5 Highest-Paying Jobs without Degrees {Oil/Gas Industry}

Rig Zone ^ | December 28, 2011 | Rigzone Staff

[thackney]

An industry comprised of workers from all walks of life, O&G personnel vary in skills, experience and pay.

#5 Electrician

Job Description: Specializing in installation, maintenance, and design of electrical systems (in infrastructure, machinery, and related equipment). Category: Trades

Average Annual Salary: $87,374, up 9.6% from 2010 | Standard Range: $50,648 to $133,356

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#4 Snubbing

Job Description: Performing a risky form of well-intervention, which is used only when lighter intervention techniques do not work . Category: Oilfield Service

Average Annual Salary: $121,702, up 8.4% from 2010 | Standard Range: $77,424 to $165,979

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#3 Captain

Job Description: Commanding the vessel and being responsible for the overall option, management and safety of the unit offshore. Category: Maritime

Average Annual Salary: $122,586, up 6% from 2010 | Standard Range: $77,514 to $167,657

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#2 Workover or Completion

Job Description: Operating equipment to increase oil flow from producing wells or to remove stuck pipe, casing, tools, or other obstructions from drilling wells. Category: Production

Average Annual Salary: $133,383, up 11.9% from 2010 | Standard Range: $61,814 to $204,953

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#1 Drilling Consultant

Job Description: Responsible for day-to-day rig operations, including relaying orders from his supervisor in town to the contract tool pusher on-site. Category: Drilling

Average Annual Salary: $224,014, up 9% from 2010 | Standard Range: $143,397 to $304,632

[Vendome]

LOL

I’m from Oklahoma and sold to O&G for years. Sold to Amerada-Hess, Anadarko, Cherokee, Halliburton, Schlumberger.

Heck, I sold to everyone from Ponca City, to Barlesville and down to Cushing and Drumright and even through N. Texas and all over Louisana.

Primarily telecom services but once I understood fracking and one customer usine LOC from Amway I started selling that too.

I know what all those positions are.

[thackney]

I recognize that from your previous postings.

I should have swapped “all” for your name in To:

Your joke just gave me an opening to explain.

Cheers

[woodbutcher1963]

My 2 Cents.

Welders and truck drivers are needed in ND & TX right now where they are fracking for oil. You might look into getting training in either of these areas.
Fracking requires lots of water. Water is deliverd to the drilling sites tanker trucks.

FYI, there is a shortage of class 1 truck drivers in the country.

[Smokin' Joe]

That was a bit of a stretch living in Yemen; first and last time I ate spam as a pizza topping.

LOL! Last time I did that, the boom had busted, and I made the pizza at home. So far, I have managed to work just in the States (30+ years), but I have seen a lot of country I might not have otherwise.

[thackney]

It was a good career path for me. I had just started doing design engineering. It put me in the field, fixing the mistakes of myself and others to get the plant built.

Because it was an undesirable place by most every scale, there wasn't a bunch of people lining up to go without huge pay increases.

I was criticized by co-workers with decades of experience holding out for the pay rate they knew would come, if people just waited.

I felt if I waited until the pay climbed, they wouldn't take a young inexperienced kid like me, but rather people that would deserve that higher rate.

I was on the job site before the first foundations were poured. I stayed until we started up. I could have stayed longer, but too much money in my pocket and a girl waiting was just too much to keep waiting.

But it taught me a lot. It helped me start a career without a sense of arrogance as EVERYONE there knew more about what they were doing than I did. The next youngest guy I found on a crew of 3,500 was 15 years older than me.

Best advice I could give someone wanting to start in anything thing in this field is don't be afraid to work hard and don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone.

What I have to work on now is remembering to keep working and not let a couple decades give me reason to coast.

[South Dakota]

He got fired by Reagan for not doing his job. He only has himself to blame

[radioone]

“Do you know what kind of jobs are the “entry level” jobs?”

The top-side position is called a “tender” who is a member of the “crew” that does the “grunt work” that supports whatever diving operation is going on. Probably $15.00 to $18.00 per hour.

My Son was a “tender” for a number of years and is now a “diver”. Being a “saturation diver” can put you in the 6-figure salary range. http://www.divinglore.com/Saturation%20Diving.html

[CodeToad]

Computer Programmer: $100+K. No degree required. Many are self taught and some are even high school dropouts. Even the “low” paid programmers make $75K.

[Smokin' Joe]

It helped me start a career without a sense of arrogance as EVERYONE there knew more about what they were doing than I did.

The importance of that cannot be overstated. If you know you don't know anything, you can learn. It is the know-it-alls who are virtually impossible to train.

I like the field, the Mrs. and family are used to me being there, and it keeps me on my toes. No two wells are the same.

