By Jason Connelly
If you are an out-of-work welder, take a look at oil rig welding jobs. Is there any industry that's in the news more than oil work? The world has an unquenchable thirst for the slippery black stuff. Demand is expected to go no where other than up.
Think about oil rigs. The ones offshore are anchored to the ocean floor or are massive boats that float on the surface and are run by global positioning computers to stay in the same position. The one thing they all have in common is they are massive structures made out of metal. Metal that needs to be assembled and repaired. Much of the work occurs above the water line. Even these are well paid jobs usually in excess of $400-$500 per day.
The real money is made under the surface.
Underwater welders must learn special skills. They often stay compressed for weeks at a time instead of spending time compressing and decompressing each dive. They live in special pressurized environments so they can spend more time working. Due to the added danger, these jobs pay much, much better.
Many companies will pay for current employees to get additional underwater certification. The more work the company is qualified to do, the more jobs they will get so having certified underwater welders on staff gets them more work.
