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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Slope job? Or any decent job for that matter
- - By 4theluvofgold (*) Date 02-13-2008 13:12
Anybody know anybody who knows somebody that is up on the north slope in Alaska that may possibly be hiring?  It usually goes who you know gets you up there.   I've applied straight with the companies,  last job I got was word of mouth and request submitted asking for me then I got called.  That person isn't up there anymore.  I enjoyed the 63 days straight of 12+ hours.   Worked a 6 weeks on 1 week off rotation.  I have gotten some leads from others on here that I PMed but looking for any others.  I'm not afraid of work.  I'm just searching.  Unions are on hold for taking members on in the areas I've been.  And some jobs down here doing any decent amount of hours are only lasting 3 possibly 6 weeks. I need at least 2 months.  I mainly work in Oregon and Alaska.  Those were on roadtechs.com 

Then, I went to New Mexico for a job offer telling me the only pending factor was I pass a weld test and a UA and that wasn't going to be a problem at all. Then when I got there they said they were full and not hiring after all.  I then had to do daily labor to just get the money to get back home.  I can't afford to put my family through that again.   That was a pain in the you know what.

Any possible leads?

Parent - - By Sourdough (****) Date 02-13-2008 17:44
Wish I could help you, but I haven't lived up there for 7 years now. I know it's real tough to get on unless you know somebody. Good luck.
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 02-14-2008 03:54
sounds like it's slowing down everywhere so much for the boom huh
Parent - - By awspartb (***) Date 02-14-2008 11:32
It's slowing down near me also.  Union is on a big membership drive but they can't put the guys to work.  Can't understand why they are taking in new members at the start of a recession.  Outages getting shorter and shorter.  Many of us are hitting the road.
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 02-14-2008 11:36
they know something we dont and they aint telling til the last minute it's the same way in the oil field something if fixing to break loose
Parent - - By 4theluvofgold (*) Date 02-14-2008 16:37
Yeah who knows.  I'm making 15.25 an hour right now and I'm not welding like I love to.  I'm working with raw eggs doing freeze drying at a plant.  The maintenance only hires kin, or friends.  So if your not an insider no hope. They're doing 28.48 hr.  millwright work. The welds they've done are some eye cringing stuff.  I tried to tell a guy how to improve and he just scoffed at me like I didn't know anything, And I was WAY better then him.  But because of the position and politics I couldn't touch the welder and just show him how its done.  Oh I wanted to grab it so bad and show him up and be the next considered one. 
Parent - By awspartb (***) Date 02-14-2008 19:11
Nepotism is going to ruin the trade unions.  Contractors demand skilled labor these days, not someones cousin.  I'm a huge Union supporter but the family and friends days should be finally put to rest.
Parent - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 02-14-2008 22:54
scoffed at you lol i think i'd of had to find the 8 bank he was running off of and turn the heat up lol
Parent - - By welderdude (**) Date 02-15-2008 01:38
yeah...let's see how he likes welding with straight polarity!
Parent - - By Stringer (***) Date 02-15-2008 04:25
awspartb, I'd really take issue with you that the ruination of the trade unions is an event in the future.
Parent - - By 4theluvofgold (*) Date 02-15-2008 15:57
I did a little overtime today for maintenance.  I showed my several certs and they figured to give me a little try.  I then asked for  "The Scoffer"   To work with me.    It was fun,  I showed him up, he started asking me question after question, and apologized so many times I lost count.  Felt good after his little reaction.   But understandably as most of you know people say they can weld and can't.  SO believing at first is hard to do.  Especially if you say you can and you aren't doing it for work at the time. 

But there aren't any planned openings anytime soon.   Just looking and looking.  I did get notified I have an appointment for orientation with the union on the 26th.   Maybe that could pan out.  But I'm not counting on it I know guys are on waiting lists here for a couple months.  But summer is coming up so things should pick up then.
Parent - - By ZCat (***) Date 02-16-2008 01:13 Edited 02-16-2008 01:19
You could try ASRC or CH2M. VECO just sold out to CH2M after Uncle Bill got busted for bribing AK. State Senators. I talked to a buddy of mine up there, he said the CH2M fab shop has a ton of work lined up for this summer. ASRC posts their openings on their website.
PEAK Oilfield Services gets some work up there, and Udelhoven usually has a little something going on. Alaska Mechanical had a job going on at a gold mine around Nome a while back.

ASRC has 4 pipe welder jobs listed here:

http://www.asrcenergy.com/careers/default.aspx?pg=jobs

VECO:
http://web.veco.com/listing.asp?aid=&Location=199
Parent - - By 4theluvofgold (*) Date 02-16-2008 03:59
I've applied for every ASRC job,  My app is in foer the chm2hill and Udelhoven has never responded to anything i've ever sent in.  I Even follow up,  its always "Oh we're getting to it"  uh huh yeah.  Gotten responses from the others but they always have somebody else,  and its always a Native or somebody who knows somebody.  Never just straight talent,  always has to be some insider reason.
Parent - By 4theluvofgold (*) Date 02-16-2008 04:19
I had a job with Conam construction until  I had my accident (which wasn't at work) 

I was a welders helper,  I could weld, but I was suppose to be a fill in so when one of the guys left I would move up.  Makin 19.00/hr wasn't bad  and doing 100 hours a week didn't bother me.

