come here now if you don't have a wife/kids

My salary has more than doubled and I work 2 weeks on/2 weeks off. You can live in BC and work in AB with the right trade/company.

^
If you dont mind me asking, what kinda job are doing up north?
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i've also strongly been considering moving up to fort mac as well. i dont give a shit about my social life because well, i dont really have one... lol. i've cut down on the amount of friends i have, dont have a gf or anythhing else tying me down. just my truck and my dog and both i can take anywhere with me. currently im 27 and being EI, i keep getting that marriage stick being poked at me all the time and its not really a path i want to take at this point in my life. i seriously need to come and check out the city.

Rs meet in fort mac!
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Hmm, I'm In.

There's no time like now.

Over the past month I've been doing my research and I plan to go up with a buddy first week of October.

Got my tickets hs2, first aid, csts-09/whimis.

I've got a buddy up in Edmonton giving me a place to stay for a while and I just bought an SUV to drive up there. Funny story, the girl I bought the SUV from her boyfriend actually works up in Fort Mac. When he came back I was able to have coffee with him and ask him all the questions my mind was wondering. He was also kind enough to give a good word on a company he worked for (Horizon Drilling) he just told me when I go up to give him a call. My buddy also asked around for me where people go to get hired and it just so happens a lot of them go to this union office just a couple of blocks away from him.

So I'm pretty excited to go up. I'm embracing myself for coldness and long work hours.

But I want something that gives the rotational with fly in/out benefits. What are the chances of getting that?

What trade are you trying to get into? The tickets you have are the basic stuff to get into a oil mine which is good. There are labor jobs up here where they offer free housing and flights.
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Which companies?

Clearwater.

I have an interview for a safety monitoring company in airdrie this week. Wish me luck.

If anyone needs an idea of what a resume should look like PM me, my friend did it for me who works for talisman.

Good stuff. The biggest hurdle is probably finding appropriate accommodations, it's tough as hell to find a legit decent, not shit hole of a place, that the landlord would rent out via online.

In person :(

Edmonton wise.

Found this out last time I went to Edmonton briefly, the guy I had spoken with had pictures of the place. It was clean and fairly decent for the price. It ended up being one of those, pile a shitload of people in, couch, living room, etc, run down & B.O, it pissed me off pretty good.

He looks at me, trying to sell the shit hole of a place. "trust worthy people", yeah, I'd have to be sleeping with one eye open scenario.

Yea i tried getting a place online....didnt happen
I had to fly up here to find a place, pretty much with cash in hand for both deposit (which up here is usually 1 full month rent) and the 1st month rent.
I ended up getting my place over some girl who didnt have 5g cash on hand....but offered to give the landlord a post dated cheque for the next payday....
but in this market...cash is king, and its super competitive...

o yes..i'm paying $2500/month for a small basement suite uptown...includes utilities, cable, and internet....
and i thought vancouver was expensive......

I have done it, continue to do it, and will continue to do it as long as I see feasible. I not only do fort mac, but other parts of BC, AB, newfoundland, and even NWT.

You will always make far more money, up north, it is due to the OT and conditions.

One down side to fort mac is that the cost of living is very high, food, accomodations etc. are all expensive as shit. If you can go elsewhere like northern BC you will probably save more money...

food isnt that much more unless you are talking about fast food and restaurants...groceries are marginally higher.....but your wage more than makes up for it.
as for housing...rent is stupid expensive...but cost of buying a house is about the same as Vancouver proper (yes which is over priced)....but the difference is, your basement suite can be rented out as a HUGE mortgage helper.
Think...a $650K house, your basement will easily rent for 2300-2500/month....good luck getting that kind of rent money in vancouver.

2300-2500/month for a basement? Damn, I only charged my guy $600/month for a bedroom, shared bathroom/kitchen and internet. I should raise my rent for the next person. :dizzy:

are you in Fort Mac? cause if so $600 is dirt cheap....
most rooms here go for $1000 from what I see

Weird turn of events, but if you guys need to find a job just be vocal about it, and let girls you know at bars why you moved to calgary/edmonton and if they want to fuck you they will help you.

I currently work in northern alberta as a field/battery operator. What I do basically is after they drill oil wells, the wells pump for a number of years after. I look after about 40 wells and visit them each day making sure that they keep consistent production. If a well stops pumping I call well servicing (rig crew) and have them work on the well.

So for those of you who are looking to work on a service rig be prepared to work hard. From what I understand the guys around here do 2 weeks on and 1 week off. 12 hour shifts. It usually takes them about 2 days around the clock to pull the pump out of a well and replace it. So they generally move from site to site. Now starting off on a rig crew you get treated like shit. I've seen guys get bitched at to the point where they look like they are going to cry. I've seen guys throw wrenches at the "green" guys because they were working too "slow" but in my opinion they just felt like it. I've seen guys constantly threatened to get fired or sent home.
So for anyone looking to do that kind of work be prepared. The work is shitty and dirty, and you are at the very bottom. The money is good though.
Also, safety is a major concern for me working in this area. People care about maximizing profit and only do the minimal in terms of safety and following regulations. So if you get stuck working for an asshole who gets you to do something you feel risks your own life refuse to work. I've been with this company for one year and we already had one death, and that is too many.
I do not work near ft. mac so the government regulators are not out here scrutinizing as much. The attitude here is very "backyard mechanic" get everything to run no matter what and how.

Trades people are better, a lot of pipe fitters and electricians and instrumentation guys work for my company as third party contractors. They are normal people just like us, no drug users or anything. Most of the people are from the cities like Edmonton or Grand Prairie looking for money. Trades people usually do 8 days on 6 days off.

My qualifications: I have my Fourth Class Power Engineering ticket and have worked in the oil field for one year now. My goal is to work in Ft. Mac as a Plant operator in a refinery. People have been saying that getting a job as a Power Engineer should be easy but personally I am finding it to be quite difficult. Job postings usually require 3-5 years oilfield experience and it is quite competitive. Companies like to hire out of 2 year programs from NAIT or SAIT.

That being said if anyone knows any refineries or plants in ft. mac that are hiring it would be much appreciated.
The hardest part is getting a call back for an interview. I've applied to many places and have yet to get a call back for an interview.

I *may* have got a job with chinook. I hope to god I don't need a car.

I just arrived here in Edmonton. Gonna head to the union office nearby and see what they have to offer.

IIRC, Savannah Energy seems to be hiring. I'll probably check out Leduc/Nisku before this weekend as well.

Anybody else have any tips?

I got an interview with united safety.

Easy job, great pay, own truck. 24 days on 8 days off. training starts ont he 21st.


they dont pay for training though, so I have to be in airdrie 5 days unpaid if i get the job.

Also got an interview with the union (ironworkers), and 3 drilling companies and a seismec company.

I really wanted that united safety job though, and from what it seems like, I definetly have a great chance.

imajin check out http://www.local488.ca/ plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters union

^i'll check it out.

I think I got this united job. Have a really really good feeling about it.

Flint URS is about to launch 3 pipeline projects East of Edmonton. They're looking for pipefitters, welders, laborers, safety ect.

^already applied. No callback.

my buddy just moved to fort mac and he's making around 50 an hour doing desktop support. it's insane how much $$$ you can make up there