How much do plant operators make?
If your running the board 95% of the time your sitting on your ***. You dont earn your paycheck untill something goes wrong and you save the plant/process from going offline.
I have been at Exxonmobil for 1 year. In my first year i made $70k and did not work a single day of overtime until June. I am far from topped out but I am looking to make ~100k this year.
Like Inspector12, I prefer the 4on/4off. The dupont seems cool too, but weekends off aren't that important to me and 7 days off is just too long for me. I struggle to keep myself busy after 2 days off. Anymore than that and I start spending money!
Like everyone else said, we get paid for what we know, not what we do on a daily basis. 90% of my day consists of doing not ****...but when **** hits the fan...........its GO time!
Alot of plants/refineries won't look at you if you don't have a 2yr process degree or 3-5 years of plant experience. A process certificate won't open as many doors as a 2yr process degree but it will get you looked at.
Exxonmobil will give you a chance if you do VERY well on their pre employment tests and interview well. They will hire someone with absolutely ZERO experience/education in the process industry if they do spectacularly well on the tests and show great potential to learn. Not very many other companies in this industry will do that.
Like Inspector12, I prefer the 4on/4off. The dupont seems cool too, but weekends off aren't that important to me and 7 days off is just too long for me. I struggle to keep myself busy after 2 days off. Anymore than that and I start spending money!
Like everyone else said, we get paid for what we know, not what we do on a daily basis. 90% of my day consists of doing not ****...but when **** hits the fan...........its GO time!
Alot of plants/refineries won't look at you if you don't have a 2yr process degree or 3-5 years of plant experience. A process certificate won't open as many doors as a 2yr process degree but it will get you looked at.
Exxonmobil will give you a chance if you do VERY well on their pre employment tests and interview well. They will hire someone with absolutely ZERO experience/education in the process industry if they do spectacularly well on the tests and show great potential to learn. Not very many other companies in this industry will do that.
ExxonMobil here, 100k plus every year. One of these days I will slow down. I have a straight day job. If you do not like shift work look into Instrumentation or Electrical type work. Junior College---->2 year degree------>work as a contractor------> keep sending out resume.
Thats always a difficult question to answer. There are different chem. processes out there that use different kinds of reactors, distillation columns, and crackers. We run the plant and make sure everything is on spec and stays in the pipes. We are also responsible for getting all of our equipment ready for maintenance, and for keeping everyone in our unit safe
.90% of our days are usually pretty slow, but when **** hits the fan it can get pretty crazy.
We don't work with chocolate milk unfortunately, the chemicals we work with are some bad ones if they get too hot.
damn guys thanks for the answers, usually eveyone ignores my questions..lol, I really wanna try to get into this field, especially if I want to own a house this decade, 9-5 doesnt cut it anymore, life's getting expensive
On The Tree
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 188
Likes: 0
From: Kemah TX
Well there are other options besides being an opperator. I work in the bussness, for a contractor. It is alot easier to get a job with a contractor, but there are alot more dead end jobs too. You have to be carful and have some goals so you dont end up stuck in a lower position.
It could be a stepping stone to an opperators positon also, because it gives you a chance to meet people in the field and make contacts.
There are a lot of atvantages to working directly for the refinerys, and there are atvantages to being a contractor also.
One atvantage to working for some of the contractors, is that I make more than any of the opperators here said they did, and by quite a bit.
I dont travel the country working either, and I dont have a degree in anything.
But I do work alot of hours, and pay a rediculous amount for health insurance.
It could be a stepping stone to an opperators positon also, because it gives you a chance to meet people in the field and make contacts.
There are a lot of atvantages to working directly for the refinerys, and there are atvantages to being a contractor also.
One atvantage to working for some of the contractors, is that I make more than any of the opperators here said they did, and by quite a bit.
I dont travel the country working either, and I dont have a degree in anything.
But I do work alot of hours, and pay a rediculous amount for health insurance.
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Launching!
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 210
Likes: 0
From: Baytown TX
when your topped out at my plant base pay is right at 79k and you can make just as much in ot also .... i love dupont schedual you only work half the month but if you love money and nice things sign up for the ot its always there
Plant Job Ive been working at one for 22 years. The Dupont schedule is ok but some people cannot handle the shift work flip from days to night. They do sit on their butts for awhile but they are paid for what they know and to put the fire out and or prevent fires etc etc. We are responsible for this bomb. We are very safe and write tons of permits...lol. But this is a job with dangerous aspects to it====-if it was easy and anybody could do it===It would pay 10 dollars an hour. Make over 32 dollars an hour and they have been trying to cut out the overtime for 22 years and we still got all you can eat. You do have to do alot of safety training and firefighting training etc etc--but you get paid to do it. Make well over 100k===depends on how strong you are and can handle the overtime...Some can some cannot..but you will get some no matter what. Show up and make 85K....Overtime can get you to 130K...especially easy when you make over 600 dollars a day on OT.
