How To Hunt For Entry Level Offshore Drilling Jobs

Vantage Offshore Drilling Crew Member

Are you finding it a challenge to locate offshore drilling jobs? Keep reading. I’m going to outline a process that you can search for jobs online. And no, I’m not going to send you to a fee based resume posting service.

Many people are faced with the same challenge. Where do I begin to start my search for an offshore oil rig job? No doubt this is a daunting question and task.

If you are like most people, you will turn to Google and type in a variety of keyword phrases. Have you tried any of these keywords: oil rig jobs, offshore jobs, entry level oil rig jobs, or drilling rig jobs? All of these are legitimate search terms.

However, you can become quickly discouraged by the unending display of websites. No doubt you’ve visited dozens if not 100s of oil rig job sites to become more than frustrated.

My whole reason for starting this blog was to help remove some of the job search blues. And below, I will outline a process to locate a potential employer. Now let me warn you. This is not low hanging fruit that is easy to pick. However, with some effort…you can begin locating job opportunities that others could not even imagine exists.

I’m going to walk you through a job search I did this morning. Now I will admit, in some ways this was accidental. However, when I finally realized what I had done…I thought this could actually help some people in locating an offshore job opportunity.

My Method For Locating Offshore Drilling Jobs

Go to Google News – This is the starting point for all hunting. You can actually do this same search in Google. However, I have discovered that the best information will come through doing a news search.

A Google News search produces current results. It is going to list what is at the top of the news search engine. And this query will return a great deal of information.

Select Your Keyword – The keyword is the essential ingredient in your search. All of your results will be based upon that specific term. Since I study this information every day, I know Google’s intent is to provide you, the searcher, with the most relevant information.

Actually, you can try a variety of terms here. You are only limited by your own imagination. However, some terms are better to work with than others. This is just a few keyword phrases to begin with: offshore jobs, offshore drilling companies, oil rigs, offshore rigs, and offshore drilling rigs.

Begin Poking Around – This is where the real effort begins. Google will return a variety of options. My suggestion is to read the titles and descriptions and see if they connect meaningfully to you. You may want to just click on a few and begin reading.

The intent of your reading is to skim the surface. You are not doing deep reading. You are attempting to get a broad or aerial view of the subject matter. You can zoom in closer if something interests you.

Go Deep – You are a researcher at this point. In many respects this is not easy for everyone. I enjoy research so it’s not a big deal. However, you’re sort of mining for gold in a way. You are chasing information that may have value.

It really is a hit and miss kind of thing. You don’t exactly know what is going to give you the most helpful information. However, what you are looking for is information about oil drilling operations or drilling companies.

Finding A Likely Suspect – This is where the real gold begins to show up. In my own search, I was reading about a stock sale. Now you might think what does this have to do with you getting an oil rig job. In fact, it has everything to do with a job opportunity.

Oil companies are in the business of hunting for oil. That means they need businesses that supply various services. In this case I came across a drilling company. I will talk about the specific company later. The main point is that the stock analysis article listed the oil drilling company and discussed their plans to build a new drilling vessel.

This is when I realized I had struck pay dirt. They detailed in the article much about this companies operation. They discussed where they were drilling in the world, how many drilling vessels they currently owned, and what some of the their future plans were. See, this is the information that investors are interested in. It also happens to be helpful to you the job prospector.

Do A Company Search – This is when you take it to the job hunting level. Plug that company name into the primary Google search window. Again, you will have a great deal of information returned.

In my own case, the company web address was listed at the top. So naturally I went and checked out the web address. And not to my surprise, there was a wealth of information.

Company websites are there to show off what they are all about. At this point you can just start clicking on buttons. Start reading and see what you learn. Every website will be different. However, most will provide employment and contact information.

Begin Prospecting – This is where you want to attempt to contact the company. Most sites will list an email or even a phone number. Don’t be surprised if they list a variety of offices. In my own search, they listed three offices, each in a different country.

Choose the office that makes the most sense to you. Try a short to the point email first. Simply state you are looking for a position on a drilling rig. Ask who you need to speak with. Wait to see if you hear a reply. If nothing is returned in a week, then contact them by phone. Again, be brief and clearly state you want to speak with whoever hires personnel for drilling rigs.

Stay Focused – What I have described is not for the faint of heart. Finding a job is a difficult task for anyone. It really requires that you become proactive. It is the only way you are going to land an offshore drilling job.

Closing Thoughts On Locating Offshore Drilling Jobs

Job hunting is work. This is a simple fact. Many years ago a friend told me, “If you want to find a job, then you’ll have to treat your search like a job”. This guy always had a way of landing the best jobs. He now runs two major companies the last time I talked with him.

Regardless of the type of position you are looking for, his sage advice still stands. Job hunting is work. So don’t be discouraged, just keep at it.

My Offshore Drilling Search Results

The company I finally located was Vantage Drilling. I learned about the company while reading a press release in The Wall Street Journal Market Watch. If you click on the highlighted words, you will go directly to each of the resources I located. This took about an hour to locate this drilling company. My guess is it can be done more efficiently. As I said in the beginning, this was somewhat accidental for me. I wish you well in your search for offshore jobs.

Tags: job search, offshore drilling, offshore drilling jobs, offshore oil drilling, oil rig jobs, oil rigs