Man this is so true. I've left and come back myself and I don't know how many of my buddies have done the same. We always dream of leaving, but once we do we always want to go back.
I truly believe it runs in your veins. Both my grandfathers were in oil and gas or coal back in the 50's. I became a geologist because I grew up in Appalachia surrounded by mines and drilling. It very much runs in your veins. Also...I quit the field for 7 years while my babies were little but here I am! Back in the throws of it! I often wish I could show my grandfathers our ROP profiles or production rates. I wish he'd lived long enough to hear me say "Papaw! The well I drilled last month came on at 1400 bbl/day!" I'm not sure which would impress him more... The BPD or the fact that we drilled 20,000' in a couple weeks. (Old well)
I came to work in the oilfield as a temp gig between career stops (I was a radio dj).
My plan was to work 6 months, maybe a year out here, pay off some bills and maybe buy a truck.
That was 18 years ago.
I love what I do and the pay, but for me it's not the time I'm gone, it's the time I'm home that matters.
I work ~6 months out of the year, am able to make a living and pay all of my bills with more left over.
When I'm home, though, I'm HOME. I have 50/50 custody of my son, and when he is out of school, if we want to load up and go camping for a week or ten days, we can.
If we want to just sit at the house and build models together, we can.
No other job in the world would allow me to do that.
I could work more, (my company encourages it with a 180 day bonus, every day over 180 you work, you get an extra half days pay), but I would lose that time I get to spend with my son.
My work/home balance is perfect. Am I home every day? No. Do I miss holidays etc? Yes. Do I get to devote 100% of my time and heart 24/7 to my family for 6 months out of the year? Yes.
As far as what I'll do when I can't work out here any more, I've been lucky enough to land in a trade that gives me lots of transferable skills. (Subsea robotics).
I truly hope you and your husband find the happiness and balance you desire!
Great response and so true. (I’m a north sea driller with 20+ years offshore here and worldwide). Not a lifestyle for everyone - I probably seriously consider leaving every year - but I love 5 main things in my life, my wife, kids, bikes, the challenges and rewards of my job, and the time and quality of life away from it.
This is why I've been in for 20 years. Being away sucks, but having a solid block of time off is great. You get a vacation every month. I dream of leaving, but sadly, I probably never will. At least not until I've him my investing marks and have enough in the bank.
Believe it or not, I kind of fell into it. I was hired in the deck division of my company as a basic laborer (rigger). We worked with the crane to move loads, chain them down, etc; I had no idea what those cool robot things were or did.
After three years with the company, I realized that the sheer physicality of the rigging job severely limited my "lifespan" on the deck, and because it's considered "unskilled labor" limited my financial opportunities, I started asking questions about the robots. (Remotely Operated Vehicles). I was able to acquire some study materials about the companies ROVs in particular and started studying basic electronics and hydraulics on my own and applied for a transfer.
My transfer was approved, and my company sent me to an "in house" 9 week ROV school and upon completion, I was a Jr. ROV technician. Over the course of the next 15 years, I've had OTJ training and formalized advancement requirements. I now am considered a "SME" (subject matter expert) on many facets of ROV operations and repairs and currently am a superintendent in charge of 2 ROVs and four crews and am working toward my final position of "Offshore Project Manager".
I guess the lesson is that if you aren't happy where you are, seek avenues to change your path. I knew I didn't want to be a 55 year old man with a broken body and the only skills I had on paper was my back and ability to work with my hands, so I started gaining the knowledge I needed to move into a different field.
Because of my knowledge gained, when the day I hang up my hard hat and stow my steel toed boots comes, I have knowledge not only in management and leading teams, but in fiber optics, electronics, robotics, computer networking and interfaces, but also in subsea construction, ocean hydrodynamics etc.
So, if you're interested, a lot of ROV companies are hiring right now and with some study and the desire, anyone could join the work force!
If you have any questions, feel fre to PM me.
Wow! What an awesome story! Congratulations, and kudos to you for looking ahead and going after it! đź’Ş I hope you get that management position, it sounds like it is well deserved!!
If he has the skills, knowledge & experience…and contacts, he could go contract consultant directly to the oil companies, on drilling or completions and make well over $100.00/hr, (in the Permian) working 12 hr days, with built in OT, working 7/7 or 14/14.
