In this job, if you get a promotion up the oilfield ladder or to the job of driller then you can easily expect to make $100,000 per year, which is a quite huge amount. You must be ready to work for the 12 hour shifts and must be ready to stay away from the home for a longer period. You can get the schedule of two weeks on and two weeks off in many land based rigs, but there are many exceptions. Offshore schedules include working for working for two weeks per month and or the same or less days off. If the rig is shorthanded then this can also change. You will start out as a worm if you are new in the outfield, which is an inexperienced hand. You can often start out as a "Roustabout" or laborer and your job is to do manual labor, as roughnecks are too busy to drill mud and to dig ditches. The real money is made when you make your way up to the rig floor. There you can learn to break apart the joints of drill pipe, which has been drilled down into ground as new joints are added to the drill pipe. The main work of the roughnecks is to "trip pipe" or taking off 30 foot joints of pipe. The work is very hard but the pay is good for this kind of work and many oil companies now offer 401K plans as well as medical plans.
You should locate yourself to the area where oil fields are located, before starting out. The Oil Company will not put you away from the rig as a ‘worm', and if you are staying more than 200 miles away, then it will not hire you. As long as you come back to work on time, the company will not mind to commute you anywhere in the United States. Roughnecks working offshore fly even from South Africa and Indonesia to the US. Before considering a job as a Roughneck, you learn much more about the industry. Remember one thing you are going to work in the oilfield, which is diehard blue collar type of work, so make yourself prepared for that.
You must make the decision of becoming an oil field roughneck by considering all your capabilities in mind. You must enjoy your work during the working hours and some handsome salaries will wait for you there. This article will help you get more knowledge regarding this field and will help you get success.
