Do you have pipeline experience? Do you have experience in the oil patch? Do you know anybody in the pipeline world? Do you have any pipefitting experience? An answer of no to the first two questions and you will have a hard time getting anywhere. I have 18 years experience working/rebuilding everything from Cadillacs to Caterpillars. Electrical guru, computers, diesel, you name it. Called about a mechanic job in the patch. After hearing my experience they were drooling until the question of "have you ever worked in the oil and gas industry?" came up. My reply, nope. Their reply, well, sorry bud. Didn't matter how much experience I had or what magic I could work on a diesel in any condition. Just my experience to date that will carry over into the welding world. Research on here and you'll find lots of information. One thing is for certain, one eye open. I have heard countless stories about plenty of buddy f.....kin' in that area. If your not a buddy watch for the kabar sneaking up behind you.
Shutdowns, I'm no expert but have had the chance a few short shutdowns. You'll work your tail off. Depending on contractor, where, what it is you are doing you may or may not test. The most asked question of welders and what I've heard is this, "Are you certified". I keep my smart mouth shut and do not reply, "to what". Most think you have one magic test that makes you super welder from fencing to NASA. It's quite invigorating when I run across a project manager that understands what I'm talking about.
Setting up your own rig straight out of school is risky but can be done and you can be successful. Going right out of the box and your going to need insurance and lots of it. Can get pricey and if your late on a payment they will drop you like a bad habit no matter how long you have been with them. Had a job awhile back and needed another guy. I knew a guy that knew a guy. He called me, was ready to roll out to the job. Told him to contact the contractor. He sends me a text and asks if he needed insurance? Needless to say, he was out. Sad truth is he probably charges the same rate as I do but does not fork out the insurance each year or having to deal with audits. Heck, didn't even have his own papers!
You will hear lots of talk about cheap insurance but I have yet to find cheap insurance when you tell them you do hot taps, live line welding and other highly critical jobs. Guys I know pay thousands upon thousands. One guy I know runs around doing the hot taps, drilling the pipe while gas is trucking thru it. I weld the fittings, he drills the line. He pays a TON!!!! I mean a FREAKIN' TON!!!! The key to your insurance is this. My agent and carrier know exactly what I do and I pay for it. When I get my audit papers I put down exactly what I did/do. If I do a certain percentage of work more than xx% per year then I need to change my insurance. Not telling them what you do and if something happens, your done. It's like having a flood and no flood insurance. The insurance company will just tell you sorry about your house. In this case the insurance company will also tell you sorry about your house because your going to loose it after you get sued. Hopefully you won't get shipped off to the local county or state hospitality complex after you get sued. We can guide you on here, give you ideas, hints, whatever. In the end it is your responsibility to research and find out.
Taxes- be ready for those of course. Same thing with that. Find a good trustworthy accountant. The little issue of it's the accountants fault, laughable. My sister and brother in law's accountant made a boo boo that cost them $10,000 owed to the IRS. It was the accountants fault but the issue of the $10k was on them as per the IRS.
You can get certs, you can rig out but it don't stop there. If you've had a normal job and get paid every week get ready to break that habit. Get used to hearing, "we typically pay in 30 days". My top clients pay in a week or two and I will drop, shift jobs and do what I can to get to their work at a moments notice because they pay. I just turned away a $10-15k gate job because I knew I'd be buried in material costs and the 30 day game after I got the job done. With my current gig it's about two weeks to payment from date of invoice and he buys all the materials, screw the gate job.
This is my experiense to date. No b.s, no tall tails just hard facts. Do some searching on here, lots of info and real good folks. Several that come to mind, the two Al's, Henry, Brent, Giovanni, Superflux, Ted are some guys I highly respect for the wealth of knowledge they hold. There are plenty of others just can't think of the names at the moment. Welders Exchange has lots of stuff about jobs at times. I can say this, there is nothing holding you back except you. If you want it go get it. Like I said, I was big pipeline when I started but I've carved my own nitch and certain things I have thought over the years have kept me here. Things I have decided, learned that make this way of life a better fit for me.
Good luck to you!!!!
Shawn
I have been on many shutdowns around Houston area. When you make the call to see if their looking for welders they will ask you to test for them even if you have the certs. They will test you on Whatever proccess they are working on, carbon, nickel, stainless, dueplex, hastoloy, or what ever they want. I was single hand welder for about two years before i decided to rig out. Do a good job on first rig job, show up ontime everyday, finish the job out, fill you machine up everyday, have all the tools you need, and make good welds. They will call you back. Its like being a car salesman. You work off repeat customers(employers). Once you do a few good shutdowns you will meet enough people to get your name out there, then they start calling you. Where you located?
Ron,
Shawn and Strat have given some good suggestions already.
I would ask this, just because you are just out of school doesn't imply you have no past experiences, Do you already have some background in these areas that would benefit your desire to take to the road?
Shawn is correct about this being one of your biggest hinderances. You may have to lower your starting point a bit to get your foot in the door. Find someone who can help you in as a helper. From there you can work your way up and learn more about the application of your skills as you go even getting opportunities to improve and hone your skills in the true application of them.
Patience will prove to be a valuable character quality during this time. Mixed with a learning spirit and attitude you will go a long way.
You may be a little premature in putting a rig together. It can be quite expensive and may not get much of a workout for awhile. You would also be able to learn about the various tooling required while working with an experienced journeyman.
Good luck.
Have a Great Day, Brent