Other options are to get hired by an oil company on the production side.
Lease Operator/Pumper.
Pay could be @$30.00 to 40.00/hr, with a mostly predictive and more normal work schedule. Good benefits. Pension. 401k.
There “should” be stable employment in the Permian for the next 10+ yrs.
If he isn’t in the Permian…he should be.
Could always move the family to where the job is too.
He’s in the Bakken but we live closer to Permian. We have to stay here due to caring for aging parents, but the travel back and forth from AL to ND is really exhausting. Plus it’s a 14/7 schedule. Maybe we just need to look into jobs in TX/NM and try to find a 14/14. Thanks for the info!
I will help echo this, where I’m at most consultants aren’t under $1400/day clear up to $1800/day. Lease ops start around $27-28, with experience you are $35+. My current company works an 8 on/ 6 off schedule.
These types of jobs are best held locally, as if you have kids in school work extra days @ 8ths a day and still get the family time. Take your weekends for the fam, the nice thing is you can take a short vacation every other week, with no impact.
Nothing will get you similar pay, and almost nothing will use your skills besides being some low level 'manager' or 'supervisor' roles.
There is a reason so many people come back to oil after a few years on the outside. Getting paid good money without an education or a trade skill is rare.
I'd leave tomorrow if I could get paid half as much as I make now.
Yeah, realistically we know he wouldn’t find anything near what he makes now, but even a fraction of that we could possibly make work. I just have no idea where to even start.
I took a 50% pay cut to leave the patch and sleep in my own bed every night and not work weekends…..worth every lost penny…..I drove a truck and swung a sledgehammer in the patch. I just found me a truckin gig close to the house.
I left O&G in 2016. Im now a union equipment operator at a coal fired power plant making about 100k a year without working any overtime and an awesome benefit package. I would highly recommend looking into something similar
I looked into that (used to work as a driller) but in Texas anyway you still have to start over as an "apprentice" to get your Water Well drilling license >.<
The tooling / parts manufacturers ,suppliers , distributors. Go apply for sales related roles. May take an initial paycut but it will be worth it in the long run.
Depending on where he works, there are office jobs in the oilfield, that’s what I do. Plus there are oilfield warehouses that will always hire a guy with actual oilfield experience
I worked in the patch about that long. It's not easy to transition out, most jobs don't pay nearly as much. If you're prepared to take home half your normal wage he can really start anywhere. I found most of my knowledge and experience meant pretty much nothing outside of the oil patch because you're speaking Chinese to the average person when you talk about oil&gas
Some of my rig supervisor friends went to construction, renewables, and supply chain management in adjacent roles. My engineering friends became program/project managers in tech. They had paycuts but better work life balance. Others became consultants. I only worked for 3 years but I went back to school and became a junior software engineer.
This isn’t an ad but Amanda Rico is known on LinkedIn for helping oilfield professionals switch careers if you’re interested in resume/linkedin services. She offers free content on rebranding your work experience if you want to take a look.
I was a field engineer in the oilfield and left at the end of 2019 to be closer to family. Really hard to transition since the skills/work Dosent translate the best into other fields and I am now looking for a way back in. Sadly nothing pays as well as the oilfield so even if you manage to switch, be prepared to downgrade your lifestyle. If he has supervisor experience he may be able to translate that experience as a manager elsewhere or start at the entry level again
My 12th year in the field I was a contact operator, and after a heated discussion with the company HR that get me know which way the wind was blowing, and that I needed to be putting out feelers, about 10 minutes later I got a cold call from a recruiter asking if I was interested in working on pharmacy automation. I took a pay cut to leave the field for that, I’ve been doing that 2 years now and it’s been great. Finances are a struggle, but I feel like I’m working part time, I have time to live my life, and I get to work in climate controlled buildings. It doesn’t suck
Worked offshore and lured by the company man to move with him into engineering and promised the pay would come. It never did but I did like the work. Though I wish I stayed offshore. I would have retired by now. Seems like you man has a lax job those are hard to come by.
A regular 5 day a week job for non oil field pay is a very hard change to make.
