Here is some more info from my experience. I have been in industry since 1973, pulp, gas and heavy oil. It has been 12 hour shifts since 1978 and that is good and bad. Our shift shedule is always the same unless you get moved from one shift to another. Our shift shedule was made in a yearly shedule so you new when you worked at what time all year. The 12 hour shift is good for more time off, bad for a long day and you do not see family and friends much after work. Your lifestyle is different because you cannot do everything that 5 day week people do. Usually you work 2 weekends a month so you cut social time with everyone out on working weekends. You may work Xmas for a few years in a row and have it off for a few years in a row. You work long weekends, some built in overtime, and lots of birthdays and celebrations are missed due to the shiftwork. Some companies expect lots of overtime, good money but after awhile you get tired of it. When my kids were young the shift was good because when I was home I spent time with them, when I was at work they had there times with friends and it worked out good. I found now the 7 days on 7 days off is the best shift for me. The other persons comment on control room operating, yes it is dam boring because I was in a control room for 10 plus years and you just accept it or you do something else, you also put on weight unless you are a workout person. You do not have to be a power engineer to work shift work, but I do believe it pays good money. Work for some company that pays double time overtime and has a good benifit package. The pay for a Second Class in 2005 was about $40 per hour, which came in at $90,000.00 a year without overtime. I usually averaged about 200 hours a year at doubletime so that was a nice extra. I retired in 2005 with a decent pension and got bored in 4 months so now I am now a contract operator and I do ok. That is how I describe the lifestyle. I was fortunate to marry a beautiful lady and she accepted a lot of the raising of kids when I was not there. That means somebody had to be sports mom and taxi lots off time. We just had our 32 year together so something worked for us. Now I have grandchildren and they get spoiled. Good luck in your what you decide to do and hope I did not rant on to much.
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