MARIETTA - Those looking to get hired on and benefit from the Utica shale boom can turn to a new resource.
Energy in Depth (EID) recently launched a "jobs microsite" geared to linking Ohio oil and gas industry job seekers to companies in the industry looking for employees. The microsite can be viewed at www.eidohio.org/jobsearch/.
"I think it's a wonderful resource," said Rhonda Reda, executive director of the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program.
The site features three clickable tabs called Job Info, Job News and Find a Job. The Job Info tab leads to a video that discusses the EID-Ohio job portal and a list of types of oil and gas industry jobs and the education they require.
The Job News tab takes site users to links that open news items about Ohio's economic comeback.
Under the Find a Job tab are clickable links to companies in the oil and gas industry, including information about careers, online applications and more.
According to Reda, the top five professions in the oil and gas industry in the next two to three years will be welders, machinists, diesel mechanics, well tenders and CDL drivers.
"Welders are going to be in huge demand," she noted.
The Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program had projected that 4,600 oil and gas jobs would be created in Ohio by the end of 2011, Reda said.
"We were behind in those projections because there were over 8,000 jobs created in Ohio alone," she added.
By 2014 and 2015, the group projects that the industry will create more than 200,000 jobs, with 75 percent of those jobs being in Ohio.
"A lot of the initial jobs out in the field were taken by people from far away," said Terry Tamburini, executive director of the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority.
According to Tamburini, it's important "that as many local or regional people as possible have access to these employment opportunities."
"This will allow others who came to the area to revert back to their homes," he said, stressing that the community has an obligation to get people trained and ready for oil and gas industry jobs.
According to Charlotte Keim, president of the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce, those looking for industry employment should think about their skill levels.
"The oil and gas industry has set up very high standards," she said.
Those without skills should check out programs at Washington State Community College and the Washington County Career Center.
"They have programs that are gearing up for that industry," said Keim.
Marietta College also offers a petroleum engineering program.
Skilled workers can contact the Southeast Ohio Oil and Gas Association and Ohio Oil and Gas Association for more specific information about jobs.
The websites of major industry players like Anadarko Petroleum, Chesapeake Energy, The Shaw Group, Timken Company, Tim Miller Supply, Shell and BP are also good employment resources.
Keim said job seekers should do an online search for Ohio shale development, attend oil and gas industry conferences being held throughout the region and check local newspapers.
"They can't just call up and say 'I want a job in the industry,' she said. "They need to do some research and determine what skills are needed."