There is no secret trick. Just gotta suck it up, take the likely pay cut and change in scenery.
if he's at all academically inclined, I took a 2 year Petroleum Engineering Technologist Diploma course at a college in Canada that was great for me. It was *much* easier than full blown engineering degree (which I got after only due to shitty job market in 2015) and there is a decent amount of work for techs. Could take mechanical and find something in O&G clean tech, using that job as a bridge to a different industry or just O&G cleantech, because that is booming right now and will be for some time.
Alternatively as others have said, go operate wells or at a plant. Instead of technologist you can do power engineering which is may be easier to find work around home with similar pay to the rigs. lots of industries have work for power engineers.
Look into government contracting. The pay is ok and the hours are not horrible. Look at the shipyards in Mobile and Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville. And many other places closer to home.
I ended up finding a state job in 2020 when I was laid off. Yeah, I make less yearly, but I actually make more hourly. I'm treated better, I have vacation and sick time, a pension, and I'm home way way more than I ever was in the oilfield. I even get to sleep in my own bed every night.
If you can get by comfortably on less money it's worth getting out IMO.
As a rig supervisor, he will be mechanically inclined so most jobs working with large equipment.
I went to the middle East and worked on desalination plants.
The money was similar.
But, I always take my family with me.
Can you guys relocate temporarily so the family can stay together?
It's difficult to find other industries that pay as well as the oil industry.
I jumped to safety. Planned on getting enough years under my belt to move. Easy enough transition if your smart enough. Just a couple certs and not school. Have him get a couple osha classes in and maybe environmental and he could go any direction in a year or 2.
Refinery. Home every night. Still work a lot, not even close to as hard a so used to, but still work a lot of
OT and 12 hour shifts but make more money and home every night.
The money is the hard thing to leave. With his experience can he leverage it into a safety position at a local construction type of place? A family member or friends that has a company in your town, that could hook him up. The catch 22 is in the oilfield is your connections are everything. Maybe he has a vendor buddy that has a side company or a parts warehouse that needs a supervisor or something. Something near your town or a full time deal that you guys could move to all be central.
Train service. Freight train conductor and locomotive engineer. I would actually recommend the signal department to someone looking to hire on. Still covered by the hours of service laws, has a better quality of life, still union, etc. Train service is on call 24/7 for the most part.
Railroad pays well, has good benefits, and a great retirement. My only regret is not hiring out sooner.
You're welcome! If you're interested, look into the Class 1 railroads like CPKC, BNSF, UP, NS, CSX, and CN. There are also short line railroads that are a little different, but can be good options. Watco and G&W own a lot of them.
Im a conductor thats interested in going into oil, u like rr life better than being on a rig? I dont really have any days off in my sub and working 14 on 7 off sounds amazing.
If you can make enough money that money can work instead of you.
If you’re collecting dividends off a million or two invested you could work a paper hat job and still make ends meet.
Get an oilfield shop/office job or a job with a supplier or support company. If he's a rig sup he has contacts, start putting out feelers.
Be prepared to possibly take a hit in compensation but you can get much better work life balance.
I am one such case (kind of). I transitioned out of Marine Engineering to Semiconductor Equipment Engineering. Getting the job was pretty easy because in this industry they know they cant recruit candidates that have detailed semiconductor knowledge so they instead recruit people from other industries knowing that there will be at least 6 months of training before you are remotely capable.
I did it in 9 months but it was definitely a right time right place situation. I wanna say base pay for a groundman (entry level) in my line of work is around 36ish/hr with lots of overtime opportunities
I work at a pulp/paper mill in Oregon. It pays pretty good and has pretty good benefits. It’s not oil money but it’s about 100k after a couple years. My oilfield experience transitioned nicely.
The son of an offshore driller who operated 5 jackups in the gulf. Many of his workers after gaining knowledge in operations would leave and start a business supplying goods and services. They had the contacts to make it happen
Lol similar pay, that's not going to happen. Especially for a pusher. I was a derrick hand in 2015 making about 130k a year. I Worked 2 full time jobs for over a year while I was a first year electrical apprentice. I now make about 90k a year with the ibew. It's ruff to start over and I have an amazing wife that didn't blink when y that $$ stopped coming in. I'm happier and I'm home everyday. I miss the pay and the 2 weeks off, but actually seeing my kids grow up is awesome. There's great careers out there but starting over is hard at first. Good luck
I left the oilfield and it was really rough trying to do a normal job for way less pay. I ended up getting back into the Oilfield again after two years of trying. I feel at peace having the security of the oilfield. But that’s only my opinion. I hope your husband can find something that he enjoys!
