equipment technician

truck driver

heavy equipment mechanic

mechanic

lead operator

Step-Energy-Services

I had the opportunity to try out as a field mechanic. Depending on if you're in the shop or out in the field is about the same level of work. There is a lot of filter changes, and oil sampling. The only difference is that you'll be performing major repairs in the shop. In order to gain experience, you won't have much help from management. At best, they will have one of the other mechanics mentor you, and their willingness to teach you is dependent on each person. Don't expect the lead hands to work side by side with you because they won't. Their coveralls stay clean every day. They will answer your questions, but don't expect them to get dirty with you.

Hotel accommodations and camp living is basic, nothing fancy. You'll get on a bus and travel out to site. Their crew busses stink, and if you're lucky has AC. Grown men will bicker with you over where they sit on the bus, so that childish behavior is to be expected.

I worked on 3 different crews and they all seem to have one thing in common. They're all clicky, unwelcoming, and don't want to introduce themselves. For the most part the frackers are ok people, but you will definitely feel like an outsider. There are some supervisors that will scream at people, as I've seen in the field.  I would say it's borderline a toxic work environment for mechanics.  

There is a huge disconnection between management and the field mechanics. Other than the typical emails sent throughout the week in regards to equipment repairs, there is no sense of direction or support. If you don't have any experience with CAT, don't even bother applying here because they will tell you you will get trained but their idea of training is changing filters and topping up oil. If you're lucky, the E-tech will work with you and take you under their wing.

Last but not least, I got thrown under the bus. If the data van supervisors don't like you, they will go behind your back, make up lies, and get you canned. There is zero mentorship or professionalism from anyone. They will not make any effort to make sure you know what you're doing. A great example is I don't speak fracker on the radio, and as I was doing a service, I walked to the back of the trailer when they were pressure testing at 90MPA(13,000psi), and got screamed at to leave because I wasn't supposed to be in there. Extremely dangerous circumstances to be in, but I had no idea until after the fact.

This was probably the worst working environment that I ever experienced. Between not feeling included, lack of training, and constantly feeling lost, avoid this place. If management actually stepped up their game instead of being keyboard warriors all day, it might not be a bad job after all. I give it a solid 3/10.

Typical day:
Wake up at 4am, ride a bus with a broken heater in -30 for an hour and a half to site. Put on frozen ppe because they dont want to pay for proper heating in parts trailers. Probably sit with the crew and get yelled at about something that affects the site managers bonus for a bit. Then get to work with some great co workers. The higher ups like to kick back and relax, have a morning coffe and maybe watch some sports later in the day.

If you work really hard the guys will appreciate you, and you will get along just fine. But dont expect any higher ups to go out of the way to show appreciation, you are just a number.

Most of what you learn will be through experiance as there is no guidence. If a new guy learns too much to quickly, he might ask for a promotion and theres no room for that until the assets who have put in 5+ years all band together and quit at the same time because they finally learn caring about what they do for a living doesnt matter.

Management is basically all the guys in the industry who are best at sucking up. Aptitude is an afterthought.

The culture is great when you take management out of the picture. All the guys become family when you spend 100+ hours a week together. Lots of jokes and good times.

Hardest part of the job isnt rigging in for 12 hrs in -30 or sitting on a freezing cold bus every morning. Its not having to drive in a white out blizzard all night on your first day of a hitch of night shift, or being told to switch back and forth between day shift and night shift. Its not working 100 hours a week or living out of a hotel room with a shared mini fridge and nothing to cook with. The hardest part, is when you do all of these things all year for years and not a single time does anyone in the office or field management go up to bat for the guys working under them when they feel like something isnt right or fair.

The good
+They will train you. You will be paid to train at their facility in Red Deer, drive included. They will provide you hotels during, with sub for meals.
+Unless you're already experienced in your field (sand haul, frac, or coil), they will pair you up with a senior coworker while out on your first jobs, until you are comfortable.
+Tickets and other expenses for training are covered by them
+Shop wage is good, and they have their own mechanics in house.
+The culture is great. They hire quality staff, and don't tolerate poor behavior
+Pay is good. My take home as logistics(hauling sand), after taxes, averaged between 7-8k a month
+GREAT place for drivers to learn and get their foot in the door with the oilfield. They make sure you succeed, and won't have you do anything you aren't comfortable with.

The Bad
+Can't think of much. Just my personal preferences. They will place you in hotels every night, so it cuts into drive time if you don't have the hours to make it back to the hotel while on job. I myself prefer a sleeper.
+They break us up into 3 shifts. Blue, Green, Red. It means when you're off, someone else is driving your units. Most other drivers are good at keeping the trucks cleaned and maintained, but sometimes you'll hop into a truck that was fine when you left it, and it needs a service or has a few issues that must be resolved before you can go out. Pretty normal though for any company that has multiple drivers for one unit, and the other drivers were generally great here. Doesn't happen too frequently.

Other than that, I can't think of anything else that's negative. I would still be with the company, but my current plans don't allow it.

Definitely a worthy company to work for. You won't see companies like this hiring brand new very often, so it's a good time to get in now if you are lacking experience, so you can avoid the bad ones who will hire anyone. Best of luck!

