Trying to help a young guy, with a rough background, get his life together. He is interested in a roughneck job. He is smart and works hard and has some welding experience (no certificates). He is a HS graduate.

He wants (and needs) to get away from his current situation ( crappy job, loser friends, etc). What are the best resources for finding this type of work?

TIA

One word of caution for your friend.

Most O&G gas companies do a Hair test, along with Urine for drug testing
Weed can stay in the hair for quite some time, so before running out too quick, make sure he hasn't smoked in the past 90 days.

They test the last 1.5" of hair growth, and hair grows about .5"/month.

Reason why I know this: tried to get a buddy on as a roustabout on the offshore rig I used to work on, he promised he had stopped smoking.

Passed Urine, failed Hair.

Otherwise, tell your friend to look at the drillers - H&P, Nabors, Precision, and try to walk in or call.
I think I saw somewhere out in Midland its hard to find some good hands right now.

Best of Luck

What area is he in?

There are places in Midland/Odessa that are constantly hiring. I don't know about now, but about 5 years ago, Nabors in that area was horrid. May have changed. Hope it has anyways.

There are actually a few places in Bryan/College Station hiring (not drilling, but service & fabrication).

And then the ever-so-hated jobs in North Dakota and Montana.

Hel'll go wherever he needs to. Are there still quite a few opportunities these days? I know it's not like it was 5 years ago during the shale boom.

Service companies in the Permian are about to blow up. Seems like everyone is planning for a busy year and i expect we see some pain from service companies to find workers. I'd focus on that area

There's not a ton, and from what I understand, they don't pay like they did 5 years ago. But they are out there.

Pretty much every service company is hiring in West Texas.

When you say rough past, how rough? Some charges can automatically make him ineligible.

No felonies

water turkey said:

---

No felonies

---

More than 1 dui? Excessive moving violations?

Service companies want to make sure they can insure employees as drivers.

histag10 said:

---

water turkey said:

---

No felonies

---

More than 1 dui? Excessive moving violations?

Service companies want to make sure they can insure employees as drivers.

---

Most service companies are more strict on driving violations for sure. Multiple DUIs or any in the last couple of years would probably disqualify him.

If he lands a job with a drilling contractor, he'll have no background issues whatsoever. I've dealt with drilling contractor employees with multiple felonies, DWIs, you name it. They aren't shy about it at all and they're usually the ones most interested in working/learning/helping out with service companies on location. They know how to act when they're on location for two weeks, what they do on their days off isn't anyone else's business.

OptionRead said:

---

histag10 said:

---

water turkey said:

---

No felonies

---

More than 1 dui? Excessive moving violations?

Service companies want to make sure they can insure employees as drivers.

---

Most service companies are more strict on driving violations for sure. Multiple DUIs or any in the last couple of years would probably disqualify him.

If he lands a job with a drilling contractor, he'll have no background issues whatsoever. I've dealt with drilling contractor employees with multiple felonies, DWIs, you name it. They aren't shy about it at all and they're usually the ones most interested in working/learning/helping out with service companies on location. They know how to act when they're on location for two weeks, what they do on their days off isn't anyone else's business.

---

This is false. I worked in HR for a drilling contractor and we did the same background checks as everyone else. Felonies or serious/repeated misdemeanors (drugs, theft, violence) disqualified candidates from employment. However, most companies only go back 7 years, so if your felony was over 7 years ago then you would be fine. Drilling contractors dont want to hire a guy with a felony and he does something stupid on the rig and ends up costing the company a lot of money and/or contracts.

If the OP's friend has background issues I would advise him to get on with the small mom and pop service/roustabout companies in the Permian or Bakken. They are typically more flexible with background checks or may not do one at all. Have seen this plenty of times when we have tried to hire guys from the smaller service companies and they couldn't pass our background checks.

If he decides he wants to work in the Bakken, I have a house for sale

I agree

ea1060 said:

---

OptionRead said:

---

histag10 said:

---

water turkey said:

---

No felonies

---

More than 1 dui? Excessive moving violations?

Service companies want to make sure they can insure employees as drivers.

---

Most service companies are more strict on driving violations for sure. Multiple DUIs or any in the last couple of years would probably disqualify him.

If he lands a job with a drilling contractor, he'll have no background issues whatsoever. I've dealt with drilling contractor employees with multiple felonies, DWIs, you name it. They aren't shy about it at all and they're usually the ones most interested in working/learning/helping out with service companies on location. They know how to act when they're on location for two weeks, what they do on their days off isn't anyone else's business.

---

This is false. I worked in HR for a drilling contractor and we did the same background checks as everyone else. Felonies or serious/repeated misdemeanors (drugs, theft, violence) disqualified candidates from employment. However, most companies only go back 7 years, so if your felony was over 7 years ago then you would be fine. Drilling contractors dont want to hire a guy with a felony and he does something stupid on the rig and ends up costing the company a lot of money and/or contracts.