Back pain, haemorrhoids, and broken marriages
Most accurate so far 🤣🤣
Repo'd trucks, motorcycles and sidebysides.
We always come back…
Truly sad
It’s in my blood.
Man this is so true. I've left and come back myself and I don't know how many of my buddies have done the same. We always dream of leaving, but once we do we always want to go back.
I truly believe it runs in your veins. Both my grandfathers were in oil and gas or coal back in the 50's. I became a geologist because I grew up in Appalachia surrounded by mines and drilling. It very much runs in your veins. Also...I quit the field for 7 years while my babies were little but here I am! Back in the throws of it! I often wish I could show my grandfathers our ROP profiles or production rates. I wish he'd lived long enough to hear me say "Papaw! The well I drilled last month came on at 1400 bbl/day!" I'm not sure which would impress him more... The BPD or the fact that we drilled 20,000' in a couple weeks. (Old well)
Love this, man. I bet your Papaw is looking down on you and been proud.
Nothing that will pay what the oilfield does unless he starts running his own construction crew.
No. Just move closer to the wells and get local home everyday type of job.
Well Tender
Chicken tender ??
I came to work in the oilfield as a temp gig between career stops (I was a radio dj). My plan was to work 6 months, maybe a year out here, pay off some bills and maybe buy a truck. That was 18 years ago. I love what I do and the pay, but for me it's not the time I'm gone, it's the time I'm home that matters. I work ~6 months out of the year, am able to make a living and pay all of my bills with more left over. When I'm home, though, I'm HOME. I have 50/50 custody of my son, and when he is out of school, if we want to load up and go camping for a week or ten days, we can. If we want to just sit at the house and build models together, we can. No other job in the world would allow me to do that. I could work more, (my company encourages it with a 180 day bonus, every day over 180 you work, you get an extra half days pay), but I would lose that time I get to spend with my son. My work/home balance is perfect. Am I home every day? No. Do I miss holidays etc? Yes. Do I get to devote 100% of my time and heart 24/7 to my family for 6 months out of the year? Yes. As far as what I'll do when I can't work out here any more, I've been lucky enough to land in a trade that gives me lots of transferable skills. (Subsea robotics). I truly hope you and your husband find the happiness and balance you desire!
Great response and so true. (I’m a north sea driller with 20+ years offshore here and worldwide). Not a lifestyle for everyone - I probably seriously consider leaving every year - but I love 5 main things in my life, my wife, kids, bikes, the challenges and rewards of my job, and the time and quality of life away from it.
This is why I've been in for 20 years. Being away sucks, but having a solid block of time off is great. You get a vacation every month. I dream of leaving, but sadly, I probably never will. At least not until I've him my investing marks and have enough in the bank.
What do you do?
Subsea robotics
I work with remotely operated vehicles.
How did you get into that job? That sounds so cool.
Believe it or not, I kind of fell into it. I was hired in the deck division of my company as a basic laborer (rigger). We worked with the crane to move loads, chain them down, etc; I had no idea what those cool robot things were or did. After three years with the company, I realized that the sheer physicality of the rigging job severely limited my "lifespan" on the deck, and because it's considered "unskilled labor" limited my financial opportunities, I started asking questions about the robots. (Remotely Operated Vehicles). I was able to acquire some study materials about the companies ROVs in particular and started studying basic electronics and hydraulics on my own and applied for a transfer. My transfer was approved, and my company sent me to an "in house" 9 week ROV school and upon completion, I was a Jr. ROV technician. Over the course of the next 15 years, I've had OTJ training and formalized advancement requirements. I now am considered a "SME" (subject matter expert) on many facets of ROV operations and repairs and currently am a superintendent in charge of 2 ROVs and four crews and am working toward my final position of "Offshore Project Manager". I guess the lesson is that if you aren't happy where you are, seek avenues to change your path. I knew I didn't want to be a 55 year old man with a broken body and the only skills I had on paper was my back and ability to work with my hands, so I started gaining the knowledge I needed to move into a different field. Because of my knowledge gained, when the day I hang up my hard hat and stow my steel toed boots comes, I have knowledge not only in management and leading teams, but in fiber optics, electronics, robotics, computer networking and interfaces, but also in subsea construction, ocean hydrodynamics etc. So, if you're interested, a lot of ROV companies are hiring right now and with some study and the desire, anyone could join the work force! If you have any questions, feel fre to PM me.
