I will take our humidity and heat over these people's winters.

And it's funny because out here, with out all the humidity out bodies are used to. your lips, and scalp, and elbows, and skin get all dry and cracked.

It's just lose lose.

Can't wait to get back to Texas

 

Lived here my whole life, I've never got used to it.

 

I'm @ Sun Products and I can't complain too much, at least I can't when we're running liquids, when we're making detergent granules/dust... that's a different story. We're topped out between 40.5-43 right now.

The one thing that drives me crazy about testing/interviewing for other plants is that most of them don't OR won't tell you what kind of process you might be going into. My plant is very safe (if you don't mind dry skin & a sore back), and the pay is great, I don't want to leave this place and end up working with some really scary stuff. Being an experienced Operator is a skill, they owe us that professional courtesy and in turn we'll help keep their incident rate down. We just hired on a new guy that should probably be wearing velcro shoes and a full face helmet.

 

Depending on where your interviewing, asking what type of unit you could be going into is to broad of a question. If its a refinery, or a large chemical company then they have different processes going on all over the site. Its just a risk that you take when applying for someone else.

 

What if finishing school isn't really a option? I've done everything from Fitting Pipe, Boilmaker work, Loading Operator.

 

here ya go... but ya better hurry, the cutoff is May 15th.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/texas-mem...nce-hands.html

 

I work at lyondell across the street from sun products.
When I hired in there was a couple folks that got in without a degree but they either had experience or was in the military.

BTW to pro50hh a girl in an armada rear ended me she worked for sun products and didnt answer her insurance phone calls for about 4 months.. girl named amanda. tell her to stay off the damn phone and drive!

 

Also for anyone applying for operations... Find a continuous plant not a batch process!

 

Testing for valero and enterprise products on Wednesday. Anyone work at either? How are they?

 

Ahh those good ole MES runs lol. I worked @Sun for a little while. It was hard for me to adjust to the way they operate but I came from a distillation process but the pay is great

 

I second working a continuous process. As long as oil comes in and gas/diesel go out everyone is happy

 

Hey guys, was curious if anyone here has any info on terminal operator positions compared to process operator. I have an interview with Exxon for terminal operator and was curious of shifts and pay and such compared to what I read about process positions.

 

I my experience they are close or exactly the same in pay and shifts.

 

Thanks man that's what I was hoping to hear.

 

Ill bump this thread up too. Im looking to get into this field in the next couple of years and had a few questions. Im currently licensed in both electrical and Mechanical/HVAC just ready to do something different. Who offers the best Ptech 2 year course? Or at least the one that most plants look for? I know some of the courses have an internship. I really cant quit my present job to do a fulltime internship. Is this a requirement? DO they prepare you for the testing to get hired on in the Ptech courses?

 

Bubba I know the Ptech program over at Lee College in Baytown is pretty highly thought of to the best of my knowledge. I'm still on the contractor side of things trying to make my way over to working directly for a plant but seems a lot of people that go through that program tend to find jobs pretty quickly.

 

Having an Assoicates Degree from one Trade school is going to be as equal to another Trade school, so dont think that plants tend to pick one schools graduates over another.

As far as an intership, that depends on where the school is located in the vicinity of the plant. Id recommend going to talk to the schools PT program advisor and see if they offer co-ops.

To do a co-op you will more than likely be expected to work 40 hours a week for about a 3-4 month period, and once again that all depends on where you land.

You can find good practice test online by searching for Mechanical Aptitude Test, & Reading and Information Placement Test. When I went to school, they focused more on our interviewing skills and just a little on the testing. The testing is a cakewalk from my point of view.

 

San Jac or Lee or Lamar are good for Process Tech associate degrees.

 

Bumping this thread. Read it and other similar ones over the years but never actually figured I'd be participating. I'm a college student and will be 23 in two and a half weeks. I've completed all of my core classes for any degree and was about to transfer to the University of Houston to begin Mechanical Engineering. However recently, I considered what that would entail for my situation personally and it seemed to be a more attractive option to add an extra year of schooling that was non-engineering related to give myself better living prospects during that time.

I attended Brazosport college for most of my core classes and went up there today (I live a minute from there in Richwood) and talked to a counselor after listening to several friends and family members. She told me at the DOW/BASF plants in this area that operators make between 100k-150k a year. She said all I needed to do was take the classes needed and that she frequently saw people get jobs even while they were still in school.

Is there any truth to this? If there is, what do people typically make while they're still doing the classes? Do they make anything decent or do they only begin to hit 6 figures once every single class is completed? I'm not worried about the mechanical aptitude tests as my experience building GM RWD trannys and designing parts has taught me plenty there and I was preparing to begin an engineering major. I still plan to achieve the ME major after finishing these Operator-related classes, and I saw in one thread (maybe this one) where someone posted they had been an operator for 12 years and were finishing up their Petroleum Engineering degree, so it seems that doing school is still possible, even if it may be at a slower pace.

Anyone know anything about this? Sorry for the long post, would LOVE for someone to help me shed some light on this.

Oh and one last thing. The guidance counselor told me she knows a 23 year old who is an operator and said that he bought some land, is having a house built on it, bought a brand new F-150 and has 20-30k saved in the bank account. She said this was by his admission, but it seems too good to be true to me, even as a single male with no kids (which I happen to be). Thoughts?

Appreciate it!

 

You will have to decide weather you want to live at work or go to college. Those $150k salaries are from a lot of OT. You can get an operator job with no school. It just doesn't happen a lot.