Censorship, Lies & Video

As can be seen from the post below, Reg MacDonald and the Maritime Drilling Schools crew are mighty worried about this blog and the implications it may have on the future of their drilling school. Quite frankly they should be afraid. Reg has been doing business for a few good years, but always away from the power of the internet. Well, Reg, welcome to the 21st century my friend! The power of internet is alive and well and companies are made and broken in the blink of an eye thanks to this wonderful technology. So far this blog has over 1500 hits and the YouTube channel over 1200 views...and the numbers will only increase! We will be upping our efforts and spreading the news more and more over the coming weeks and months!

Sorry, Reg, but you have no internet skills to compete with us...judging by your 1990's style design of your company website.

Also, why the need to censor our blog if you are so confident in your "school" and your product? Why the need to post stupid comments in broken English...you really should take a class in writing skills and improve you grammar and punctuation! Given your writing skills I am not sure how you managed to get that degree you did...maybe it was also for "life experience" like Carla? So why the need to do all that? Are you scared that the truth might be exposed? Words can be interpreted in various ways, but we also have pictures and video...and that, my friend, is hard to dispute. The proof, they say, is in the pudding.

And now for the lies...on your "school" webpage you have many testimonials...people finding jobs and whatnot...same letters are posted all over the walls in your institution...are any of them true? I mean there was one guy who found a Driller position with Nabors in Saudi Arabia just by doing your course...did he really? Come on, Reggie, if you are a liar the truth will eventually come out. You wrote all those letters, right? You do your own black hand marketing, eh?

Finally, we shall not be CENSORED by anyone. Like we mentioned below, for $5000+ spent in North Sydney I can take whatever pictures and video I want and post them for others to see. You know what this is called: FREEDOM OF SPEECH! Others should know that your website was made to sell the course and does not give ANY details beyond that...a shame, really, but I guess you have to lie to get people to go there, how else can you afford your current lifestyle, eh?

Reg MacDonald: "If I help you I have to help everyone"

Towards the end of the 20 day training program, one of the students approached Reg MacDonald and asked if it was possible for him to secure a job for that person. Sure enough, Reg refused and explained that if he was going to help him he would have to help the rest of the class get jobs as well. Really?

Here is a thought, Reg: how about helping those who actually make an effort in your school, eh?

Most of the people who attend the training don't really give a shit while they are there. They drink almost every night or do drugs or both (don't they know they will be drug screened before being offered a position in a drilling company?). Then there are those who make an effort, who paid the money from their own pockets and are keen to get started in the oil industry as soon as they finish the course.

So, what is stopping Reg from helping those who really care?

Reg always says that his school is successful because of word-of-mouth...it would be even more successful, me thinks, if he made an effort to help secure jobs for those who do well and are keen students. He himself says that he's got tons of connections in the oil industry, so why not help a bit? I mean $5000 ain't cheap and if there was a glimmer of hope in getting employment if you do well in class, more people would be willing to pony-up the cash. Just an idea.

But I guess at the end of the day Reg MacDonald thinks only of himself. Good for you, Reg.

So you wanna waste your money, eh?

I start off with my job search statistics:

• Over 150 hours sitting in front of a computer.
• Over 400 direct emails sent (they include my resume + scanned MDS certificates).
• Over 20 direct applications done through drilling company websites.
• Over 50 phone calls to human resource departments at various drilling companies throughout the world.

The result: NO JOB.

Just before Reg MacDonald left for his Chicago holiday (it was right before Saint Patrick's Day), he stopped by the MDS school to give all of us a bit of a pep-talk. Up until this point we were not given any guidance in terms of finding a job in the oil and gas industry. Some of us, spending upwards of $8000 USD, were getting desperate. We worried, naturally I think, that spending all this money and not being able to find work wouldn't be ideal...so we cornered Reg and asked him to finally tell us a bit about this list of contacts he said he would give us that will make the job hunting process easier.

What did we get? Two fucking websites that we could have easily found on our own (which I did a week before). What websites? It is no secret, so here they are: the IADC and CAODC (the second one is only useful if you are looking for employment in Canada). Each of those websites has a members directory with lists of drilling contractors around the world...he told us to send emails and call them to get jobs. Yup, that was all. No direct contact to those who actually do the hiring. None. Zip. Nada.

