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ANyone here has a job in Fort Mac?

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  • Nov 25th, 2005 1:03 pm
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Deal Addict
Nov 10, 2005
1768 posts
260 upvotes
Vancouver

ANyone here has a job in Fort Mac?

I wonder if it's really that easy to find a 100k job there.
Since I checked out some companies like Shell, ExxonMobile, they are not hiring like crazy there.
Is that the oil industry make the place short of other supplementaries like burger-flippers and waiters etc.?
24 replies
Newbie
Aug 4, 2004
37 posts
Is it easy to find a 100k job?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes it is. If you've got either a trade skill or are in a profession that enables you to work in the oil industry. Otherwise finding a well paying job there is extremely hard.

The service industry has been hit hard by this. It is impossible to get any help at any store because they can't afford to hire employees, or their employees are all aged 13-14.

Before moving there I'd also consider that the price of living is higher than most other cities. The average price of a home is approaching the high 300,000's last I heard.
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Sep 12, 2004
516 posts
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North York, Toronto
you can always rent out a basement, work for a couple of years and then come back to Toronto
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2001
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t_ginuwine wrote:you can always rent out a basement, work for a couple of years and then come back to Toronto
Renting out a basement is well over $1000/month. I hear even renting individual rooms within a basement is crazy expensive.


The money is made when you work north of Fort Mac in the camps - that's where they get the 22/hour, forced 12 hour days, OT, etc.... that add up to a lot of money.
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Mar 22, 2005
2008 posts
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vipjn wrote:I wonder if it's really that easy to find a 100k job there.
Since I checked out some companies like Shell, ExxonMobile, they are not hiring like crazy there.
Wrong companies. Try companies that are actively mining out there like Suncor and CNRL. Also the support companies that do the welding, plumbing, electrical work, etc.
Deal Addict
Nov 10, 2005
1768 posts
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Vancouver
so basically there's no chance for a commerce graduate...?!

Know nth about oil industry and flipping burgers -_-"

I'm willing to live in a basement for a few years and save some money. But if they don't have a high paying job that makes it worth it to sacrifice my lifestyle, I'll not go for sure.
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Dec 7, 2004
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I definitely would go. My main concern is the pollution in the city. How bad is it? Can you see the smog like Vancouver or Toronto?

I emailed a 75-80k job to find more information and said i was looking to relocate but they wouldn't reply. Pisses me off.
Member
Dec 2, 2003
412 posts
11 upvotes
Ottawa
I LOVE these Fort McMurray threads! They are great entertainment!

Do you people know anything about geography??? How about the mining industry?? The lack of even basic knowledge of Fort McMurray indicates that the interest being shown is purely $$. I will boldly say that wouldn't last 3 months in a roughneck job.

The commerce grad looking to Fort Mac - um... where are those companies driven from? i.e. do you really think they are going to put a business office 5-6 hours north of the nearest big city? I'm sure there are a few commie jobs up there, but the bulk of business analysts, etc. would be in Cowtown.

The bulk of the jobs in Fort McMurray are labour jobs. This is the middle of no where kids. It is a really remote construction site. You best like rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty if you go there.

Edit - Philelmo?? What the hell are you talking about??? How's the pollution there? Prime example of someone with no industry or geographic knowledge of the area.
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Sep 4, 2003
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philelmo wrote: I emailed a 75-80k job to find more information and said i was looking to relocate but they wouldn't reply. Pisses me off.

That's because there were probably another 5000 emails or more just like yours in their INBOX!!! Do you really expect them to reply to each and everyone?

