Fort William

[Black Dog]

ROV

[SGB]

Rovjas

No one has belittled your background. The only comments posted are to try and help explain why you have had little response from companies.
At the moment the companies can cherry pick the best quailified and experienced people for Trainees and with your background its not the skills they would put down as top priority.

The advice to get knowledge in electrical and electronics is sound and will make your cv more attractive.

More importantly adjust your defensive attitude, supervisors can tire very easy of being reminded what you have done in the past, its what you can do now once you get the chance is important. Don’t forget reputations take a long time to build up and this affects your day rate / salary changes.

Best of luck

[Black Dog]

ROV

[Black Dog]

ROV

[Anonymous]

Can all of you knobaches get any more links in your text or is it that you have your hands firmly around your crank???

[Dunc]

Rovjas

No one has belittled your background. The only comments posted are to try and help explain why you have had little response from companies.
At the moment the companies can cherry pick the best quailified and experienced people for Trainees and with your background its not the skills they would put down as top priority.

The advice to get knowledge in electrical and electronics is sound and will make your cv more attractive.

More importantly adjust your defensive attitude, supervisors can tire very easy of being reminded what you have done in the past, its what you can do now once you get the chance is important. Don’t forget reputations take a long time to build up and this affects your day rate / salary changes.

Best of luck

One of the best responses i have heard on this thread. To give you all a bit of back ground. I am a 13 year time served Aircraft Engineer in the Army (difference between us and our flip flop RAF counterparts, is that we are multi disciplined in mechanical/hydraulics and electrics) trying to side line into the ROV sector. This site was recommended to me from a friend in the industry, with the idea of getting sound advice from old sweats as such. I dont sit here thinking i can do what you guys have been doing for the past 15-30 odd years or so and i think if rookies have the idea that they can immeadiatly jump into a super high paid position…then they are only kidding themselves!

HOWEVER….This is rookies corner, where people like me can come and ask questions, in order to gain extra knowledge about the job. A lot of the responses seem to be nothing more than take the piss or slag. If thats what you are here for, then fine, who am i to stop you but i’m sure there are other places you can take that winge rather than belittle someone trying to make themselves better.

There are good engineers and bad, we’ve all seen them and had the misfortune of having to work with them, it doesn’t mean to say all rookies are the same, remember you were there once too!.

Finally for those who have put good posts up, thank you! as i have taken some good points away with me. For those who just like taking cheap digs at peoples posts…..am sure there is a yahoo chat site with your name on it!. I am sure this may raise some eyebrows, if so let the slagging begin, i have broad shoulders!

Once again thanks to those people who are here with the intent of helping.

😀

[SGB]

Socials2000 Thanks for your comments on your first post.

The major hurdle for all trainees to cope with is not the complexity of the systems, it is attitude. The trainees who progress quicker than most have the ability to fit in, absorb as much info, accept guidance and demonstrate a willingness to learn more. The knowledge of systems and operations does take time and no supervisor will expect trainees to acquire this on day 1 but the one thing is critical from day 1 is attitude.

This industry has personnel from all kinds of backgrounds and qualifications, but the one quality that will benefit you the most is attitude.

Get it right and you will enjoy the work and all its benefits. Being ex military (or soon to be) you should be well versed with this, as should most trainees.

Hope it helps

[Dunc]

SGB,

Thanks for your comments. I fully agree with what you have stated, end of the day, other than getting dark, you can secure a job offer on your personality, with your qualifications being that added bonus.

Hopefully i can fall evenly into both catagories, so far untill i secure an interview then i will have to wait and see.

😀

[Balloo]

Socials…………..aircraft engineer like myself……….although civil aircraft.

With a sound engineering background then the maintaining and repairing of the systems will not be an issue. Its all the same – flying under water rather than in the air you will be surprised at the similarities in intrumentation.
As for the flying…………we all learn the flying and given practice………away you go. Dont be to discouraged if you find the flying a bit much in the beginning, trying to keep an eye on everything (when your co-pilots nodded off after a rather large luncheon)
It all part of being a team in this game and if you get a good team then look out for some sore heads during the run into port!!

[SGB]

Aircraft Engineer?

Chartered or Incorporated?

Royal Aeronautical Society Member?

[Dunc]

Thanks for the advice peeps, will take it all on board. I’ve just spent most of the day calling companies, some positive, others not so. Thats the game i suppose.

SGB

Currently in the process of attaining IEng status Through IET or the old IIE as some may know it. Have spoke to them and they dont foresee any problems but reluctant to add it in any form to my CV as it hasn’t yet been awarded.

Anyway off to keep banging the head on the keyboard!, once again thanks for the advice folks.

[rovjas]

Rovjas

No one has belittled your background. The only comments posted are to try and help explain why you have had little response from companies.
At the moment the companies can cherry pick the best quailified and experienced people for Trainees and with your background its not the skills they would put down as top priority.

The advice to get knowledge in electrical and electronics is sound and will make your cv more attractive.

