Anyone ever worked in Fort McMurray?

[eblend]

Thinking of accepting an offer for a Desktop support job up in fort mcmurray, heard the pay is very good up there, but I have no idea what I should ask for. they told me to give em a number...and I have no idea where to start. This job is just tech support around the office/field for computers, networks and such.

Any clue what I should be asking? Also if anyone ever lived down there, have any tips for me? thanks

[Weapon_R]

Money's great - but living expenses are enormous.

[redblack]

you'll make a ton of money but you'll be paying way more for living expenses. Plus service really sucks up there where ever you go

[soupey]

friend went up there for a summer engineering job, pay is really good (18/hr) but living expenses take a big chunk outa that.

[lastprodigy]

houses are getting to cost more there than in calgary, my dads there all the time for business...oil sands obviosuly...good if yu wanna make money

[eblend]

living expenses...by that do you mean housing or do you mean food and all that too'?

[Weapon_R]

Anything and everything. Food is way more, housing is too. Even fast food is 2-3x more...

[BumpinTalon]

houses up there that cost $240,000 here, cost $360,000 apparently, and your average full house rental here ($1200 + utilities for a decent house) is more like $1800 + utilities (which are also higher) up there.
if the company offers their own living quarters - take the offer haha. or, you can bus up there monday mornings & bus back friday nights

[eblend]

how much does the bus ride cost anyone know?

i might be moving in with a family friend who is currently there, that dude makes 2G/week and he is a plumber

[crazyning]

There's supposed to be a huge shortage of qualified workers in Fort McMurray. I believe mostly due to the housing shortages that were previously mentioned. If you can find a place to live for a reasonable rate, you should definitely go for it.

If you're guaranteed the job, you should definitely give them a high number. To give you an idea of what people are being paid, I know of one contracting company that charges $25/hour for labourers, $78/hour for welders, $55/hour for supervisors. The contracting company probably takes a few dollars off for being the middleman. Of course, these rates aren't for desk jobs, but it'll give you an idea.

[axluz]

Originally posted by crazyning
There's supposed to be a huge shortage of qualified workers in Fort McMurray. I believe mostly due to the housing shortages that were previously mentioned. If you can find a place to live for a reasonable rate, you should definitely go for it.

If you're guaranteed the job, you should definitely give them a high number. To give you an idea of what people are being paid, I know of one contracting company that charges $25/hour for labourers, $78/hour for welders, $55/hour for supervisors. The contracting company probably takes a few dollars off for being the middleman. Of course, these rates aren't for desk jobs, but it'll give you an idea.

Which contracting company is this? I'd love to go work up in Ft. McMurray. Does the contracting company find jobs for engineers up there?

[RawB8figure]

Well I just got back from there.

And everything is NOT 3x more.

Food is pretty much the same as here when I shopped at walmart, safeway, and superstore. Fast food may be a little more like 30 cents or so. Gas is a little higher couple of cents.

But housing will be a little more. My 1 bedroom apartment was 1150$ a month including water. But you can find shared accomadations that will be around 600 and up.

I dont know of any welder up there taking home $75 more like 30 - 50$.

All my expenses were paid for by the company. you should ask if you qualify for LOA. I was given $3200 a month on top of my salary for living expenses.

But im not a big fan of fort mac, but if you can go up there for a few years you can make some good money, but wouldnt recommend staying up there any longer.

o ya there are a ton of newfie's and indians and other sorts of drunks and coke heads up there so be careful.

[no_joke]

^^^
The truth.

A contracting company can charge high rates to its clients but the workers/labour don't actually see all that cash. That gets absorbed into admin and office costs (I believe). Also, shit cannot be three times as expensive as in Calgary because of arbitrage. Definitely more costlier than other places but it couldn't be too dramatic. And Ft Mac has some of the worst drug problems in the country. That's why all the big companies drug test everyone- whether you work in the field or the office.

[eblend]

Originally posted by RawB8figure
Well I just got back from there.

And everything is NOT 3x more.

Food is pretty much the same as here when I shopped at walmart, safeway, and superstore. Fast food may be a little more like 30 cents or so. Gas is a little higher couple of cents.

But housing will be a little more. My 1 bedroom apartment was 1150$ a month including water. But you can find shared accomadations that will be around 600 and up.

I dont know of any welder up there taking home $75 more like 30 - 50$.

All my expenses were paid for by the company. you should ask if you qualify for LOA. I was given $3200 a month on top of my salary for living expenses.

But im not a big fan of fort mac, but if you can go up there for a few years you can make some good money, but wouldnt recommend staying up there any longer.

o ya there are a ton of newfie's and indians and other sorts of drunks and coke heads up there so be careful.

what is LOA? I heard about being covered for living expenses and all that as well, I will be asking today about it. Thanks

[Nufy]

The newfies are a good thing.

Don't know about the rest.

[96Mx6]

Random thoughts.....

If your a good negoatiator you can get as much as $150 / calander day of LOA. ($4500/month) LOA=living out allowance

Remember to get them to fly you back home on ther dime regularly. Maybe a truck or a gas card. I bought a crap load of groceries on my shell gas card!! If you live near a bus route, a suncor/syncrude buss pass is free.

If your on the tools you stay in camp and work for overtime. But since you would be an office whore (don't worry so am I) you can ask for crazy shite.

Make sure you know how much overtime you will be getting each week. OT and LOA are how you will make you money.

[eblend]

got some numbers now regarding this position, base pay is 40k plus 10k living allounce. Now, 10k living is not enough to cover living expenses down there, so I heard that there is some sort of camps down there that Syncrude runs? or something rather? Any info on those, like how big, own washroom and all that? I heard that these are freee if u don't go with the allowence, as well as free food in the cafeteria...anyone have any info on this?

[no_joke]

Get some info from whatver source you got the pay info from. Not trying to be a jerk, but that sounds like the best solution to me.

[redx2nv]

Way too many misconceptions here, unless you have been there you cant judge it Everything is relatively the same price(food, $1-$2 for a sit down meal, fast food maybe a buck more at most). Alcohol suprisingly is the same price($10.50 a 6 pack), the work is slack and the pay is good. Depending on where you work the bus is decent, picks you up and drops you off at home(anywhere from 1/2-1 hour trip(aurora)..

Hwy 63 aboslutely sucks ass so if you are driving a nice car up there be preparerd for the shitty last 100km stretch. Dont go on sunday or thursdays.

The newfies are fine, they have a good sense of humor and are just trying to make a decent buck. Havent seen many indians at all.. If someone asks you if you like to "party" they are trying to sell you coke. The city is run by H-A so watch what you say and what you do if you go out. The ladies are low-brow, ugly and just looking for you to buy them drinks because they know you make a ton of cash.

Personally, living in camp sucks the big one. Syncrude pays for my apartment for the summer and a very nice signing bonus for a house if i decide to return next year.

[GQBalla]

hrmm you sure they drug test them out there???

i hear they all do so much coke up there its not even funny