Reply To: Subsea 7/I-tech

In any new start/trainee position, the choice you have is not either construction or drill support but what the company want you to do, whether to fill a seat in their times of "short staff" or time of exceeding business in a sector of growth.

If you are offered the choice then hell yeah go for construction but just remember you will be busy, you will as a new guy be the tea boy, bin emptier, consumable stockist, chipper painter (in both fields anyway), you will be the "gate opener" basically the dogs body and chimp that the boys take the piss out of (regardless of how Alpha or big you may be (or think you are)), if you can handle this then fair doo’s.

But in hindsight if your in drill support it will possibly have its advantages of easier/more relaxed workscope, giving you more stick time (or feeling anyway (certainly not more technical or challenging)) and will lead to bigger things i.e going into construction with a bit of knowledge and preparation rather than just being thrown in as a numpty……

My point is, dont be put off with drill support, it will serve you good sometime or the other…… Look at all the Well intervention going on these days with the majors like Chevron, Shell, Total etc requesting their sub contractors to have suitable "drill support exp" (as with construction), the boasting ROV attitude of "ive never done drill support" from most long term construction guys will catch them out sooner rather than later…. I kid you not and unless theyve got their log book to prove otherwise, this WILL be a showstopper………. no matter how long theyve been in the game!

These big shot O&G companies (not technip or the like construction contactors) are very fine tuning who’s working for them (down to individual level), believe me they are clamping down BIG style in terms of who’s working for them at individual sub contract level and asking for your work/experience histories…..(if the ROV company cant comply, they will terminate that contract and tender the next ROV operator) especially with the amount of cowboys fooling the ROV companies to get employed in the first place – "Big brother is now watching"….. lol