How much do plant operators make?
This... Average operator pay we'll say is around $33/hr, that's $68,640 a year base pay, so to make $100k you would have to pull down 630 hrs of OT/year, so 52 hour workweeks on average. $150k you would have to average about 71.5 hours a week. It's good money for sure but you have to decide if it is worth investing that much time/energy. Whereas with a ME degree you should be able to work up to that salary range within a few years if you got some hustle in you, and most likely not have to put in near the hours.
That makes sense and is about what I figured. The 150k is definitely not something I would have expected, but it's cool to see that it is indeed possible.
52 hours a week is not bad at all, even with a full time course load. At least for what I'm used to. I was working more than that between two jobs last semester and I also worked at BASF for 12 hours a day 5-6 days a week at one point while doing school, it just sucked. It would not have sucked nearly as bad if I wasn't making roughly 1/3 of what operators make however.
I'm pretty dead set on getting my ME degree, the Operator degree just seems to be a fairly quick, easy way to make my life in the meantime much more comfortable and help me stack up enough money to where I don't need to worry about having a college debt when I graduate.
Any of you ever work with any guys who went to school as well? Anyone know what DOW starts people out at (roughly) and what kind of time period can someone expect to get raises if they show up and do their job well? Appreciate those responses so much guys!
52 hours a week is not bad at all, even with a full time course load. At least for what I'm used to. I was working more than that between two jobs last semester and I also worked at BASF for 12 hours a day 5-6 days a week at one point while doing school, it just sucked. It would not have sucked nearly as bad if I wasn't making roughly 1/3 of what operators make however.
I'm pretty dead set on getting my ME degree, the Operator degree just seems to be a fairly quick, easy way to make my life in the meantime much more comfortable and help me stack up enough money to where I don't need to worry about having a college debt when I graduate.
Any of you ever work with any guys who went to school as well? Anyone know what DOW starts people out at (roughly) and what kind of time period can someone expect to get raises if they show up and do their job well? Appreciate those responses so much guys!
It is not uncommon for guys to become operators and later engineers. I have worked with several over the years that have done so. My neighbor finished his degree last year while working as an operator.
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: Houston
Where was he getting his Engineering degree from? U of H Clear Lake? I'm considering doing this myself, especially since my entire plant just got shut down and everyone was laid off. Well I'll pursue it once I land another operator job of course.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 577
Likes: 1
From: League City, Tx
Which plant was it?
I remember you were looking for Operator jobs not too long ago.
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: Houston
Corporate is offering us a severance package but I'm not supposed to discuss it's monetary value till our last day, September 12th, so for now I'll keep quiet. It's not enough to keep me there for 2 more months climbing in pipe racks like a monkey to break every flange apart, I'll say that.
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Verdad Gallardo TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 577
Likes: 1
From: League City, Tx
Sun Products. Been there 8 years so this is obviously a shock but I'm not too worried yet, I'm still young and female so I benefit from a little of that diversity privilege. Haha. Yeah, Corporate sold our plant to our competition so they could take advantage of the competition's lower freight charges since they're much closer to corporate than we are. The competition thus far has no use for our plant so they're having us run out all the raws then wash and break down every line so they can ship it all to Brazil and use it there.
Corporate is offering us a severance package but I'm not supposed to discuss it's monetary value till our last day, September 12th, so for now I'll keep quiet. It's not enough to keep me there for 2 more months climbing in pipe racks like a monkey to break every flange apart, I'll say that.
Corporate is offering us a severance package but I'm not supposed to discuss it's monetary value till our last day, September 12th, so for now I'll keep quiet. It's not enough to keep me there for 2 more months climbing in pipe racks like a monkey to break every flange apart, I'll say that.
I had something similar happen to me. I was at Chevron Phillips and we were in partnership with Japan on 2 Polypropylene units... Japan built the same 2 units in Saudi, then closed ours down. We were going to lay off 220 people, first lay off in 40 year plant history, I was #4 from the bottom.
I jumped ship before I got cut... They eventually offered me a job at our sister plant in Cedar Bayou but I turned it down and changed companies.
Matter in fact, you should look there. Chevron Phillips Cedar Bayou is doing a huge expansion and hiring a TON of operators every year. With 8 years of experience and female, they would hire you in a New York minute..