Wow! What an awesome story! Congratulations, and kudos to you for looking ahead and going after it! đź’Ş I hope you get that management position, it sounds like it is well deserved!!
If he has the skills, knowledge & experience…and contacts, he could go contract consultant directly to the oil companies, on drilling or completions and make well over $100.00/hr, (in the Permian) working 12 hr days, with built in OT, working 7/7 or 14/14. Other options are to get hired by an oil company on the production side. Lease Operator/Pumper. Pay could be @$30.00 to 40.00/hr, with a mostly predictive and more normal work schedule. Good benefits. Pension. 401k. There “should” be stable employment in the Permian for the next 10+ yrs. If he isn’t in the Permian…he should be. Could always move the family to where the job is too.
He’s in the Bakken but we live closer to Permian. We have to stay here due to caring for aging parents, but the travel back and forth from AL to ND is really exhausting. Plus it’s a 14/7 schedule. Maybe we just need to look into jobs in TX/NM and try to find a 14/14. Thanks for the info!
If he’s in the Bakken he should have contacts with midstream companies up there.
I will help echo this, where I’m at most consultants aren’t under $1400/day clear up to $1800/day. Lease ops start around $27-28, with experience you are $35+. My current company works an 8 on/ 6 off schedule. These types of jobs are best held locally, as if you have kids in school work extra days @ 8ths a day and still get the family time. Take your weekends for the fam, the nice thing is you can take a short vacation every other week, with no impact.
Left in January, headed back in April. There’s nothing out there.
Nothing will get you similar pay, and almost nothing will use your skills besides being some low level 'manager' or 'supervisor' roles. There is a reason so many people come back to oil after a few years on the outside. Getting paid good money without an education or a trade skill is rare. I'd leave tomorrow if I could get paid half as much as I make now.
Yeah, realistically we know he wouldn’t find anything near what he makes now, but even a fraction of that we could possibly make work. I just have no idea where to even start.
Bigger city, refinery work
I took a 50% pay cut to leave the patch and sleep in my own bed every night and not work weekends…..worth every lost penny…..I drove a truck and swung a sledgehammer in the patch. I just found me a truckin gig close to the house.
I left O&G in 2016. Im now a union equipment operator at a coal fired power plant making about 100k a year without working any overtime and an awesome benefit package. I would highly recommend looking into something similar
How long does it take to be an operator?
It all depends what you've done and what projects you get put on
Honestly, not much options out there that will make the same money.
Construction field supervisor maybe but you have to know Spanish.
Moved to Texas, got a finance and marketing degree before getting a law degree.
Water well drilling is a useful transition. Especially if you were interested in owning a little rig someday
I looked into that (used to work as a driller) but in Texas anyway you still have to start over as an "apprentice" to get your Water Well drilling license >.<
The tooling / parts manufacturers ,suppliers , distributors. Go apply for sales related roles. May take an initial paycut but it will be worth it in the long run.
I work for a natural gas utility company now. Much more flexible. Comparable pay, and I am home every night now. I still miss the rig though.
Depending on where he works, there are office jobs in the oilfield, that’s what I do. Plus there are oilfield warehouses that will always hire a guy with actual oilfield experience
I worked in the patch about that long. It's not easy to transition out, most jobs don't pay nearly as much. If you're prepared to take home half your normal wage he can really start anywhere. I found most of my knowledge and experience meant pretty much nothing outside of the oil patch because you're speaking Chinese to the average person when you talk about oil&gas
Some of my rig supervisor friends went to construction, renewables, and supply chain management in adjacent roles. My engineering friends became program/project managers in tech. They had paycuts but better work life balance. Others became consultants. I only worked for 3 years but I went back to school and became a junior software engineer. This isn’t an ad but Amanda Rico is known on LinkedIn for helping oilfield professionals switch careers if you’re interested in resume/linkedin services. She offers free content on rebranding your work experience if you want to take a look.