When I resigned my last position (in IT), you wouldn't believe the applications flowing in by email, it was impossible to read each and everyone.
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Dec 5, 2004
1023 posts
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You've ruined my dreams. I was gonna rent a big u-haul van, drive it up to Fort Mac, load it up with money, and drive it home. :(

Phil, maybe they didn't reply to you because you were either not qualified for the job or they already had enough qualified applicants who didn't need 'more information'. When I went to school we learned that first you applied for the job, then you got the interview, THEN you asked for 'more information' :) .
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Dec 7, 2004
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TheDude79 wrote:You've ruined my dreams. I was gonna rent a big u-haul van, drive it up to Fort Mac, load it up with money, and drive it home. :(

Phil, maybe they didn't reply to you because you were either not qualified for the job or they already had enough qualified applicants who didn't need 'more information'. When I went to school we learned that first you applied for the job, then you got the interview, THEN you asked for 'more information' :) .
Too many applicants? I thought there was a shortage, hehe. I didn't even give them my qualifications yet
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Dec 7, 2004
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Ride-On wrote:I LOVE these Fort McMurray threads! They are great entertainment!

Do you people know anything about geography??? How about the mining industry?? The lack of even basic knowledge of Fort McMurray indicates that the interest being shown is purely $$. I will boldly say that wouldn't last 3 months in a roughneck job.

The commerce grad looking to Fort Mac - um... where are those companies driven from? i.e. do you really think they are going to put a business office 5-6 hours north of the nearest big city? I'm sure there are a few commie jobs up there, but the bulk of business analysts, etc. would be in Cowtown.

The bulk of the jobs in Fort McMurray are labour jobs. This is the middle of no where kids. It is a really remote construction site. You best like rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty if you go there.

Edit - Philelmo?? What the hell are you talking about??? How's the pollution there? Prime example of someone with no industry or geographic knowledge of the area.
You obviously don't know the area and didn't read this thread.
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/show ... 184&page=3

I posted a news article that did a study of the area. A couple moved there and noticed higher prices and pollution.

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:uCa ... tage&hl=en
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Dec 5, 2004
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philelmo wrote:Too many applicants? I thought there was a shortage, hehe. I didn't even give them my qualifications yet
What's the job? From the articles you've linked in this thread, it seems that there's a shortage of a) service workers and b) general labour. But hey, if you think you can just move up to Fort Mac and load up the money truck then good luck to you. I'm sure that if that were really true, there wouldn't be such a labour shortage that you talk about. Everyone with no skills, no training, no physical abilities would be there earning 6 figures then. But hey, maybe everyone is emailing them then asking for jobs.... maybe you're in line for your plum job and you just have to keep waiting for that email reply and then you're set. I'm sure prospective employers don't care about qualifications there, they're just giving jobs to everyone because they don't have the bodies, so sure if you're 5'6" 135lbs you can work on the rigs with no training and insufficient strength. Come on in and be a welder, even if you've never done it before and don't even know what a welder looks like.

I'm sure you can go up there and get a service job no prob, but I wouldn't expect to walk into a plum oilfield or professional job without experience and qualifications of some sort.
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Dec 7, 2004
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http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/ShowJob_en.asp ... JobPosting

Well, here is the link to the job. It's a good customer service manager at a Car dealership. I'm suprised they'd offer that much for customer service. They listed some qualifications.

There is a shortage for sure, and people are not going there. The article mentioned alot about pollution, did you see it?
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Dec 5, 2004
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The reason that people don't go for jobs like this one is not pollution. It's that the cost of living in FortMac is so high that the 70-85k up there is comparable to 50-60k in most other places. Never mind that this specific job is for *55* hours per week. Love those sweet 9 hour days 6 days per week. Doesn't look quite so attractive to live there really.

Again, this is a service sector job..... sure there's lots of those, but the real take home for you probably wouldn't make it worth going IMHO, regardless of the pollution issues you seem so concerned about :-0
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Dec 7, 2004
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TheDude79 wrote:The reason that people don't go for jobs like this one is not pollution. It's that the cost of living in FortMac is so high that the 70-85k up there is comparable to 50-60k in most other places. Doesn't look quite so attractive to live there really.

Again, this is a service sector job..... sure there's lots of those, but the real take home for you probably wouldn't make it worth going IMHO, regardless of the pollution issues you seem so concerned about :-0
Yes I agree. My primary concern is for the health and safety of myself and other half. Outweights all the gains. I'm just asking someone if it's really as bad as the article states.
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Sep 14, 2003
4603 posts
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Burnaby
I think you have no idea what you're talking about. Multiple friends working for Suncor there and none of them doing a "roughneck job" and "getting dirty". You should think before you speak.

