Driller
What the work is
Assembles, positions and operates drilling rigs and related equipment for exploration or to extract ore, liquids or gases from the earth.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Operates drill rigs and related equipment to facilitate subsurface exploration and extraction of ore, liquids or gases
- Monitors drilling operations and adjusts equipment as necessary
- Inspects and maintains drilling equipment and tools
- Records drilling data and maintains accurate records
- Tests and evaluates drill samples to determine the composition of extracted material
- May supervise and direct the work of Driller's Offsiders
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a drill site on a remote exploration lease, hours from the nearest town. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- The core comes up clean and the geologist's face lights up at what is in it
- Packing up on time with the site left tidy and every crew member in good shape
- A new offsider who struggled in week one runs the rod handling confidently
Hard days
- Hot, dusty days in the middle of nowhere with the crew's patience wearing thin
- A break in the weather or the drilling when you are already behind schedule
- Weeks on a roster away from family, with a phone signal that comes and goes
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 399231, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.