Offshore oil jobs are available in many disciplines, ranging from trained and skilled engineers through to cleaners and cooks, there is an assortment of careers available offshore. Obviously the main theme of workers is construction workers who are there to maintain the oil rig twenty four hours a day.

There is day shift and night shift working hours to cope with the heavy demands of the rig and its personnel; it makes no difference what role you play working offshore as each role has its own vital importance.

Every oil rig worker needs to be feed and their ablutions and living areas need to be cleaned on a regular basis so that the living environment is acceptable and at a standard suitable to complete the daily tasks ahead.

It certainly helps if you don’t get sea sick or are afraid of the elements as travelling to the offshore platforms can sometimes be a frightening experience in itself, oil and gas production is a twenty four hour a day process and needs to be monitored twenty four hours a day.

Working in the offshore industry can be demanding and you have to be prepared to work away from family and friends at all times of the year, Christmas time is usually the time of the year where working offshore can be most difficult.

Where ever possible it is an unofficial rule where single guys would work the festive period and the family guys would go home, this is not always possible and you certainly not start your offshore career if you do not wish to work the holidays.

There are many factors to take into account prior to signing up for offshore oil rig work, Christmas time is obviously the main concern to some, but it swings in roundabouts as it were as if you work one holiday period you should in the main get your chance to have holidays the next time around.

If you work through Christmas you will generally switch with your back to back and take the New Year as your holidays, again, this is in general and should not be counted as set in stone as you could be unlucky and work both Christmas and the New Year, this is the joy of offshore oil rig work.

You must also be prepared for the bad weather, it is not unusual for personnel to be stuck offshore due to the weather as when it gets to bad the choppers are unable to fly and if you are stuck on the rig this can be frustrating yet part of the job.

The same can be said if you are waiting to start your rotation, depending on the time of year it can be a regular occurrence where staff are actually stuck and unable to fly offshore as the choppers simply cannot fly due to extreme weather conditions, patience is required and you must not plan ahead too much as the elements can override any planning in the offshore oil rig industry.