnt out over a few years. the shift work defiantly takes a getting used to.
NDT testing is easy too! |
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| golfer1 |
quote:
i currently have a job with the shell upgrader in fort saskatachewan. They only took 4 graduating students out of the 40ish students graduating.
Incorrect information, Shell UPG is bringing in 80 ops for expansion and Shell Ref just brought in 21 ops this month. I can tell you that we hired mor then 4 students |
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| EK9Hatch |
quote:
Originally posted by Blaze
Another path you may want to consider is NDT (non destructive testing). Yes, you'll work out of town. But usually for short periods at a time, and there are opportunities to work some pretty cool schedules with this specialized trade. You can usually do so in a relatively short amount of time, too.
Many guys live somewhere else (as in somewhere nice!) for half the year or so, just work shutdowns for a few months every year and still make 6 figures.
PM me if you want.
Thanks for the offer Blaze... I was actually planning on taking NDT and getting the CEDO ticket at NAIT.
But the main reason I changed my mind is almost 100% of the work is out of town and from what I've seen from my friends that work in that field...its not being out of town for short periods.
I'm going with PE because eventually I would like to work in or around the Edmonton area at one of the plants.
Jamie |
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| Blaze |
No problem, Jamie.
I thought maybe you didn't want to be stuck in Edmonton or Alberta forever. ;-) Something like PE will probably tie you down here, whereas with NDT you could potentially even live in Mexico or something with 6 months OFF and work here for the other 6.
I think I remember seeing your old post about becoming a CEDO. I would have recommended another path anyhow, as x-ray work sucks.
On another note, I'd still like to here more from Realistic on the respiratory therapist work. My fiance is looking for a possible career change. |
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| greatboy |
They hired 4 PET graduates from NAIT...but from other colleges or other programs I am not sure. They only started hiring graduates last year and started with Chem Eng Tech students but had trouble with them. This is their second year of hiring graduates straight from college.
The north expansion of the upgrader is going to be sick, they said around 4000 construction workers on the site everyday in buses. |
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| dc2696 |
Wow, great thread here Jamie, I don''t think after reading through it all I have any more questions lol. I've been out of school for a few years too and have also worked the rigs so I know why your getting out of that field (bullshit work).
I planned on taking some type of engineering corse out of HS so I have my chem 30 physics 30 math31 ect ect but I''ll def be looking into that upgrader coarse nait offers.
But how the hell do you go from making 70-80k a year and owning a house to going back to school and working part time and surviving...Thats gonna be interesting :S
I have the same time line as you Jamie so maybe I'll see ya in class next year. :fingersx: |
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| EK9Hatch |
quote:
Originally posted by dc2696
But how the hell do you go from making 70-80k a year and owning a house to going back to school and working part time and surviving...Thats gonna be interesting :S
I have the same time line as you Jamie so maybe I'll see ya in class next year. :fingersx:
Exactly. Its going to be tough to live off of pretty much nothing. I don't have an option (nor do I want to) to move back with my parents/family.
I guess I will just have to budget better and I wont be shopping much lol. I'm working the rigs until next year and hopefully I can save enough to get me through school.
Jamie |
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| cbourbs |
quote:
Originally posted by J-EM
And BIG tummy :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
haha you can still get a big tummy in PE. sitting on the panel for 12hrs a day sucks man trust me i know. and specially when the same alarm is beeping at you all day!!LOL |
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| EK9Hatch |
quote:
Originally posted by cbourbs
haha you can still get a big tummy in PE. sitting on the panel for 12hrs a day sucks man trust me i know. and specially when the same alarm is beeping at you all day!!LOL
Thats what a iPod is for. :p :lol:
Jamie |
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| CKXtreme |
quote:
Originally posted by Realistic
be an x-ray tech...
or a respiratory therapist
it sounds gay
it kinda is gay
but they're in high demand...
easy school, VERY high pay
and respiratory therapists make sick money
SICK
:holy:
I have a friend who's a respiratory therapist. Works at UofA Hospital. 2nd year out of school she's making like 80k and gets about a month of vacation per year. |
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| skiontwintips |
Jamie,
I just finished a labour market analysis for a government project analyzing the potential for a number of new certificate/diploma/degree programs.
To sum up a weeks worth of research in one post: Basically anything with the word 'Technologist' attached to it is a high growth area in Alberta - so PE, Electrical, Chemical, etc.. are all expected to grow 2-3% each year with around 100 new positions created annually in addition to turnover. These are all areas which don't have quite the same earning potential as an Eng. degree but are in extremely high demand nonetheless.
Government is also expecting massive shortages in the trades due to capital projects in oil & gas - the majority of these positions would be out of town.
Other huge growth areas - health & information technology. Pretty much all aspects of healthcare ranging from doctor on down to health care aide will have extremely high demand for years to come. IT programs are suffering from a serious enrolment shortage (apparently nobody wants to sit in front of a computer typing out code) and these grads are highly sought after as well.