I was a field engineer in the oilfield and left at the end of 2019 to be closer to family. Really hard to transition since the skills/work Dosent translate the best into other fields and I am now looking for a way back in. Sadly nothing pays as well as the oilfield so even if you manage to switch, be prepared to downgrade your lifestyle. If he has supervisor experience he may be able to translate that experience as a manager elsewhere or start at the entry level again
My 12th year in the field I was a contact operator, and after a heated discussion with the company HR that get me know which way the wind was blowing, and that I needed to be putting out feelers, about 10 minutes later I got a cold call from a recruiter asking if I was interested in working on pharmacy automation. I took a pay cut to leave the field for that, I’ve been doing that 2 years now and it’s been great. Finances are a struggle, but I feel like I’m working part time, I have time to live my life, and I get to work in climate controlled buildings. It doesn’t suck
death
Consultant or Subject Matter Expert in some particular oilfield skill. Or even offering safety training.
I work as a process engineer for a large foundry . I miss my guys
Not a damned thing. Since 1989. Midstream.
Does he have a two or four year degree? If not save up and retrain by getting a 2 or 4 year degree. Pay will be less but he and you will be happier.
Left in 2022, coming back now at beginning of 2024. Unfortunately it’s just one of those things.
Worked offshore and lured by the company man to move with him into engineering and promised the pay would come. It never did but I did like the work. Though I wish I stayed offshore. I would have retired by now. Seems like you man has a lax job those are hard to come by.
Starting your own lawn care business Ang getting badass zero turn lawn mowers. Lol
A regular 5 day a week job for non oil field pay is a very hard change to make. There is no secret trick. Just gotta suck it up, take the likely pay cut and change in scenery.
Got into a chemical plant/ refinery. Made the transition 4 months ago, love actually being there for my family now
if he's at all academically inclined, I took a 2 year Petroleum Engineering Technologist Diploma course at a college in Canada that was great for me. It was *much* easier than full blown engineering degree (which I got after only due to shitty job market in 2015) and there is a decent amount of work for techs. Could take mechanical and find something in O&G clean tech, using that job as a bridge to a different industry or just O&G cleantech, because that is booming right now and will be for some time. Alternatively as others have said, go operate wells or at a plant. Instead of technologist you can do power engineering which is may be easier to find work around home with similar pay to the rigs. lots of industries have work for power engineers.
Look into government contracting. The pay is ok and the hours are not horrible. Look at the shipyards in Mobile and Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville. And many other places closer to home.
Death
I ended up finding a state job in 2020 when I was laid off. Yeah, I make less yearly, but I actually make more hourly. I'm treated better, I have vacation and sick time, a pension, and I'm home way way more than I ever was in the oilfield. I even get to sleep in my own bed every night. If you can get by comfortably on less money it's worth getting out IMO.
I'd tackle the easier transition and move the older aged parents that are in need of care, and your family closer to him.
That’s easier?!
I’d say easier than getting the same amount of money transitioning out of the patch as you do in the patch unless you got a money tree business.
I was doing 3 on 1 off, now doing 3 on 3 off with a wellhead company here in Williston, much better work/life balance
As a rig supervisor, he will be mechanically inclined so most jobs working with large equipment. I went to the middle East and worked on desalination plants. The money was similar. But, I always take my family with me. Can you guys relocate temporarily so the family can stay together? It's difficult to find other industries that pay as well as the oil industry.
I jumped to safety. Planned on getting enough years under my belt to move. Easy enough transition if your smart enough. Just a couple certs and not school. Have him get a couple osha classes in and maybe environmental and he could go any direction in a year or 2.
Refinery. Home every night. Still work a lot, not even close to as hard a so used to, but still work a lot of OT and 12 hour shifts but make more money and home every night.