Of course Reg covers his ass and on the official MDS website he states that he does not guarantee employment for any of the graduates. Fair enough, I knew this coming in, but when I was speaking with Linda (his secretary and girlfriend...I think more girlfriend than secretary) she told me about this amazing list of contacts we would be given. No sweat, I though, a list is good enough for me...I am competent enough to write up a resume and send it via email...plus follow up with phone calls if needed. But to be given two fucking websites and calling it an "industry list" is laughable to say the least.

Any other brilliant advice from Reg? It was written already (see below), but I want to rehash it just so other potential MDS students know: Reg says the best way to find a job is to go directly to the companies. He says that if they need workers they will hire you on the spot.

WOW, Reg, didn't know that one, buddy, thanks a fucking lot! Of course the best way is to visit companies in person, deliver the resume and hope you get a call-back. He told us if we wanted to work in Alberta to travel to Calgary and Nisku and visit offices with resumes in hand...good advice! Of course trouble leeks into paradise when you don't want to work in Canada and want to seek employment overseas. So, for example, what if you want to work in Saudi Arabia? Should you travel to Al Khobar or Dammam (the center for oil drilling over there) with resume in hand? Or what about the North Sea? Should you travel to Aberdeen and try your luck there? Ridiculous.

Oh, but Reg reminds you, most of the drilling contractors working in the Middle East, for example, are American companies based somewhere in the States (like Nabors, Halliburton and all the others). So, Reg suggests, perhaps you can visit their offices in America with resume in hand seeking jobs overseas. Good advice, Reg, good advice. But what he does not factor in (he did already make his million, or so he says) are the costs involved in getting there and supporting yourself while looking for that job. It ain't cheap, chaps, it ain't cheap. Here is a breakdown of costs if you travel the the US in search of overseas jobs:

• Car rental = $60
• Cheap motel = $40
• Food = $15
• Fuel = $15

Total daily expense: $130.

That does not include any miscellaneous expenses you might have.

Sure, Reg says, take a friend with you to split the costs. Yeah, Reg, good advice as always!

So now you have just spent $5000 on training at MDS ($4200 tuition + $800 accommodation), transportation to North Sydney (for me, round trip, it cost about $1800, but I was coming from very far away) plus food and expenses while living there for 20 days. It adds up. And now you need to travel somewhere, either Alberta or the US, rent cars, stay in hotels and look for jobs. Say it takes you 10 days to visit all the companies and talk to all the Human Resource departments...that is an additional cost of $1300. As you can see, with tuition and other costs, you might be spending close to $10,000 for the privilege of getting an oil and gas job. Expensive? You bet!

So what if you don't want to spend the additional money and travel to where the companies are? Well, you can only send emails and call HR departments. Sometimes you'll speak to someone who makes hiring decisions and sometimes you won't. Sometimes they tell you that they need experience in the oil field and you got none. Sometimes they tell you that they will keep your resume on file since they have no open positions at present. But don't give up. Email them again, call them again and maybe you'll get lucky. Just don't expect to finish the course and start working in the oil patch right from the start, unless you got the cash to travel to where the companies are and hit their peak hiring season (usually winter in Canada). So, after spending thousands of dollars on training, make sure to have a bit left over until you get a job. It is easier for those living with mom and dad, but those of us with families (plus bills) it is not easy.

Carla Keeping Us Awake

This is my first "guest post" on this wonderful blog and I shall start by positing my favorite video from our 20 days of training at MDS. Carla was (and is) such a bad teacher that most of us (myself included) had a hard time staying awake. So to wake us up she used to tell pointless stories and mimic barnyard animal (or fowl) sounds. Here is an example:

Now a final note about Carla. She can't teach. We wrote about it before (check other posts), but really, she is such a bad teacher it needs another mention...I am not really sure why she even got the job at MDS (perhaps Reggie saw something in her no one else did...who knows). Just because you seem to know and understand certain concepts and ideas does not mean you can teach them...period. Carla needs to understand this. For two weeks we sat there listening as she read to us from training manuals...as if we were preschool children or something. At least preschool children get to listen to interesting stories, all we had were boring tales of scaffolding and confined spaces. Carla, if you're reading this, I suggest you enroll yourself in a teacher training program. Here is a good one:

Canada College TESOL Teacher Training Course

At least if you take an onsite course they will actually be able to teach you how to be an effective teacher...and that does not mean reading from books for eight hours per day. Seriously.

Plus she had the audacity to tell us that since MDS is a certified college she had to get herself certified as well...as a teacher! Yeah, right! She said something about getting a "life experience" degree...hahahaha!