Fort McMurray is not a "remote construction site", it is a decent size city with 61K people living in urban areas.

http://www.woodbuffalo.net/population.htm

YOUR "lack of even basic knowledge of Fort McMurray" indicates your lack of ability to research topics before you start stating your assumptions.

Ride-On wrote:I LOVE these Fort McMurray threads! They are great entertainment!

Do you people know anything about geography??? How about the mining industry?? The lack of even basic knowledge of Fort McMurray indicates that the interest being shown is purely $$. I will boldly say that wouldn't last 3 months in a roughneck job.

The commerce grad looking to Fort Mac - um... where are those companies driven from? i.e. do you really think they are going to put a business office 5-6 hours north of the nearest big city? I'm sure there are a few commie jobs up there, but the bulk of business analysts, etc. would be in Cowtown.

The bulk of the jobs in Fort McMurray are labour jobs. This is the middle of no where kids. It is a really remote construction site. You best like rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty if you go there.

Edit - Philelmo?? What the hell are you talking about??? How's the pollution there? Prime example of someone with no industry or geographic knowledge of the area.
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Deal Addict
Nov 10, 2005
1768 posts
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Vancouver
gheart008 wrote:I think you have no idea what you're talking about. Multiple friends working for Suncor there and none of them doing a "roughneck job" and "getting dirty". You should think before you speak.

Fort McMurray is not a "remote construction site", it is a decent size city with 61K people living in urban areas.

http://www.woodbuffalo.net/population.htm

YOUR "lack of even basic knowledge of Fort McMurray" indicates your lack of ability to research topics before you start stating your assumptions.
In your opinion, what kind of jobs can a new commerce grad do who doesnt have alot of work experience??
Deal Addict
Sep 1, 2005
2469 posts
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ok, lets see if I can shed some light on this.

I worked at syncrude for a year during my engineering internship and currently work for an engineering firm working on the next expansions. I've worked on Imperials and Shell's future projects.

Fort mac is a differnt town from saw calgary, edmotnon, TO, ect. its more like any mining town in the nation, just larger and a little richer. houses and appartments are crazy expensive.

I don't know where this polution thing comes from as the mines are 50-150km's north of the town. Yes syncrude is one of the nations largest CO2 producers but thats from burning natural gas so its not smog vile like TO. The mines are downstream from the tows as well. The mines and plants are dirt places, yes but thats becuase they produce tar for a living. And have you ever been to a nice looking strip mine? The tailings ponds smell and have oil in them, but they are process ponds, its not like you go fishing in them.

jobs are all over the gambit. A family cannot live up there on 1 income. People think its great that walmart employees make 14bucks an hour, but guess what your cheapest rent is over 1000. If you can even find a home for sale it'll run you about double what it would cost in Calgary. At the plants theres always demand for operators in the mine or plants, engineers (chem/mech/mining), some biz folks secure jobs up there there at the plants but ussaly as new grads who did work terms there.

With all the construction of "mega" projects and maintaince of current plants trades are in high demand. Welders, pipefiters, sparkies, and even general labours can make great money IF your living expenses are looked after.

Theres work to be had up there for sure. but get a job before you go there. its 4+ hours north of edmonton and if you dont have a place to live when you get there you may be sleeping in your car. Hotels can even be expensive.

companies to look at:
syncrude
suncor
crnl "horizon"
Albian oil sands (shell)

and any of the million contractors.
Deal Addict
Sep 1, 2005
2469 posts
4 upvotes
vipjn wrote:In your opinion, what kind of jobs can a new commerce grad do who doesnt have alot of work experience??
Check out the comapnies in calgary. in Fort mac there are jobs in business anylisis positions but the mines run co-op programs and tend to hire the grads who've worked for them in the past.

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