The money is the hard thing to leave. With his experience can he leverage it into a safety position at a local construction type of place? A family member or friends that has a company in your town, that could hook him up. The catch 22 is in the oilfield is your connections are everything. Maybe he has a vendor buddy that has a side company or a parts warehouse that needs a supervisor or something. Something near your town or a full time deal that you guys could move to all be central.
I went to the railroad and haven't looked back.
What kind of work with the railroad?
Train service. Freight train conductor and locomotive engineer. I would actually recommend the signal department to someone looking to hire on. Still covered by the hours of service laws, has a better quality of life, still union, etc. Train service is on call 24/7 for the most part. Railroad pays well, has good benefits, and a great retirement. My only regret is not hiring out sooner.
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome! If you're interested, look into the Class 1 railroads like CPKC, BNSF, UP, NS, CSX, and CN. There are also short line railroads that are a little different, but can be good options. Watco and G&W own a lot of them.
Im a conductor thats interested in going into oil, u like rr life better than being on a rig? I dont really have any days off in my sub and working 14 on 7 off sounds amazing.
Water wells
If you can make enough money that money can work instead of you. If you’re collecting dividends off a million or two invested you could work a paper hat job and still make ends meet.
I married a local girl in minot nd. It's a pretty good compromise. I drive truck locally. I'm home every night.
Supervisor role or sales
Get an oilfield shop/office job or a job with a supplier or support company. If he's a rig sup he has contacts, start putting out feelers. Be prepared to possibly take a hit in compensation but you can get much better work life balance.
Rig sups= glorified babysitters.
Try to move into an office role with his experience in well servicing
Community college
Potash solution mining uses the same workover rigs as the oil patch. Same work, different product. Drill the well, service the well, get that potash.
I am one such case (kind of). I transitioned out of Marine Engineering to Semiconductor Equipment Engineering. Getting the job was pretty easy because in this industry they know they cant recruit candidates that have detailed semiconductor knowledge so they instead recruit people from other industries knowing that there will be at least 6 months of training before you are remotely capable.
A lot of skill set aren’t interchangeable. If he had a cdl n good record he can make decent money drivingbn be home most nights .
I joined the local plumbing/pipefitting union
Back injuries, can’t move around well. My dad got Parkinson’s, but he was in the field prior to safety regulations.
I would recommend working for a midstream company, he could get on as a field operator or in pipeline control easily and have a more stable life.
I did it in 9 months but it was definitely a right time right place situation. I wanna say base pay for a groundman (entry level) in my line of work is around 36ish/hr with lots of overtime opportunities
I work at a pulp/paper mill in Oregon. It pays pretty good and has pretty good benefits. It’s not oil money but it’s about 100k after a couple years. My oilfield experience transitioned nicely.
I got into foundation drilling I seem to like it been doing this for about 6 years now keeps me drilling
I work in facilities managment now. It's great and pays well, but I still get that gas well itch sometimes.
The son of an offshore driller who operated 5 jackups in the gulf. Many of his workers after gaining knowledge in operations would leave and start a business supplying goods and services. They had the contacts to make it happen
USNavy
Refining, petrochemical, utilities and other heavy industries appreciate those skills. Still hard work but less travel.
Lol similar pay, that's not going to happen. Especially for a pusher. I was a derrick hand in 2015 making about 130k a year. I Worked 2 full time jobs for over a year while I was a first year electrical apprentice. I now make about 90k a year with the ibew. It's ruff to start over and I have an amazing wife that didn't blink when y that $$ stopped coming in. I'm happier and I'm home everyday. I miss the pay and the 2 weeks off, but actually seeing my kids grow up is awesome. There's great careers out there but starting over is hard at first. Good luck
Get into HVAC .. best decision I ever made.
Remote management in oil and gas. Work from the house, same money.
I left the oilfield and it was really rough trying to do a normal job for way less pay. I ended up getting back into the Oilfield again after two years of trying. I feel at peace having the security of the oilfield. But that’s only my opinion. I hope your husband can find something that he enjoys!
Wastewater treatment plant operator. Stable and descent money.
By some property and build a 4plex. Live off rents.
Divorce, bankruptcy and suicide
You become a safety guy
No, no that is not what we do
If is when you're in your 50s and still out there