Looking for your first offshore rig job? If you have already been through a few contracts, you will know what to do. But for beginners, or even those doing it for the second or third time, here is a list of five mistakes that make recruiters send their cover letter / resume to the end of the queue:

1. No subject / Incorrect subject / Inaccurate subject

Not many people write formal letters, so they also forget to add a subject or heading to their cover letters (even those sent via email). Some will write anything old, for example, “Hello” (yes, I am serious) or “Looking for work”. Do you know what people call this type of email? Unwanted mail! That’s right, those in business and those with jobs to do cannot afford to waste time to waste time. If you can’t or won’t declare your business, then walk out the door. This is true for you in person and also for your cover letter.

So what is the correct topic heading to use for offshore rig jobs? Simple! Whatever the ad says to write. Usually a code is provided as well as a standard job title. Use them exactly as they are written in the ad. Nothing more and nothing less. Of course, if you notice a spelling mistake in the job title being advertised, it becomes a decision. The recruiter may not know how to spell the job title, in which case correcting it could give a bad impression.

2. Apply for more than one job

Sometimes you may feel like you are qualified to do two different jobs (that run in the same ad). For example, you may have experience as a laborer and as a scaffold builder. For God’s sake, don’t apply for both jobs! Make up your mind before submitting your job application. Don’t confuse the recruiter. When applying for two different jobs, he has to make a decision on how to present his cover letter / resume. Should I file it under pension? Or should I file it under scaffolding? Keep in mind that you are likely overworked and underpaid. If you overload it, you may decide to make your life easier by throwing your application in the trash.

3. Spelling and grammar mistakes

Most offshore rig jobs don’t need a college degree. However, this does not mean that you can afford to be careless when writing your cover letter. If you make spelling mistakes or have obvious grammar mistakes, this makes a bad impression. It makes a person wonder if he will be equally sloppy while working on the company’s multi-billion dollar oil drilling rig (a deepwater rig can cost up to $ 1,000,000 a DAY to operate).

It is really easy to correct spelling mistakes nowadays. MS-Word has a function to detect and correct spelling and grammar errors (red wavy underline for the first, green for the second). The free word processing program, Open Office, has similar functionality. Just run your cover letter and resume through one of these programs before submitting your job application so you don’t look like a fool.

4. No contact information

Be sure to provide more than one way to contact you: home phone number, mobile phone number, home address, email address, etc. It is not uncommon to see cover letters and / or resume without contact information, especially those that are sent through the email system. Remember that the person who received your job application may not be the person who will finally call you for your interview. If they cannot find a convenient way to contact you, they will probably NOT go the extra mile to trace your original job application.

5. Not giving the oil drilling company a reason to hire you

This is especially common among first-time job seekers, but can also be seen in applications from more experienced oil workers. When you apply for an offshore rig job, do YOU ​​know why the company should hire you? If you can’t answer this question, don’t bother applying for the job.

If you have a lot of experience in the offshore drilling industry, you have better ways to search for open positions in the oil sector than through job postings. Cover letters and resume are just paperwork. But when industry contacts are lacking, formalities become much more important. Job applicants who make one or more of the above mistakes have committed the cardinal sin of giving the recruiter a convenient excuse to throw away their job applications.