[Mrs. Don-o]

for later

[Repeal The 17th]

“...Are you asking about...”
-
It was just a question in general about entry level opportunities.

I have a nephew who will be leaving Afghanistan in March and is trying to decide on staying in or getting out.
Uncle Sam trained him in welding and he drives trucks.

I have two brother-in-laws with good work ethic and general factory job experience whose job futures are in doubt.

I have a son who has a year left in college to get his degree in geology.

All of these young men are in their early to mid twenties.
None of these young men have any oil and gas experience.

What type of jobs would be available for them?
Where are the best opportunities for them?
Bakken? Eagle Ford? Marcellus?

Thanks!

[Repeal The 17th]

Thanks!!

[IronJack]

Or, in the case of our president, you could do all of those jobs at once. With the possible exception of #10.

[job]

Professional grifter versus amateur grifter? Like my cousin?

[Vendome]

LOL

I was just thinking about my post and thought “Freepers(me) are such know it alls”.

Gotta run to work and work on some humility, maybe, probably not...

Happy New Year.

[thackney]

Uncle Sam trained him in welding

If he enjoys welding and doesn't mind traveling and being outside, he can make very good money quickly, with a lot of hours. They are in high demand in several locations. He can take that far in the construction trade or turn it into something else as he gains experience. Almost ever site that has oil/gas jobs will have call for welders and helpers.

I have two brother-in-laws with good work ethic and general factory job experience whose job futures are in doubt.

Good job history can open up more areas. They need to decide if they are willing to work outside in all types of weather if they consider rig work. For some, after a while, it just ins't worth it anymore.

For those that want to work inside, my area of the work is design. Mostly in the office, but people with construction experience will have an advantage of knowledge. I work with many designer that have no college degree but received Computer Aided-Drafting classes, often at night, and turned that into dependable 6 figure salary without moving from Houston.

For single guys, doing the travel and taking a job in an armpit location is a good way to quickly gain some job experience and work recognition. I cannot recommend Yemen like I did to get started, but their are opportunities where people don't shoot at you.

I have a son who has a year left in college to get his degree in geology.

If he wants to travel, and picks up some related petroleum geology classes, he should find this a good time for him. You may not get to see him a lot, but there are lots of opportunity. Groups like this: http://www.aapg.org/ can provide better info than I have.

Where are the best opportunities for them?
Bakken? Eagle Ford? Marcellus?

Marcellus is still just getting started. There is opportunity there but I suspect a lot more will be coming, expecially if Utica is as good as they suspect.

Freeper Smokin Joe would respond to a ping about the Bakken, he has been there for some time.

Eagle Ford is becoming decently established but is still seeing a lot of growth. New pipelines are going in and refineries will be expanded. Already they are adding at some just to handle the additional inland oil coming in.

West Texas is really booming as well. More drilling going on there than any area in the country.

The following is a great mapping interactive tool that lets you see what is current and where. Zoom in and take a look:

http://gis.bakerhughesdirect.com/RigCounts/

Working in a refinery or chemical plant or pipeline station or terminal can be related work, especially for doing maintenance work. That can keep you from traveling so much and tends to work more steady hours. The natural gas growth is having several chemical/plastic plant expansion and some new ones being built. That is more gulf coast but some other opportunities exist and Appalachia is going to see some new plants from this.

Rig Zone lists a lot of upstream jobs onshore and offshore.

http://rigzone.com/jobs/

Let me know if I can help with any other info.

[Repeal The 17th]

Thanks,
You are one of FR’s treasures.

[The Cajun]

Worked 30 years for the same oilfield service company, retired at 51 because I could.
Two years college, year and a half electronic tech school.
Sometimes long hours, sometimes hard work, good to great pay, great benefits (14 years ago anyway).
Slackers need not apply (They didn't last very long due to hours mostly).

Nuff said.

[OA5599]

I was enlisted in the Navy for six years as a submarine mechanic/welder/operator. Got a job at a power plant 11 years ago starting at $20/hr as a mechanic/operator. (Non-vets started at $18/hr)

I have zero college under my belt, but after two years as a mechanic, I was approached by management to see if I was interested in transferring to the Instrumentation & Controls dept. (Outsiders require a degree to be considered for the job.) I knew virtually nothing about electricity, but I learned quickly and was at top pay after 3 years.

I now make $46/hr and have been working a consistent 55 hrs/wk for the last four years. With that overtime, I haven’t made less than $100k since 2003. All that with no degree, but only military experience and a willingness to work hard.

Don’t know much about the oil/gas industry, but the utility industry may be work looking into. We’re always short on qualified welders. Top pay for welders at my plant is only $1/hr less than an I&C technician. And one other thing, my plant even pays our mechanics to get their state and city welding licenses. Not too many pass it though...

[Repeal The 17th]

Thanks!