Silly offer from Oceaneering

[Jared]

Hello all!

Thought some people here would find it.. interesting.. to hear some basic info I got from Oceaneering a couple months ago for a trainee position in the GoM. This is all from memory so excuse me if the numbers are off a little, but I think I got it mostly right.
Fly to the interview on my own dime (no biggie, I could deal with that one)
4 weeks of training at $14.50 an hour (USD).
No guarantee of work afterwards, but will let you work in the shipyard until you’re needed during your 28/28 rotation at $16.50 an hour. And that’s the same basic pay when, and if, working offshore. Plus overtime.
Another dollar an hour for every promotion after that.

There might have been more, but I kinda tuned out after that. I’m just as anxious for a trainee position as the next hundred guys, but I’m not THAT hard up.

I told them ‘no’.

[Roy Simson]

The problem is there are thousands that will accept it !

Raptor

[brad]

Sorry but I’m curious what exactly made this a silly offer. I’m not trying to start anything but it seems to me that its an offer to learn something that your interested in and get paid (granted not alot ) but still it is paid training and stick time. Could someone explain what was bad about that offer to a newbie like myself?

[Andy]

I had same thoughts BlackDOG.

I was contemplating offering free work at one point just to get the experience lol, not a great idea and never did it. But, if many would accept it, from a business perspective its probably a generous offer 😮

I sense ROV money’s not what it used to be. But it’s good to me! Wooo!

[Bacaruda]

Oh Dear !!

[ROVSKI]

No one wins a race to the bottom.

[James McLauchlan]

Working for nothing is not the way forward IMHO. ROV Companies are paid well by their clients to provide ROV services. They in turn should be paying you!

What happens when you have worked for nothing and are looking for your first paid job but the company keep taking people that will work for nothing instead? How do you get paid? How would you feel then?

[brad]

I understand the working for nothing concept not being good.
But I am still not sure as to what made that a bad offer. I’ve done my research on here and haven’t seen trainee pay rates anywhere, plus it is my understanding that the GOM is always a little behind the curve. If I am wrong please correct me because I’m ignorant of such things.
Fair winds and following seas,
DOG

[Andy]

Ah yeh I agree, working for nothing isn’t a good idea of course. It’s just the idea itself, is a sign of the kind of struggle new starters looking for that elusive 1st experience may contemplate. I don’t agree with it either… But when you’ve forked out a lot.of cash on training etc you’ll consider anything! Unfortunately.

I think these ROV hour builder schools are out to prey on the desperate also, has anyone experience of those? I stumbled across one or two offerings in my hunt for a start and yes again, I thought about it. Glad I didn’t do that either…

So, I think the chance of being paid by a big ROV company to get relevant experience isn’t something to be dismissed entirely, even if the rate is off because it could be a good stepping stone if someone wants it bad enough. Thousands obviously do, so supply and demand dictates lower ££. I think?

I wouldn’t work continually for crumbs tho. And the starting salary I’ve been offered is excellent (for me) so perhaps the idea of what good pay is, is relevant to the particular employee’s standards.

[brad]

Working for nothing is not the way forward IMHO. ROV Companies are paid well by their clients to provide ROV services. They in turn should be paying you!

What happens when you have worked for nothing and are looking for your first paid job but the company keep taking people that will work for nothing instead? How do you get paid? How would you feel then?

I think I am just confused as to what is a good rate for a trainee in the GOM.
More so what are the current rates worldwide.
The list seems a little outdated.

[Roy Simson]

I seem to remember some guy on here a few years ago had to pay the Rov company before they would hire him as a trainee , I think it was Oceaneering in India .

Even if all the rov trainees offered there services for free they would still not accept you for starters your using bed space how many times have the experienced guys on here been kicked off a vessels or rigs due to lack of bed space , Then there is the cost of flying you out to the vessel I hate to think how much a chopper ride is going to cost .Then you have food I forget how much it cost per day ?

Most clients don’t want to know even when I have tried to put trainees on the sticks just doing pipeline inspection soon after you get feed back telling you " Don’t " so you cant win .

All I know is that I get fed up with flying the whole shift but that’s what the clients wants and there the people who are paying the bills , I think I saw a sign up telling you the max you could fly was 6 hours per shift .

Dont forget safety first " If you see something unsafe stop the job " + find your self on the next chopper heading for the beach .

Raptor

[ROVSKI]

You said it Raptor. OMD. One Man Down causes Old Man Disease.

[Sit Rep]

Firstly agree with most of the replies to the OP on here.

One of the problems as I see it is that there appear to be "regional rates".

As far as I’m concerned if you’re at sea doing the same job, which is obviously of the same value to the client company, irregardless of geophysical location, then you should get the same money.

OP’s quoted rates for OI, are in this case, less than a trainee junior burger flipper casual employee in Australia.

It’s a very hard sell to convince people who have grown up in the good ole USA and never traveled abroad that socialism doesn’t equal communism and that every job has it’s inherent value. A qualified ROV Pilot/Tech is not just a non-thinking clone that you throw at a job because an ROV Pilot /Technician has the following;

a. he/she has to know their job which involves a combination of; mid to high level technical skills in high power electrics, electronics, hydraulics, mechanics

b.they have navigational skills ie translating a two dimensional picture into 3D and realising their place in it

c. they use tele-presence, related to b. above

d. they have developed motor skills e.g hand-eye co-ordination in piloting or operating a vehicle or manipulator in a 3D environment using a 2D display.

e. an ability to translate the client requirements into reality (clients sometimes having a loose grip on the latter)

f. a deep understanding of a 3D marine environment ie. effects of weather, wind, tides, currents, magnetic anomalies etc

Additionally personnel must work and live in very close quarters with strangers from different religious, political, ethnic origins amicably.

This my friends is why we are worth more than a burger flipper anywhere on the planet and should be worth more than any one of the individual trades required to do our job.

Peace!

[Andy]

Sorry you think the above wage is OK. Means you have never had a "good job" before. Peace.

Understand I may have confused you. I thought i’d play with the suggestion that a shabby rate may be acceptable (short term!) for someone looking to gain that hard-to-get initial experience, the stepping stone. Its not fair for long term tho, I agree.

I’ve enjoyed many good jobs cheers ROVSKI, lol – and I am soon to leave another good job to start as a trainee. I’m paid substantially more now than UK average wage, and this will go up further as a trainee. It goes up even more after 12 months! Yay!! Money and future earning prospects for ROV P/T’s are still good, aren’t they? especially in todays labour market. If they werent why are so many clambering so get started? Its not for the love of fish and crabs im sure.

Peace.

[James McLauchlan]

The list seems a little outdated.

The ‘List’ is only as good as the people that send the rates in! ROVworld admin have no magic line to company rates. So, unless members end in updates the list goes stagnant!

[Author]

Posts