More importantly adjust your defensive attitude, supervisors can tire very easy of being reminded what you have done in the past, its what you can do now once you get the chance is important. Don’t forget reputations take a long time to build up and this affects your day rate / salary changes.

Best of luck

sorry SGB, apologiese to all. Im just a bit frustrated because its ROV work is something I really want to do and I dont really know what to do to get in the door. I know my background doesnt mean I’m the ideal guy, but I was hoping it would show that I have an aptitude to learn etc etc. I’d love the chance to go into a company workshop for a week and be a dogs body. And if the supervisor saw somit he liked great, if not then I’d understand.

Im currently working offshore with GEO doing CPT testing which I am enjoying. There is alot of work with hydraulics which I help out with alot. Also the rigging up of the main electrics is something I help with to. But I do take a step back when the technician is in working with the electrics. Doesnt mean I dont stand over his shoulder watching. 😉

Again sorry to all for the bitchy replys earlier. 😳

[Ray Shields]

SGB,

…you can secure a job offer on your personality, with your qualifications being that added bonus.

I would HOPE that Ops managers are taking qualifications and experience into account! All very well having someone who is a pleasure to work with, but no good when the ROV breaks down and you ask them to go and drill a 8mm hole in sluminium and they look at you as if you are talking a foreign language!

Unfortunately, a lot of us see this or similar more and more offshore. People think we are just old farts because "back in our day" you wouldn’t make a Pilot Tech for at LEAST 2 years of work offshore. Nowadays some thing they should be a Sub Engineer after one.

You can spend 4 years doing drill support work and then get stuck on a survey job where you end up looking like you’ve only being doing the job for 6 months. There are many variable in ROVs – from different vehicle to different job tasks to different work platforms.

This forum is very useful for new people to get into the rov industry, there are twats on every forum in every walk of life. On here, most people are anonymous so maybe say things they woudnt say if people knew who they are. The majority of people are happy to help. It can get wearing when the hundredth person comes on and their first message posted is "how do I become an ROV pilot" without bothering to read any of the FAQs, any of the messages or even to bother look up ROVs on Google! Sometimes it can get fustrating 😀

But in the main, I think people do get a lot of help on here, just remember not to feed the Trolls 🙂

[Scott Beveridge]

Ray,

You know as well as I do, that there was , is, and always shall be favorites / favoritism in this industry. Oldies, middluns’, and newer (not newbies) whether their qualifications, skills, and/or aptitude characteristics are on top, questionable, or just mediocre; the favoritism, nepotism, and "Purple Circle" factor is within just about every company offshore. Drinking / pub buddies goes a long way as well… This is not a recent phenomena – it’s happened throughout the years. Not only do you have to have the "walk" but you have to have the "talk" as well apparently…. Sad but true.

[PaulB]

Getting back to the original thread, you ask ROV Trainees to go on this site to give their opinions. It is very rare that they do. Why?
There appear to be a hardcore of Trolls (look it up) on this website who undermine the quality of such a forum when new entrants voice any comments. The rookies are patronised, belittled and undermined in what for them is probably one of the biggest steps in their career. They have taken a big step both in time and finance, and for the vast majority (90-95%) the outcome is successful.
None of this is reported by the usual 6 or 7 contributors on this site.
I undertook a survey of all students at The Underwater Centre (TUC) from 1st March 2005 to 2 July 2006 of all ex-students from TUC. This took a long time! At that time, we trained 51 students, I know 46 obtained rov work! The details are set out below. Of the remaining 5 students, I haven’t heard from them so they may or may not be working. (certain regular contributors to this site are aware of these facts – why don’t they mention any of this?) None of the above include our current training commitment to Fugro – we have/are training 51 people this year.
These are facts, not opinions. Since this time, we have invested massively in the training centre to ensure we provide the best possible training in the short length of time allowed. We have two Falcon ROVs used almost every day for flying. We also have two work class ROVs and an ‘eyeball’ in the classrooms and workshops. I could go on…
Since September 2005 we have trained 225 students. Since the Centre started over 10 years ago, we have trained about 600 people.

Judge for yourself. Facts not opinions.

I have listed below all the companies that I know have taken on my graduates during that 15 month period; I am sure by now some will have moved around.

SubSea 7 4
Rovtech 8
DPS 3
Henna Marine 1
MOQ 1
Oceaneering 3
Aberdeen Marine Lab 1
Integrated Subsea Serv 4
Fugro 8
Boskalis 1
Acergy (formerly Stolt) 1
SonSub 1
Fielex 3
ProDive 1
Canyon 1
OTSL 1
Independent operators 4
eoe

As many of you will see, there is a lot of information and mis-information on this website (that is the nature of anonymous forums) where some people/organisations use such media to discredit any competition for their own purposes.

I have been reading the webpage for 6 years. I don’t have time to correspond here every day (unlike some contributors) as I, and the other instructors at TUC, concentrate on training our students with the best possible information and facilities in the time provided.
If anyone has any questions please see our website at http://www.theunderwatercentre.co.uk
or email info@theunderwatercentre.co.uk

Paul Bury – Head of ROV Training & Operations
The Underwater Centre (Fort William) Ltd

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