General Evaluation and assessment of the 20 days training

First certificate (Pre-employement roughneck): the program describes it as a 6 days course from 9:00 to 16:00. the book, from the University of Austin, Texas is not bad. others materials: there are no simulators. in a world full of pressure gauges, electrical and hydraulic devices and computers, call simulator a pair of old tongs is ridiculous.
First surprise: the lunch break is 1 hour, 12:00 to 13:00. Some days, anyway is from 11:30 to 13:00. (1/7 of the course time, the 15%, dissapears suddenly)
Teacher: Reggie. "Time lost in speech about nothing, or trying to shell you the "3 modules driller training" is about the 20%. time lost in another ways, for instance complete lack of activity, personal phone calls, visits, paperwork.. around other 20%
Yes, you are reading properly... the teacher, when have a phone call, stop the class during minutes.
Sunday: it is a 20 days non stop course. the second surprise is that the first Sunday you have a free day (but nobody returns you 1/20 of your money)
The last Saturday the thing happens once more, but in this case is not a surprise, you´re so tired and bored that likes it.
2 days without a minute of class: another 10% of your time evaporates.
A couple of days the class finish at lunch time (Saturday after 3,5 hours, Sunday, after 3 hours class) another day more evaporates.
So... 40% of the day is a waste of time, I mean literally, without activity, I´m not evaluating the quality when the activity runs. In addition 3 of 20 days (15%) there are no activity plus 1 hour lunch time

Total: 70% of your time is stolen.

this why Reggie offers a 20 days course, when other schools are offering a week. putting air in the balloon.

Next training: Rig Pass: trainer Reggie, quality... Guess yourself. You can buy this course in a lot of serious and decent places.
3 training: Introductory level Well control.
After the pre employement, this certificate was easy to understand, maybe the only positive point I found here.You can find too this training in another good schools

rest of the trainings (about general safety) teacher Carla. Relationship with the oil and gas industry: none, are construction oriented courses, except the forklift that was warehouse oriented. The first aid was for domestic and traffic issues.

the only exception was the H2 S alive, because was provided by a external body. This, the H2S is the only professional delivered training, but logically is not a 5.000 bucks course.

Maritime Drilling Schools CEO

A picture of the CEO, Reggie i wanna mean, that you can see in the classroom board.

Safety first?

So, ya wanna be a gunner, ehnnn?

The yard, the SCRAP IRON kingdom

I wrote in a previous post some sentences about  yard, but the yard deserves its own post, in fact if you're a student of the history of the technology, you can write not a post, a complete blog about the yard. Like a paleontologist experience the joy of discover, classify and match bones, guessing the animal, the era, the function and so on, enter in the yard of the school transport you to another era, maybe the era when the oil was not oil but alive creatures.
Nothing matches, machines and structures are pull and push together.
An engine is close to a gear box. The engine have a hydraulic power system and the gear box needs a mechanical power entry  but is not really important because the engine can´t work, neither the gear box.
The gear box is close to a simulation of substructure, not too far away there are a vertical mast that is not a drilling mast.
A mast, with the monkey board close to it. unfortunately this mast is horizontal and probably will continue in the same position the next 25 years.
The Queen of the museum, the only bunch of pieces that works are the tong simulator. An 1960/70 piece that nobody continues using, but when using, you think that you are in the kind of ring you see on old fashioned Tv. films.

Engine, gear box with drawwork and substructure (the only thing in common is the color)  In front of those museum pieces a blue bit, XX century master piece

Masts. in red, travel block, and mud pipe (beyond the mast, the crown block in red too)

Help provided to get a job

I was thinking about to let this space empty, it would be the most realistic approach to the help that the school provides you to get a job, but mimic humor could be misunderstood on line.

Reggie give us invaluable advice (or unreliable, not sure):
- Search on the internet, for instance in the IADC page (considering that 2 courses are certified by the IADC, I'm not sure if i had this idea by myself)
- Be on site, go personally to present your resume. I agree... but to travel 1 month across Alberta or North Dakota cost, on average, 100 bucks a day. Not a single hint to do the same off shore.Hire an helicopter and fly from platform to platform presenting your CV? maybe no body hires you, but... you'll get a lot of fun!
- If you knows somebody working on the rigs, could be easier be hired (really, seriously? I never had though so, thanks Reginald, only for so smart advice you deserve my 5.000 bucks!)
- "So you wanna be a roughneck eh?"  Could be not the better system to be hired... but Reg have a well paid job consisting in repeat this sentence 100 a day... (If you´re not an alummi probably you´re not catching the joke, I apologize in advance)

That´s is all folks, don´t expect more help to get a job, but not less. if your reason to come to Nova Scotia is that you think that the school is a sort of sponsor, recruiter, place to do contacts with companies, read once more this post and read the official web site of the school, a lot of brilliant sentences, a lot of wonderful worlds, but no content. Sentences like "the school can´t promise you a job after completion" are fully truth. In fact is more like "The school doesn´t care about your future 5 minutes after you leave the place" and maybe neither 5 minutes before you enter.