I wasn't going to leave but just being at the river at the wrong place and time on time off a rock slipped and just took it out.  took months before I could get the work release, they waited for 3 months for me, but the physical therapy wasn't going fast enough even though I worked as hard as I could at it.  But they didn't ask me back,  sent me a termination notice, and I didn't have my connections up there again.

I've been talking to one foreman but, its always delay, delay, delay.  Call me in a couple weeks, call me in the beginning of next month.  I keep calling maybe he'll just hire me and put me on a crew to stop my calls from coming in.
Parent - - By welderdude (**) Date 02-16-2008 01:26
in my experience, lots of people come up to me and say they USED to weld or have done it before.  the question running through my head at that time is, "Why aren't you welding NOW?"  I think either they aren't very good at it (or they think because they can run their little Chinese MIG welder in their garage they can also stick weld), or they don't love it enough to do it every day.

I had a guy, who was obviously a structural welder in the past, ask me why I use 3/32" 7018 on 4" pipe and not 1/8".  I told him 1/8" is too hot.  he looked at me and then the pipe with that look that says, "I can do it."  we're welding chilled water pipe here, not Swiss cheese pipe!
Parent - By DaveBoyer (*****) Date 02-16-2008 04:25
welderdude, there are a lot of people who "used to weld" that worked in the now closed auto frame plant where I worked. My guess is that at the peak there might have been 1,000 people there who made a living welding in production and maintainance combined. There probably werent 100 out of that 1,000 who could have passed a test for structural or pipe welding.
Parent - - By 4theluvofgold (*) Date 02-16-2008 08:43
I use to think that too welderdude till I have found a job making more by not welding.   The welding jobs in town and even in state are only about 10-15 an hour.  Shifts are uneasy given orders or situations.  Every time I drive over a bridge I cringe thinking "I should be working on that kind of stuff"

But Family first.  If I was single with no kids I would take the pay cut and do what I love.
Parent - By welderdude (**) Date 02-16-2008 17:56
I wasn't talking about you though...don't want you to think I was.  I've done it myself...residential remodeling, roofing, etc.  hated every minute of it too.  it's the guys who live in a city where is a demand for welders and these guys haven't welded in 5-10 yrs.  makes ya wonder!
Parent - - By gradyson Date 02-18-2008 03:38
[deleted]
Parent - By 4theluvofgold (*) Date 02-18-2008 10:47
Who are you talking to?   those questions were already answered if they were for me.  I'm 25 and so my experience is limited to that maximum possible.
Parent - - By fbrieden (***) Date 02-16-2008 21:21
Apprentice's are less money than a  Journeyman!
Parent - - By pypLynr (***) Date 02-19-2008 04:56
4THELUVOFGOLD, HAVE YOU CONSIDERED OVERSEAS? i WORKED FOR McGREGOR INDUSTRIES ON AN ASSIGNMENT IN TURKEY. $500/DAY +100/DAY PERDIEM.ALL TRAVEL WAS PROVIDED . YOU JUST NEED A PASSPORT . I WAS THERE FOR 49 DAYS,AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! YOU DO THE MATH ON 49 DAYS... OH, I TOO HAVE A FAMILY.BUT YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT BILLS DON'T STOP COMIN' WHEN WORK IS SLOW. MSG ME IF YOU WANT SOME CONTACTS.
Parent - - By Cole Welding (**) Date 02-20-2008 11:33
I have been welding for a long time but why is it that no one will give you a chance or make fun of you when you are triing to better yourself or learn something new??????
Parent - - By aevald (*****) Date 02-20-2008 15:49
Hello Charles, your simple question doesn't have a simple answer. In many cases the people that you are referring to are scared of the competition or they haven't figured out that you can possibly help them and possibly support their retirement plans and the continuation of their trade, they view you as a threat and the bad vibes that they are sending your way are a way of discouraging you from infringing on their perceived territory. Simplifying it in a sense, there are two kinds of people that you will likely run into in your career and you can sometimes influence how they will react to you. There are those that are unwilling to share their knowledge or help you due to feeling threated by you for whatever reason, there are those who will willingly share their knowledge and help you out. I mentioned that you can also influence the reaction that comes across in many cases. I have seen individuals who come across as being curious and willing to learn, make mistakes, and take their lumps during the learning process, there are others who come in with the attitude of already knowing it all and so for many of the individuals that they come into contact with, those individuals are reluctant to help and share. I am not saying that you are responsible for their reactions, what I am saying is that you need to be sure that you aren't coming across in a manner that they might take as a threat to themselves and contribute to those negative things. There are always going to be some in the trades that are hard to get along with, for the most part though, respect, curiosity in a positive manner, genuine interest, and plain old hard work will be recognized and rewarded. Good luck and best regards, aevald
Parent - By Cole Welding (**) Date 02-21-2008 11:30
i am working in a shop now. I went out and left a job in another job i had for 10 years to build oil rig and i leased a truck from my dad and i built a newer truck with a new 300D and i have had it for a long time and i was triing to go on the pipeline but no one will show me how to do the tests. Or i would like to take my truck and work in a refinery stuff  but there is like a wall when i ask questions. I dont know how or who to ask to get started in that stuff...
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Slope job? Or any decent job for that matter

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