Everyone
has to eat, and that's a fact. If there is only one rig working anywhere
in the world, there will be a catering company on site preparing meals.
Count on it. If you can't get on any other way, consider working with a
catering company. Here's why. The main reason is you will be on the rig.
Even if you are washing dishes, making beds or mopping floors, you are
ON THE RIG! This is the most
important step in securing offshore employment. So get yourself
offshore however you can.
The first thing any recruiter in the offshore oil & gas industry is
going to ask you is "Do you have prior offshore experience?". If you
have worked offshore with a catering company, you can say yes. You have
been on the rig, you know what the rig looks like, you are familiar with
the day to day operations, crew changes and emergency procedures.
There has been many occasion when the rig was shorthanded and the tool
pusher hired someone right out of the catering department to fill the
vacancy. Remember, if you have NO previous offshore experience and want
to work offshore, the first thing you need to do is to get some, and
catering companies often provide a door in when there is no other way.
However, in order to work for an offshore catering company, you must
have previous culinary or hospitality experience. Offshore catering
companies have increased the standards of the food and hospitality
services they offer since the oil & gas companies are now hiring more
educated employees who expect hotel style services.
Rig catering departments are composed of various positions, mainly
utility / prep cooks, day / night cooks, head cooks and a camp boss. The
number on board depends on the size of the vessel and can range from 2
to 3 to several dozen.
Work schedules vary from company to company. You could work the
following rotations depending on the site: 14 days on and 7 days off, 21
days on and 7 days off, 28 days on and 14 days off, 14 days on and 14
days off, 21 days on and 21 days off.
Wages vary from company to
company, but this is a general average:
Utility / Prep Cooks: $850 to $1,060 per week
Day Cooks/ Steward: $1,272 to $1900 per week
Night Cooks: $1,166 to $1,325 per week
Camp Bosses: $1,500 to
$2,000 per week
Highlighted sites have
career links on their web page, most of them with vacancies / job
postings which need to be filled ASAP. Good luck! And please keep us
posted as to your results.
Compass-USA,
Charlotte, North Carolina
Compass Group North America is the leader in foodservice
management and support
services. We
serve six million meals a day, from corporate cafes to school lunches,
from vending to restaurants.
Sodexo Remote Sites USA,
New
Orleans, LA – Houston, TX – Ventura, CA
Provides a wide range of catering and hospitality services at remote
sites around the world for the offshore, oilfield and marine industry.
Sonoco,
Houma, LA, USA
Offshore catering, housekeeping and grocery sales exclusively for the
offshore industry.
Taylor's
International, Lafayette, LA, USA
International catering company with 10,000 plus employees working in 25
countries.
Trinity Catering, Inc.
Aberdeen, Scotland
Specialist hotel services and design solutions for land based / marine /
offshore installations.