Check out the GOA's Occupational profiles website - you can search by occupational title and find out the education needed, labour market projections, average and range of incomes, etc. for every job in Alberta. |
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| golfer1 |
| Did you read that off the back of a match book cover? |
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| kevito_ |
I've read this thread a few times and would like to finally put some words down that might be useful to the OP and other's comments in this thread.
To everyone, regarding 'engineering' vs. 'engineering technology':
There is quite a difference between engineering and engineering technology. Engineering is a minimum 4-year degree program that can only be granted by a valid institution, mainly a recognized university. An engineer is a professional who must abide by codes of conduct and participate in an professional engineering association, in order to maintain employment. To get through the schooling, you will need advanced courses in math and physical sciences, as well as the ability to design and manage projects. There is not a system that can be 'challenged' in order to rush through and complete the degree quickly. If you can challenge all the classes in one or two years, you won't be reading this right now.
Engineering technology differs from engineering in that it is the application and implementation of engineering in the industrial setting. The engineers plan, design, and implement technology for the technologists to use in order to complete their job. It's a lot more hands on than theoretical and generally pays more early in a career. The career potential is not as high as engineering, however a competent and well respected technologist can easily make or exceed the pay of a professional engineer.
Directed to Jamie, specifically:
If you want to have more time for yourself and girl, but you want to not do as much physical work, more education is the only way. Don't delay too long on it, as the older you get, the harder it is to get back into the learning mindset.
I'd recommend that you devote your full time to school when you decide to go back. If you want to take power engineering technology, I highly recommend that you upgrade (from scratch, as the curriculum has changed) your Math 30, Physics 30 and take Math 31 (Calculus). Learning Calculus can make a lot of things that seem hard in Power Engineering very simple. I have tutored students for over 6 years and I know the things that hurt them the most after high school. For your specific case of Power Engineering, it's physics and math.
The other big problem is losing focus: so manage your finances well ahead of time. For finances, take student loans to support yourself while you go to school. Worrying about paying rent, bills, and dealing with other shit is a pain in the ass when you are trying to get your school work done. I've seen friends try to juggle it all and fail miserably. Just when you think you have it all balanced, there's a death in the family, your gf runs out on you, or your roommates all decide they are all moving out at the same time. If you have lots of debt right now, you should consider reducing or eliminating it before going onto student loans. You might get stuck in a black financial hole if you don't solve those problems and start taking out loans.
To everyone, regarding other high paying jobs:
I'd also like to recommend Civil Engineering Technologist. They do soil, concrete, surveying, and other types of work. They generally work in contracting for construction and survey companies. They get paid pretty much the same as a power engineer technologist. You get to travel and good companies will give you proper overtime and holidays.
Operator and crew chief operations with oil field service companies are another interesting option. You will travel a lot (only for short times) and get great pay. The work can be pretty physical at times, although it's nothing like working the rigs. Check out Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes... if you want to travel outside, Saudi Aramco is always hiring :)
There is also office-type jobs doing paperwork for certification of oilfield equipment... pressure testing, weld testing, radiation certification, electronics testing, etc. They are usually based in the city and have decent pay. You will need a certificate program, most likely, to be able to get a job like that, but there are plenty of jobs around.
Finally, the other big payer is medical and safety jobs related to industry. Medical testing technicians: x-ray, respiratory, ultrasound, audiogram, medical rehabilitation assistants, laboratory technicians, etc. The other big thing are safety officers and training staff for safety courses. Ever wonder how much a company must pay to have that fancy retreat outside of the city for safety and teamwork building? :P
Directed to Anschutz:
Actual engineering can make you decent money. In fact, you don't even need to be an engineer as physical science jobs can offer you decent money. If you are planning on challenging university exams for engineering, good luck. It's pretty much impossible unless your the type who enjoys second-order non-linear partial differentials after afternoon tea. |
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| EK9Hatch |
First off... I would like to give a HUGE thanks to both skiontwintips and kevito_ for their posts.
Now, for another question...
Power Engineering Technology is a 2 year program...once you complete it you will/can be a 3rd Class.
My question is, I have heard of quite a few guys getting good jobs after their practicum between their 1st and 2nd years in school. So...
How much potential income can a 4th Class earn? I've heard over 100k/year. Is this true? :dunno:
Also, what range of income diference can you expect for a 4th and 3rd Class?
Jamie |
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| Blackout-spec |
quote:
Originally posted by EK9Hatch
How much potential income can a 4th Class earn? I've heard over 100k/year. Is this true? :dunno:
Also, what range of income diference can you expect for a 4th and 3rd Class?
Jamie
true! i was in this exact situation. and if i got hired with my 3rd instead of my 4th, i would have made 2$/hr more right off the bat. thats all.
with the turn around this year im sure ill be around 100K. or just above it. some guys said this paycheck will be the biggest ever totaling over 14K$ GROSS in just 2 weeks. |
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| EK9Hatch |
Thanks for the input Kyle! :thumbup:
Jamie |
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| cariny |
| chem eng tech diploma from nait gets u a good job/good pay. can be in town too. oil industry is in demand for ppl |
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