any guys here a process operator for a plant in the houston area? im from deer park, my father was a process op. for calpine a co-gen plant but worked his way into the job after being a maintence tech for the comany for awhile. he didnt have a degree. im getting out of the military within the year, and im looking hard at going to school for a process operator degree. i just want to ask you guys that have gone to school for it, are you happy with it? how is plant life and doing it day after day? is there still a good market for operators? i have a friend taht is a process op and he said there are alot of operators that are baby boomers that are retireing soon, so the job market is going to open up big time! whats the average entry level pay for a process op. now days and what are they topping out at? how much are you making a year? im looking into san jacinto's process technology program, but do you recommend any other college? any information you can provide i would appreciate. thanks in advance for your time. if you would rather talk to me in P.M. about income and benifits that is fine. im tring to get as much information from the working man as i can get. thanks again

Jon

 

Making 100K + a year with overtime and callouts. Its nice but can be very demanding @ times. The norm around here for combined cycle plants is 50 to 70k a year. Worked my way up the ladder. I went to TSTC and have my instrumentation and electronics degrees. All in all I worked my way up the ladder in Maint then shifted over to OPS. Been in this industry about 7 years. Im 29 Now Im in Management and I love it. Im still required to work days and nights but it pays for all my hobbies etc.

 

i looked up TSTC and they didnt have anything in process technology. not that i found. can you explain to me what combined cycle plants are? sounds like you did the same my father did. worked your way through maintence, then crossed over. sounds like everything has gone good for you. i hope to be in your shoes in management one day.

anyone else have informaiton on obtaining a process operator degree. are remedial classes required? i havnet been able to contact san jacinto, but i will monday for more information on there course.

 

TSTC to my knowledge does not offer them anymore because everyone tought it was deadend jobs. I am the 2nd highest paid person from the class I was with. It was a mistake to let that program go away. Good luck.

Co Gen = Feed steam and other process besides your power generation process.

Combine cycle = Use's all its steam and resources in house. 2 ge Gas turbine 7fa's exhaust into a HRSG thus producing steam and the steam is then transfered to a Steam Turbine.

Thats the short and easy version. Google the rest.

 

Just out or curiosity, what does the pay look like for a Ind. Maintenance Tech look like down there? I am just looking for a reason to move.

 

Same. 50 min to 70 + We work a TON! Power prices are at a all time high and the market is doing well.

 

Damn, I need to convince my wife to move. I cleared a little over $46k in 06 with a ton of OT. If it wasnt for her school and me opening a new Turbo shop I would already be packing.

 

I went to College of the Mainland and got my AAS degree and have been working for Amoco now BP for 9 years now. I replied to your pm.

 

i went to com also been an operator for 7yrs. everybody in my unit made 80k-120k last year it just depends on how much ot you want.

 

Its gets old working so much to be in the 120+k zone! I didnt have a life. lol I was so consumed with work I would buy everything on ebay and never open the boxes untill I got days off

 

yes i got your P.M. and i appreciate it. im leaning tword getting the AAS as well. ill speak with the advisor's, professors at San Jacinto and see what they have to say.

 

Went to work for amoco sold to BP. Now we`re Ineos. Love it and the money is awesome. Lots of overtime if you want it. Our pay tops at 31hr. Never have made less than 120K year. Made alot more when I wanted. Great job, good benefits and retirement pension. Wouldn`t trade it for anything. I make more money than most that get 6-8 year degrees. Good luck! And yes, the baby boomers are starting to retire. The industry is hiring bigtime!

Toxic- which plant you work at for BP? I`m out at Chocolate Bayou plant.

 

see that doesnt sound bad at all, but to make that kinda money with all the over time, do you have any time for a life outside work?

 

alright fella's i see alot of money can be made with overtime, but what are some of the things about the job that you dont like?

 

thanks for the reply beardWS6. sounds awesome...

 

alright for you family guys, how does your wife like the job? it being shift work are you able to still spend time with her/your family? my wife wanted me to ask this. haha!

Jon

 

Well I work in the power industry and with natural gas so its pretty clean for the most part. What I dont like? Lets see. Somes times your so fed up with working you turndown doubletime. Its a 24 hr operation and deadlines have to be met. So the pressure is sometimes exhausting. And weather can become a big factor in reliablity and making your life hell. Even with that I have no complaints. Oh yea working Holidays sucks sometimes but the after the holiday sales are badass and you just got paid time in a half for working it Top pay were I am @ hrly is around 40. Heres a pic of my plant. 1000 MW output

 

i have a AAS from lee college. took 6 months to get a job, but i love it. i work for ethyl, starting pay is $25/hr. as they said there is about 40-50% of the workforce gearing up for ret. if you don't want alot or any overtime and work for one of the plant's that work the 12hr shifts you will only work 14 days a month. my plant works the dupont schedule where we end up getting 7 days off (out of 14) in a row every month(o.t. is optional most of the time). we are in the process of an expansion because of a new contract with penzoil, so i have been on staight days, mon-fri(some saturdays) for 3 months now. i can't see how normal people stand this grind every week. i can't wait to get back on shift!! then, the more vacation you have, the better it gets. if you have more questions shoot me a pm

 

My wife's father is an operator so she was already used to the routine but both of us prefer that I get a day job. I worked for one company for ten years and am now working for Shell. They will be hiring for at least the next 5 years due to retirements.

If been told that operators have the highest divorce rate of any occupation, except maybe the police department.

As a rotating shift person, its hard to participate with the children's sports activities and you have to be prepared to work holidays, ect...

OT is good if you want it but if you don't then I wouldn't recomend a job like this. You will get a ton of OT even if you don't want it.

As an operator you don't have a "Trade Job" or a particular skill, if you go to school I would look into the maintenance departments. Instrumentations, analyser tech, that sort of thing. You will make at least the same $ per hour and have more choices.

 

These replies pretty much covered it all^^^

I have my AAS as well, and work at a plant as an operator. Shift work sucks. Especially the 4 on 4 off schedule because you'll go over a month sometimes w/ no weekends off, and then you might have to work OT on the ones your supposed to have off. My advice is that if you're going to do it, find a place that has the dupont schedule, it's MUCH better.

You'll miss holidays (this was my 1st christmas off in 5 yrs), birthdays, baseball games, school functions, family functions, etc...But the money and benefits are better than most jobs in the area, so you have to make a decision about what you feel is more important. As far as the job itself goes (schedule aside), it is a really good job to have.

pm me if you have any other ?s