ohmegaman

Thanks a lot for the information and advice. You might imagine it's not the easiest industry to meet people who have had real world experience such as yourself. About the working abroad, I'm really excited to look for options overseas given that I've never even been out of the country and figure it can make exploring (with my off time) that much more feasible.

Anything you could tell me that you wish you'd known when you started in the industry? A piece of knowledge you'd have wanted someone to pass on to you?

I don't know what your relationship with underwater inspectors is, but my plan was to go that route. I know it's more paperwork, but after that 4/5 years and it's time to go topside I figure having a background in inspection would be rewarding. At Ocean Corp. (or other schools you know of) do they teach you welding techniques and also inspection training for those that want to go that route? Or would you recommend doing inspection while I'm in community college and then heading down? I'm 24 now, reason being why I wanted to transition this fall was because I know by the time I'm 30 my body will probably have had enough and it only makes sense to start asap.

Also I know that like 90% of the jobs are located in the Gulf, did you ever consider finding jobs in Saudi or the UAE?

PS. What is a hat program?

Currently I'm taking welding classes at Austin Community College and underwater welding has always been an interest and I've pretty much made my mind up to move out to Houston this fall. A few questions if I may:

How did you like training at Ocean Corp? Did you enjoy the teachers and administration? When you started working or tending where were your options for work and what did you decide to go with?