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D6 | Sunday, December 9, 2012 | Houston Chronicle | chron.com xxx

recession, but with thestockmarket doing better,many areoptingto leave

now.

Casting a widenetEnsco recruiters

recently hosted about25 engineering studentsfrom Texas A&M Univer-sity, South Dakota Schoolof Mines & Technology,Louisiana StateUniver-sity, the University ofWyoming and the U.S.Merchant Marine Acad-emy to tour its newestrigdocked in Corpus Christi.They took particularpains toshowo thehotel-likequality of theaccommodations and food

service.The oshoredrillingservices provider is alsoaskingits current em-ployees whoare militaryveterans to come up withways to reach other for-mer service members.

Its hosting dinners andovernight get-togethers inEurope to attract mechan-icsand electricianswhomight be interested in jobson a drilling platform.

One of the importantselling pointsis gettingbeyond the commonimage that life ona rig isgrim. One recruiterde-

scribed theexperience asa five-star hotel,thoughBaslersaid he wouldnt gothat far.

Im sure we dont havethe pillows that the five-star hotels have, he said,laughing.

But he added thatthechefs are known forserv-ingtop-notchfood; thecomfortable accommoda-tions include workout fa-cilities and Internet; andthe wages forroustaboutsstart at $50,000.

OvercomingskepticismAllenVineyard, a

mechanic and electricianby training, was skepti-cal atfirst. Heheaded theautomation departmentfora poultryprocessingplant in Arkansas andhadneverbeforebeen ona rig. He worried aboutmotion sickness and heli-copter crashtraining thatrequires an underwaterescape.

Plus,he added, the oiland gasindustry doesntexactly have a great repu-tation.

But he was alsoburnedout from working six- toseven-day weeks at the

poultry plant and figuredhed gone asfar ashedgo. When a good friendtold Vineyard about

the rig job,he jumpedat the opportunity.

Itturns outthat eventhoughhe works threeweeks straight, hes work-ingfewer hours over thecourse of a year. And hes

making more money.Vineyard stressed histroubleshooting skillswhen he applied. Lotsofcomputer systems use thesame hardware and net-working systems, he said,andhe could learn whathe needed with special-ized software training.

Electricity is electric-ity, but the specializedequipment is dierent,said Vineyard,who hasdone twohitches in theGulfof Mexicoand onein Singapore. He startedas an assistant electricianin May andwas recently

promoted to rigelectri-cian.

21 on, 21oTheschedule 21 days

on,followedby 21 dayso isworkingwellwith hisfamily. He staysin touch with hishigh-schooler, the only childstill at home, by email andtelephone. When Vine-yard comes home, theycan spend a lot of qualitytime together.

Asfor his wife?When I come back, its

like having a honeymoonalloveragain, he said.

At work, he sharesaroom with the personwho shareshis job,sothey rarelysee each other.

Ihave myownbed.Itsnot hot bunks, Vineyardsaid, referringto the prac-tice of shift workers whouse one bed and thesamelinens asone shiftendsand theother starts.

In October, London-based Ensco invitedabout 30 electriciansandmechanics to Warsaw, Po-land, to hear about whatits like to live and workon a drilling rig. Theycame from a variety ofother industries includingrefining, shipbuilding andheavy manufacturing.They were familiar withthe oshore industry, butBasler saidone ofthe re-cruitsnoted that this wasthe first time theyd beenactively recruited.

About half will receivejob oers, he said.

Industry upgradesThe drilling industry

has todo moreto makesure people know it oersexcellent jobs, long-termemployment opportuni-ties and high pay, Colvillesaid.

It is working on devel-oping standardized certi-fication programs so jobcandidatescan learn thebasics that are recognizedin the industry, he said.

Theindustry is alsojoining forces with com-munitycollegesto makemore students and educa-

tors aware ofthe wideassortment of drilling jobsavailable from electri-cians to caterers. Eventu-

ally, that should make iteasier to navigatethe op-portunities andfigure outwhat skills and certifica-tions are necessary.

Ithappens by hap-penstance now, Colville

said. We need to makeitattractive to people.

A verygooddecisionFred Ceasarcertainly

didnt plan fora careerinoilandgas. Hewas abarber in Alexandria, La.,and washappy cuttinghair. Buthis best friendtalked up the opportuni-ties in drilling,so Ceasarapplied with Ensco.Hewashired as a roustaboutin 2006 and promoted toassistant crane operator

three years later.I wasnt worried about

my skills, he said. Ifigured I would learn.

Ceasar works 21 daysina row intheGulfofMexico, followed by 21

days o,and earns twiceasmuch ashe did asabarber.

It was a very gooddecision.It changed mylife. Itmade a man outofme, he said.

One of thebiggestconcerns going in wasthe food. Ceasar likessoul food, and it turnedout thats what the cooksmake.

They cook what wecook,he said. Theywant to keep youhappy.

Thedesire forgumboand cornbread is sointense that the companydispatched one of itschiefstewards to the Mediter-ranean to teach theCajuntechniques to satisfy

homesick employees fromLouisiana.Itsa bigunknown,

said Basler, whohopesthat recruiting eventsin Warsaw andCorpusChristiwill help spreadthe word.

Ihope the kids saywhentheygo backto theMarine Academy, Youcannot believe what wesaw and whatwe did.

lm.sixel@chron.comtwitter.com/lmsixel

Recruiters from page D1

Recruiters point to good food, good pay

AllenVine-yard, right,reviewssafetyprocedureswith col-leagues Brad

Ladner, left,and GregoryBoyte. Re-cruiters arecounteringthe image ofagrim life outona rig.

Ensco

Ensco hasposted two job recruitment posters in thebaggage claim area atHobbyAirport as part of its eortto reach out to a wide range of potential employees.

Nickde laTorre / HoustonChronicle

BUSINESS

WASHINGTON Americans swiped theircreditcardsmore oftenin October andborrowedmore to attend school and

buy cars. The increasesdrove U.S. consumer debtto an all-time high.

The Federal Reservesaid Friday that consum-ers increased their bor-

rowingby $14.2 billion inOctoberfrom September.Totalborrowing rose to arecord $2.75 trillion.

Borrowingin thecate-gory that coversautos andstudent loans increased

by $10.8 billion. Borrow-ingon creditcards roseby $3.4 billion, only thesecond monthly increasein thepast five months.

The strong risein bor-

rowing came ina monthwhen American cutbackon consumer spending,reflectingin part disrup-tions from SuperstormSandy.

Many consumers may

also havescaledbackbecause of fears about thefiscal cli. Thats thename for automatictaxincreases and spendingcuts that will take eect in

Consumers debt rises to record levelECONOMY

ASSOCIATED PRESS January if Congress andthe Obama administra-tion fail to strikea budgetdeal by then.

Consumer spendingdrives roughly 70 percentof economic activity.

Economists think thatit could bounce back inthe report for November.Butthe underlying trendremains weak becausewith unemployment re-maining high,householdsdont havethe incomestospend.

Manyconsumers havebeen reluctant to build upcreditcard debt, whichtypically carries steeperinterest rates thanotherloans.

Creditcard usage hasfallen sharply since the2008 credit crisis. Fouryearsago, Americans had

$1.03 trillion in creditcarddebt, an all-time high. InOctober, that figure was17 percent lower.

Duringthe sameperiod,student loan debthas increased dramati-cally. The category thatincludes auto and studentloans is 22 percent higherthanin July 2008. That re-flects inpartthe factthatmany Americans whohave lost jobs decided togoback toschoolto gettraining fornew careers.

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