Oil and Gas - Case Studies

Andrew King

After 12 years in the Royal Navy, Chief Petty Officer Andrew King left on voluntary redundancy in 1996 to ‘try life as a civilian.’ Now aged 40, the Marine Engineering Artificer had served on a number of ships, and still finds his ‘discipline, resourcefulness, artificer training, drive, leadership, etc’ skills and experience useful. He had also achieved an HNC in Mechanical Engineering.

Resettlement training taught him to ‘write my CV and apply for jobs,’ and he then contacted companies operating near his home. A cold call led to a job as an assistant engineer working for a company that specialised in condition-based maintenance.

King is now Offshore Installation Manager on an oil rig, for Petrofac. He is responsible for ‘health, safety and welfare of everybody on board the installation and also for the integrity of the installation. I also need to ensure that all targets are met and that the platform complies with all current legislation and see that company procedures and processes are followed. I also get involved in the selection and recruitment of personnel and, when the people are onboard the installation, their career development.’

He likes having the responsibility to make decisions and influence the direction the platform takes in relation to safety, production and maintenance, and also enjoys the interaction with people. The down side is ‘being away from my family for two weeks at a time.’ He is now earning around four times his Service salary.

Published February 08