[gaijin]

Hey Thackney, I saw this YouTube vid where this guy was ranting about how all the talk about the great hiring up in the Bakken is now dated and overblown.

He was driving along, showing Williston downtown screaming about how you NOW need xxxx years of experience in oil already to scrape along in even your first oil job.

Is that true, or is that B.S.?

I did have one lab position with an independant in Bakersfield awhile ago, so I was thinking about it.

Is the hiring up there still going gangbusters?

[thackney]

Sounds like BS to me. I understand the hiring is so strong place like McDonalds are paying high wages just to keep folks around.

Smokin’ Joe could speak more directly to it since he is there.

[thackney]

New campaign looks to fill 25,000 North Dakota job openings
http://www.wday.com/content/new-campaign-looks-fill-25000-north-dakota-job-openings

[Smokin' Joe]

Although I am not sure what the guy's beef was, and not knowing him I can only say the kind of guy who would drive and rant on a video about how crappy things are somewhere usually isn't going to be at the top of the prospective employee stack, imho. People would rather be short-handed and deal with that than have a morale wrecking person on the crew who whines a lot and might not pull their weight--just saying.

The only thing worse is a guy who brags about how good he is and then blames everyone/everything else when he fails (sometimes spectacularly) to deliver.

Basically, as far as hiring goes, it depends on the job. A lot depends on what you do and whether or not you are willing to learn something new (and start at the bottom if need be--which still pays pretty well as a rule. This is definitely not the oil patch of 10 to 20 years ago. That much has changed.

The rig count is slowly increasing again, as the shift to pad rigs ('walking' rigs) continues.

Spin-off (non-oil) jobs continue to be brisk in some sectors, and probably the best guide to who is hiring is The Shopper in and around Williston (Help wanted ads start on Page 46).

If you don't see anything there, paging through the earlier pages could give you contact info for companies which may or may not be hiring--sooner or later they likely will be.

I'd also check Watford City, Dickinson, Minot, and Sidney, Montana for want ads.

It is true that even fast food workers here are making good money, but rent is astronomical here (2000+ for a 1 bedroom, 2800+ for a two-bedroom apartment).