If the OP's friend has background issues I would advise him to get on with the small mom and pop service/roustabout companies in the Permian or Bakken. They are typically more flexible with background checks or may not do one at all. Have seen this plenty of times when we have tried to hire guys from the smaller service companies and they couldn't pass our background checks.

---

Can I ask who you were working for? I've seen a lot of what I just described in the field... Very well could be some statute based on the charge. I'm not talking about rapists and murderers here either though - just guys that have made some pretty bad mistakes and taken care of business since then.

OptionRead said:

---

ea1060 said:

---

OptionRead said:

---

histag10 said:

---

water turkey said:

---

No felonies

---

More than 1 dui? Excessive moving violations?

Service companies want to make sure they can insure employees as drivers.

---

Most service companies are more strict on driving violations for sure. Multiple DUIs or any in the last couple of years would probably disqualify him.

If he lands a job with a drilling contractor, he'll have no background issues whatsoever. I've dealt with drilling contractor employees with multiple felonies, DWIs, you name it. They aren't shy about it at all and they're usually the ones most interested in working/learning/helping out with service companies on location. They know how to act when they're on location for two weeks, what they do on their days off isn't anyone else's business.

---

This is false. I worked in HR for a drilling contractor and we did the same background checks as everyone else. Felonies or serious/repeated misdemeanors (drugs, theft, violence) disqualified candidates from employment. However, most companies only go back 7 years, so if your felony was over 7 years ago then you would be fine. Drilling contractors dont want to hire a guy with a felony and he does something stupid on the rig and ends up costing the company a lot of money and/or contracts.

If the OP's friend has background issues I would advise him to get on with the small mom and pop service/roustabout companies in the Permian or Bakken. They are typically more flexible with background checks or may not do one at all. Have seen this plenty of times when we have tried to hire guys from the smaller service companies and they couldn't pass our background checks.

---

Can I ask who you were working for? I've seen a lot of what I just described in the field... Very well could be some statute based on the charge. I'm not talking about rapists and murderers here either though - just guys that have made some pretty bad mistakes and taken care of business since then.

---

I know several companies wrong hire you with theft as either a felony or misdemeanor. Weapons charges will also disqualify you.

Met a ton of people who moved to the bvakken thinking they would make it big and get hired easily because the oilfield needed employees. They were disqualified for felonies or repeated misdemeanors, got hooked on drugs (abundantly available in oil towns), and are back to committing crimes.

The mom and pops typically don't run backgrounds, but the larger service companies have to. One incident could ruin the relationship with a customer and could cost us $10-$20m/year. You can't take the risk.

When I was contracting I never even had my resume checked and a simple drug screen was all that was needed pre-employment.

When I hired on with a major company they checked my entire resume and reported back discrepancies, and there was a full pre-employment physical that included hair follicle test, blood work, eye exam, breathing test, EKG, full body CT scan, upper body x-ray, hearing test, along with the usual physical stuff. Took several hours.

Let's just say they did background checks.

This young man has 1 DWI and no drivers license currently. He cant afford to pay the surcharges to get it reinstated.

Unfortunately, with no valid license, he will have issues finding a job in o&g.

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.

FWIW, nabors drilling has an opening on a rig posted online. I believe it's for south texas.

When I worked on rigs back in the summer of 98, your social status was determined by the number of DUIs you had. Our driller would often tell stories how he beat his wife. All kinds of shady dudes.

The best part of working that job was having to hold a sledge pin or cheater bar while one of these same knuckleheads was swinging a sledge hammer at it.

About 50 of deck hands over the age of 40 are missing at least 1 finger.

Back before Safety was Big. The bigger the safety risks you took to get a job done the better hand you were. Only ******s and ******* pulled the safety card when asked to do an unsafe job (their words. Not mine)

Oilfield work has its ups and downs. I would suggest looking into Civil Construction work as well.

Industrial construction. Anybody can be a bolt up hand. Doesn't take much to learn to be a boiler maker, pipefitter, or rigger.

CB&I or Turner are always hiring. I'm sure there are others too to try. S&B (Aggie owner) and Zachry (Aggie owner) are options too.

I would look at some of the mid level or smaller drilling contractors in West Texas. Silver Oak, Cactus Drilling, Latshaw Drilling, Independence Drilling and Patriot would be a good place to start. I know Patterson and Trinidad are desperately looking fo hands in the Permian. There is a huge shortage of hands since the rig count drop last year.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Saw this posted yesterday on Facebook

Quote:

---

Hiring!!! I am currently accepting resumes for the following positions...
- Lead offshore Mechanic
- Offshore Turbine Mechanic
- Production Lead Operators
- Production A Operators
- Production B Operators
- Roustabouts
- Drilling and Completion Safety Consultant

Competitive pay and benefits! 7x7 and 14x14 schedules. If you are interested or know someone who is please submit your resume at careers@esh-pg.com or pm me...

---

Mind you I'm in Louisiana and this job is likely in Louisiana.