MTCS Windermere

[It is imperative that all candidates have a suitable technical background to attend the course and secure a position in the industry once completed. Candidates must therefore have at last 2 years experience in one of the following with an emphasis on first line fault finding and repair.
quote]

If that is the case, attending one of these courses would not do any harm. However, having had first hand experience of people coming from these schools I have absolutely no faith in the fact that individuals are vetted for technical ability, experience or qualification.
All too often these days individuals are being sent offshore after having attended one of these so called schools only to find that they struggle to achieve the standard expected of them.
The ROV industry needs competent technicians who can contribute to a small tight knit team to get the job done safely and efficiently. Yes, coming out as a trainee, one is not expected to be operationally competent or a piloting expert but knowing how to tighten a nut the right way or using a multimeter is.

Thanks aliboy for your reply.

As ROV Pilot Technicians yourselves, would you say the advice I was given to go and do a HNC/HND in an engineering based subject and a few back up courses then try it as a trainee be a good idea?

I’m also ex Merchant Navy so I have plenty experience on ships and have been in all weather conditions, would that sort of experience work in my favour?

Cheers!

Yes, I would say HNC/HND is the level of qualifications in either electrical/electronics or Hydraulics that would be well suited for gining employment.

Previous experience of working at sea certainly won’t hurt.

MTCS from personal experience as a tech and also putting personnel through the course are about the best value for money from the perspective of the piece of paper saying you are recognized as a pilot/tech II at the end of the course.
However as it has been pointed out. If you have no technical background you will struggle and probably not progress very far in the industry.
The scheme of competence which they run is fairly standard in the industry and most of the big players have their own version of it.
The opinion on these courses is split straight down the middle. I did the course off my own back at the start of my career and have done ok from it. Other guys do the course and get nowhere.
Some guys turn up having done the course and are good some are bad. Saying that I know people with B.Eng level qualifications who struggle with common sense fault finding.
Good luck.

Hello, long time lurker first time poster.

Ive been looking into MTCS also. Out of all the training companies out there i would probably go to these if i decided to do a commercial ROV course. The deciding factor is definitely ££. Im hearing from offshore that its an awful lot to pay for something that is not held in high regard by many.

Most people already in the industry have advised me not to to invest in a course and to stick with CV sending. Which you have to take notice of but when your on this side of the fence trying to get your foot in the door its hard to sit and wait!

[Everything below is slightly offtopic and apologies if its unrelated to the MTCS discussion.]

Personally im trying to learn everything i can whilst im waiting to get my hands on actual equipment. Ive read (what appears to be – no basis for comparison) a good book on observation class ROVs and revised everything i learnt 10 years ago on mech eng – hydraulics etc.

A major hurdle ive found though, good information is very few and far between. (Understandably) tech manuals have so far been hard to get a hold of. Good information is plucked from sites like this but it is limited what you can do with it trying to get a trainee position. Everything im learning is good but not things to waffle on about on a CV!

I am also considering the distance learning HV course with MTCS. Its short, not to gain the knowledge but to get something which i would probably need eventually anyway and could be added to a CV which at this point is important.

Im tempted to design and build my own ROV to experiment with the basic mechanics but finding the time and spare cash might make that a futile project.

I would happily accept quite a lot of jobs offshore at this point. The theory being any offshore experience is better than none. Get rid of that green hat etc.

Ideally a technician role but beggars cant be choosers. And like you said somewhere with ROV teams on site – what harm could popping in on your personal time and learning as much as you can. Plus you would get to know more people and possibly access to technical manuals increasing your chances at the work you want later on.

Ill PM you some info.

The phrase was squarely aimed at job roles and not pay rates.

I’m in no position to work for free!

"Beggars…" was a poor choice of phrase.