Im currently looking for a job in the plants if anyone can help me out ive got a clean background and clean dug test also. I'll take any position available. Anything would be greatly appreciated.
Was talking to a guy today and he told me that they were hiring at his plant. (I think it was an Exxon plant, not sure) I know that operators make bank, but I was wondering if anyone has any specific numbers? Not looking to give up the current gig, but you never know. 4 tens sound pretty fricken nice.....
but the hard part is you have to test in. they test 500 people a day for 3 days. so thats 1500 people trying to get one of the 10 to 20 spots they are hiring for. your test results stay on record for about 2 yrs. unless you have an in, which it sounds like you do, its pretty hard to get in. I took my test like 3 yrs ago with no luck. but then again mine was a shot in the dark due to a bad background. sign up for their next test and go online and fill out their app. both of those are a must
good luck hope the best for you
**** anyone hiring lol i'm a fabricator with 5 yrs exp. almost 10yrs plant exp (non process) but i know more about how process works than most of the dumb **** new hires we get lol. I had one new hire clear a line for me to cut out, it was a caustic line. she didnt open half the bleeders and didnt isolate all the block in points. I had to go get her and school her on it and tell her she would kill someone if they didn't pay attention and i told her it was her job to know her unit not mine to tell her what she needed to do since i'm just a dumb **** "contractor" lol.
seriously though, hiring?
seriously though, hiring?
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 8
Likes: 2
From: Ennis, Texas
Check out www.NRGEnergy.com. Got to careers and do a search for Operations, Mechanics, or I & C Techs. W.A. Parish, Big Cajun, and a few more in the Houston area. They are usually hireing a lot down in the Houston area. I work at one of the coal plants about half way between Dallas and Houston. Starting pay is close to $23hr. Top out in 3 years when your a journeyman at around $35-$38hr. Overtime is going to be there. It starts out slow but picks up through out the year.
It may look like operators dont do a whole lot but we get paid for what we know when **** hits the fan, not what we do when things are going smooth. I like it and dont plan on leaving anytime soon.
They seem to like it when you have no experiance at all more then anything. That way they are starting out with a blank canvas and can train you how they want you to be. Instead of having a few years on you and being set in your ways and not being able to adjust to the way they want things to be done.
Hope this helps you out, and good luck. Its a job that a lot of people want and the ones that have it dont want to give it up. There is a reason for that.
If you're looking for a process operator position you have to be persistent. If you are going to school somewhere they usually have listings for plants that may be hiring. My advice, apply for everything. Don't try to be picky. Sometimes you have to work at a smaller place and get some good experience before you will get picked up by a big place.
I work at Exxonmobil in the refinery. Most of what has been said here is pretty accurate. New hires start at $21 or $22 I believe and we top out in 4 years. There are plenty of plants that start out at higher pay or top out faster. The thing that makes Exxonmobil a desireable place to work is the retirement. Our pension and 401k program is hard to beat and makes people want to come here. People don't quit Exxon. Some people who hire in with alot of years at other plants leave and go back to their original plants because they can't absorb the pay cut they had to take to come to Exxon. It's a hard pill to swallow but if you live within your means and don't rely on overtime to survive you'll be ok.
To give a rough idea of real world pay, here is what I made:
1st yr new hire: $66k
2nd yr some OT: $88k
3rd yr moderate OT $110k
4th yr very little OT (by choice) $97k
I'm one of the guys who choose to work very little OT. I don't have to live in the plant to survive. That said, it's pretty easy to make $120+ once you're topped out working alot of OT.
I work at Exxonmobil in the refinery. Most of what has been said here is pretty accurate. New hires start at $21 or $22 I believe and we top out in 4 years. There are plenty of plants that start out at higher pay or top out faster. The thing that makes Exxonmobil a desireable place to work is the retirement. Our pension and 401k program is hard to beat and makes people want to come here. People don't quit Exxon. Some people who hire in with alot of years at other plants leave and go back to their original plants because they can't absorb the pay cut they had to take to come to Exxon. It's a hard pill to swallow but if you live within your means and don't rely on overtime to survive you'll be ok.
To give a rough idea of real world pay, here is what I made:
1st yr new hire: $66k
2nd yr some OT: $88k
3rd yr moderate OT $110k
4th yr very little OT (by choice) $97k
I'm one of the guys who choose to work very little OT. I don't have to live in the plant to survive. That said, it's pretty easy to make $120+ once you're topped out working alot of OT.
Like stated above a lot of what operations is making sure you know your stuff and what to do to get the job done right and safely. A lot of my job is *** time but there are also many days of busting *** a full 12hr shift. Until you fully understand what's going on the job can sometimes be a handful. I've thought many times about trying to get in Exxon just for the benefits but I'm looking to see how much my plant improves since being bought out by a well respected company that has great benefits. Last year was my first full year in here and made 92k with minimal ot and not top outside pay. This year I'm on track to clear 120k with little ot.