Search online for how-to videos to see how hard this work is to master--and whether it's something you think you'd like. Does seeing this kind of work in action make you more interested in trying it?

Watch tutorials on how to do this kind of work.

Watch an immersive video about what life is like on an off-shore oil rig. Move the camera angle around as you watch for a 360-degree experience!

Get a behind-the-scenes look at life on an oil rig!

Read about benefits of manual labor. While these points are geared toward construction, they can apply to a whole variety of manual labor careers. Does manual labor seem like a path you're interested in?

Explore the benefits of manual labor.

Roustabouts, Oil and Gas

Assemble or repair oil field equipment using hand and power tools. Perform other tasks as needed.

Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.

Realistic

Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.

Conventional

Work involves studying and researching non-living objects, living organisms, disease or other forms of impairment, or human behavior. Investigative occupations are often associated with physical, life, medical, or social sciences, and can be found in the fields of humanities, mathematics/statistics, information technology, or health care service.

Investigative

Work involves creating original visual artwork, performances, written works, food, or music for a variety of media, or applying artistic principles to the design of various objects and materials. Artistic occupations are often associated with visual arts, applied arts and design, performing arts, music, creative writing, media, or culinary art.

Artistic

Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law.

Enterprising

Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.

Social

Floor hand on an oil rig

"You're only 18, you're not old enough to hang with the real men"

Job Zone One: Little or No Preparation Needed

Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

Construction and Extraction Occupations

Extraction Workers

Unscrew or tighten pipes, casing, tubing, and pump rods, using hand and power wrenches and tongs.

Dismantle and repair oil field machinery, boilers, and steam engine parts, using hand tools and power tools.

Walk flow lines to locate leaks, using electronic detectors and by making visual inspections, and repair the leaks.

Move pipes to and from trucks, using truck winches and motorized lifts, or by hand.

Dig holes, set forms, and mix and pour concrete into forms to make foundations for wood or steel derricks.

Supply equipment to rig floors as requested and provide assistance to roughnecks.

Roustabouts, Oil and Gas

Overview

Career

Roadtrip Nation Leaders in This Career

What Roustabouts, Oil and Gas Do

Other Job Titles Roustabouts, Oil and Gas May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Roustabouts, Oil and Gas

Overview

Career

Roadtrip Nation Leaders in This Career

What Roustabouts, Oil and Gas Do

Other Job Titles Roustabouts, Oil and Gas May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Education

Level of Education Attained by Roustabouts, Oil and Gas

Educational Paths Suggested by Leaders

Related Careers

Related Leaders