School Size

One single class room, in my understanding, is not a school, anyway in Nova Scotia it is.
1 class room, 1 bathroom, and 3 offices (yes 3!!) 3 workers, 3 offices... A yard full of metallic rubish that one day was part of several differents rigs (the diesel engine doesn´t not match with the gear box, the gear box with the drawworks, this one with the crown and travel blocks.... The blocks, mast and monkey board came from the same 1950's rig, but are horizontal and the wire (that doesn´t match neither is not in its place) Photos of those garbage yard... in another post...

North Sydney, Nova Scotia

How to arrive to North Sydney:
Plane or bus? The plane is a 31 seats, two propeller engines, takes 50 minutes and cost 500 Canadian dollars (2 ways) from the Sydney airport to North Sydney a taxi cost $40 to 50 for a 20 minutes service.
The bus from Halifax takes 3 or 4 hours, but is $ 40. In the school can give more info about buses.
Where to stay:
Sydney is less than 30 min driving, if you have a car is a serious option.
In north Sydney, walking distance from the school there are at least 1 bed&breakfast (123 pierce street, tel 794-1080) and 1 motel (at the end of king street) there are also 1 hotel near to the ferry port.
The maritime drilling School is close to the commercial area, less than 10 minutes walking.
this is a good new because nor in the school, nor in the Mac Donals House you´ll find internet. But in the Mac Donals restaurant you can find wi-fi free. (And from Monday to Friday in the public library at commercial street)
the break for lunch is one hour or more, so if you like hamburguers and internet, it's your time!

Teachers, the soul of a school.

Teaching stile: There are only 2 teachers with 2 very differents teaching ways
Reggie, the CEO (ceo of a company with 3 workers, himself, his girfriend Linda- Wellcome Manager- and Carla-teacher & administrative manager)
Sorry I was losing the point... Reggie knows the rigs, has a huge experience working on it, but has not skills explaining his knowledge. In fact his Canadian accent is difficult to understand for most foreigners, and for many Canadians too. If the accent is not an issue could be worse, because you discover that he don´t know how to explain the matter.
Carla, Knows how to explain things, could be a good teacher, but she doesn´t know the matter and she doesn´t care about. She simply read the papers, one after another killing us of boredom, avoiding questions to continue reading, or reading the answers.
You don´t believe me? Check this.

And for the regie's fans:

The motto of the school shall be.... 100 ways to lose your time (and money) during 20 days

Our only goal after many days is get the certificates and run away, finish the class everyday as soon as possible and go to the house. Once in the house we remember that we are 14 people with a single kitchen...

The House (14 people in 6 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms)

The house: 14 people in a house with 1 kitchen (with only a standard fridge) 2 toilets and 6 bed rooms. 1 single bedroom, others for 2 or 3 people and in the ground level, one for 4 people. Most bedrooms have not closet.
If your secret wish was to live in the "Big Brother House" this experience is the most similar you could found, but with not sex, not much at least.
The $800 x 20 days are only for bed, electricity and heater. 4 pieces of soap are also provided (for all)
Unbelievable? pics are coming...

Do you wanna sleep like sardines in oil? well come to room number six, where the snoring never stops!
Share your corporal smell and belongings with 3 unknown fellows, because you go to experience too how to live 20 days without a closet!!

Sorry, the above statement is not exact... you have all those balls that for 4 people.

Scope of the Blog

There are not too much data on the internet about this school except the official web page and comments and news written by Reggie Mac Donald's, Owner of the school.
The aim of this blog is to provide the student point of view to those persons which are in doubt, enroll or not enroll, because $ 5000 Canadian is a big bunch of bank notes.
In the other hand, hopefully could be a tool to remain in touch with all the people I met in North Sydney.
the training wasn't the best I ever had, but I enjoyed very much the buddies.