Being a FIFO engineer is not for everyone. While the financial rewards and opportunities to work on leading-edge projects are terrific, many FIFO engineers are faced with challenges of balancing regular time on site, with their family and social lives

Essentially, working as a FIFO engineer will involve long distance commuting where you will live and work on-site, often in a remote location (even offshore) for a period of time, returning home in between rosters. Roster periods will vary depending on the type and stage of project you are working on – anywhere from the common two weeks on, two weeks off or nine days on, five days off through to rosters of up to 20+ days on with nine days off for projects in construction phase. Anyone seeking to become a FIFO engineer needs to weigh up the considerations of this transient lifestyle, against the career rewards on offer.

Entec has managed the careers of numerous FIFO engineers – here’s some tips we’ve learned from engineering and technical professionals working on a FIFO basis:

• Create a social network with like minded people on your roster. One of the great things about the FIFO lifestyle is that is creates a micro-community with its own culture and interests (albeit often wide-spread geographically!)
• Have a hobby or interest to keep you occupied during the weekends or periods of downtime where you are on site, but not working. Some of our FIFO engineers are doing external study or learning a second language, others build models, and many sites have a range of sporting facilities, pool tables, and gym equipment on site.
• Keep in regular communication with your friends and family. To many of our FIFO engineers, this is seen as the key. Set your mobile phone plan up so you have free calls home to mobiles at home on the same plan, and make use of communication tools like Skype.
• Work to a goal – this might be a career goal, using the unique experiences of each project to hone your skills and learn new ones, or a personal goal such as saving to buy a property or pay for kids education. Knowing that each day you spend away from home is contributing to that goal can make it easier.