I'm absolutely with you on that!! F that ****.
I had something similar happen to me. I was at Chevron Phillips and we were in partnership with Japan on 2 Polypropylene units... Japan built the same 2 units in Saudi, then closed ours down. We were going to lay off 220 people, first lay off in 40 year plant history, I was #4 from the bottom.
I jumped ship before I got cut... They eventually offered me a job at our sister plant in Cedar Bayou but I turned it down and changed companies.
Matter in fact, you should look there. Chevron Phillips Cedar Bayou is doing a huge expansion and hiring a TON of operators every year. With 8 years of experience and female, they would hire you in a New York minute..
I had something similar happen to me. I was at Chevron Phillips and we were in partnership with Japan on 2 Polypropylene units... Japan built the same 2 units in Saudi, then closed ours down. We were going to lay off 220 people, first lay off in 40 year plant history, I was #4 from the bottom.
I jumped ship before I got cut... They eventually offered me a job at our sister plant in Cedar Bayou but I turned it down and changed companies.
Matter in fact, you should look there. Chevron Phillips Cedar Bayou is doing a huge expansion and hiring a TON of operators every year. With 8 years of experience and female, they would hire you in a New York minute..
I got hired in January at oxy. No school but I have 10 years experience as a pipe fabricator/supervisor. In our hire in class it was about 50/50. Some with no experience but had a Ptech degree and the rest no school but experience. In the 7 months I've been there my pay has almost leveled out with what I made before I hired on. I make operator 2 next month which will put me over what I used to make which is a pretty decent living lol. All I can say is it is well worth the investment of time in either school or trade
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 71
Likes: 0
From: Port Arthur, TX
I enjoy mine. You have to take the good days with the bad. Some days your bustin tail in the 90+ degree heat all day long, and other days your not. As long as you stay interested in your work, and you learn the process then you will be fine. You get paid to know what to do when the **** hits the fan.
I enjoy mine. You have to take the good days with the bad. Some days your bustin tail in the 90+ degree heat all day long, and other days your not. As long as you stay interested in your work, and you learn the process then you will be fine. You get paid to know what to do when the **** hits the fan.
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 71
Likes: 0
From: Port Arthur, TX
I finally got the motor back a few weeks ago, but now Im farting with an issue with the torque convertor, it doesnt wanna go down into the trans.
But on my next 7 off, the Caddy is getting a little minor heart surgery. Bitch is about to be quick!!
Is this a common occurrence or is it pretty rare? I figured it wasn't that common.
Going from a chemical plant to a refinery is a different experience! Its ALOT different over here man. We have those days where we are on our feet all day long, then alot of days when we arent.
I finally got the motor back a few weeks ago, but now Im farting with an issue with the torque convertor, it doesnt wanna go down into the trans.
But on my next 7 off, the Caddy is getting a little minor heart surgery. Bitch is about to be quick!!
I finally got the motor back a few weeks ago, but now Im farting with an issue with the torque convertor, it doesnt wanna go down into the trans.
But on my next 7 off, the Caddy is getting a little minor heart surgery. Bitch is about to be quick!!
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 71
Likes: 0
From: Port Arthur, TX
The chemical plants that I have worked in were both batch operations. We had a lot of different raw materials, alot of loading and unloading of products. I believe operators that work in batch operations tend to become better operators because they work with their equipment more having to start up/shut down, put online/take off line, prep for maintenance, etc.
In the oil and gas refinery here we are running non stop, no raw materials or finished products to load/unload. Equipment runs for years before its taken down for repairs or PMs. Also have H2S monitors too, and that is a very dangerous chemical to be around.
Id say the chemical plant jobs were cleaner, and somewhat safer and more organized. I took this refinery job for the pension, and the long term benefits of that. Most plants that still offer pension are also union.
In the oil and gas refinery here we are running non stop, no raw materials or finished products to load/unload. Equipment runs for years before its taken down for repairs or PMs. Also have H2S monitors too, and that is a very dangerous chemical to be around.
Id say the chemical plant jobs were cleaner, and somewhat safer and more organized. I took this refinery job for the pension, and the long term benefits of that. Most plants that still offer pension are also union.