As a red seal journeyman mechanic, i have worked at a few well servicing companies as both an operator and mechanic. Starting at STEP, i was given a good first impression in training, but that quickly diminished when i started working. The company is incredibly disorganized, with almost zero communication on any level. At any given time, most people have no idea what is going on. The operators are some of the lowest trained I've ever seen, and they often complain their supervision and management is lacking.
On the mechanical side, saftey is a roll of the dice. Every day you are breathing heavy welding fumes and metal particles from the 3rd party welding contractor who has the run of the shop, including using company tools and supplies, but never held to any saftey standard. We were constantly pulled off of jobs every half hour to wash floors, despite our work load, and then forced to work late. The majority of the work done is pulling chemical and sand soaked fluid ends and frack piping off of units, or replacing radiators. If you are not a personal friend of a boss, or involved in the foremans racing team, then you are out of the circle so to speak. I left the company with the best attitude, and they kicked me to the curb, and left me fighting with the labour board for owned earnings. Avoid this company at all costs. There is a reason 7 jouneyman quit in the last 6 months.

I had quite a mixed feeling about working there. I enjoyed the crew I worked with and enjoyed the work itself, however lower-level management in my base needed a major upgrade in both people-skills and favoritism, as most of the problems fellow employees would bring up would never get dealt with. Field work was hit & miss (mostly due to the current government's attack on the industry) so the pay really bounced around from cheque to cheque. Most of the equipment was top notch, however there were a few duds that nobody wanted included in the spread that still got sent out anyways. I found advancement was based closer on favoritism than merit, as I was often surprised at who was promoted and when, based on their work ethic and time spent with the company, some were still at the lowest level while others were moving up quite quickly. Another thing that I was surprised with during some promotions, while an employee would move up his pay scale wouldn't change (example: hydration operator still being paid pump or chem wages). Overall I had a relatively good experience in total, and I would probably work there again if the industry picks up again, however there would have to be some changes in the way the company does things before I'd recommend it to a friend.

I was with Step for under 2 years. I watched Logistics division go from bad to worse. The manager stopped answering phone calls almost a year ago, hides in his office. The superintendent bullied and cornered me in the parking lot and wouldn't let me leave for days off until i gave him what he wanted. The manager showed no regard for my situation or anyone elses. Only reason i didnt go to HR is fear of job security.
NOTHING gets dealt with. You are a number and they make you think your not by bragging about a culture they had in 2011 until frac came along. Their replicon pay system is a rip off unless your buddies with someone in an office to tell you what to write in the comments to get compensated properly.
 Your complaints are thrown in a back room and forgotten about. They boast about a EEE (Exceptional Employee Experience), yet I dont know what that is, or where this unicorn experience is. Management in Red Deer is corrupt, Calgary is corrupt. FsJ and GP are the only places where your part of a team, and gets things done right. 

In a nutshell, if you want to feel left out, unappreciated, stressed out, unheard, disrespected, bullied, and lied to...this will be the place for you.

STEP Energy Services truly sticks to their core values, Safety, Trust, Execution, and Possibilities.  It is refreshing to work for a company that actually looks after their employees and listens to their clients needs and this is why they are excelling in their field and winning numerous awards. 

I am fairly new to STEP, but all the people in the office and technical center have welcomed me and helped me out. They are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable and I never feel intimidated to ask fellow professionals for help.

The executives are great people, all are down to earth and are focused on growing the company. They still find time to regularly visit the field and to the other service centers and it really makes you feel like they genuinely care about their employees and the company. There is a strong sense of community in STEP and it feels like everyone supports one another, even across divisions.  

This company is headed in the right direction and I could not be more excited to start a career with them and to be a part of the STEP family.

A typical day at work involves clocking in, going through the motions, and clocking out. Nothing too challenging or inspiring, just enough to pay the bills.

What I've learned is that the company has its priorities, which mostly revolve around the bottom line. They talk about employee well-being, but the follow-through is often lacking.

Management is hit or miss. Some team leads are supportive, but the higher-ups seem more concerned with numbers than people. No real sense of leadership.

Workplace culture is okay. People do their work and go home. There's no real camaraderie, but nobody's at each other's throats either. It's just lukewarm.

The hardest part of the job is feeling like just another cog in the machine. You're there to fulfill a role, and that's it. It doesn't feel like the work you're doing is contributing to anything meaningful.

The most enjoyable part? Probably the moments when you can share a laugh with a coworker. Those small interactions make the day bearable.

Overall, if you're looking to collect a paycheck and you're not too concerned about feeling fulfilled in your work, STEP Energy Services is a place to consider.

-A typical day, would be doing checks on gages, checks for leaks, reading monitors for gas leaks, checking on other employees for safety, rigging in, rigging out, doing in-hoe/out-hole pressures/operations, working with other contractors and keeping good communication, being safe, understanding, and keeping a good relationship, dealing with heights, I have learned a lot with this type of work even in the driving side, hooking up jeeps and boosters to a $3,000,000 reel trailer, and axel weights. My Co-workers were very good to work with, helped out a lot with learning, and working together as a team, Hardest part of this job would have to be if and when someone got hurt, assisting is first aid/responder, can be a bit of a shock at times.., also rig ins and rig outs where very physical and fast pasted, most enjoyable part of job was my co-workers working as a team, and learning more and more each and everyday.

When I first started at STEP it was very small definitely family company a few guys around we were always working great benefits good pay etc. Company started growing like it should and next thing we know boom 12 units and along cane Kamber take over which was ok. Then it wasn’t enough after that and the Timor’s started about GasFrac etc and the troubling question was will you stick to Coil and be a “premier Coil Company” like it was. Wrong again they started the downhill slide Gas Frac,Sanjel,Tucker etc and here it is another garbage frac company. Sad to see that the good start went into the toilet management issues and like may said buddy buddy system with the brown nosers could name a few of them but I won’t they know who they are. Also loved working BC but they also ruined that for me with all the constant travel from Red Deer to FSJ/Wonowon/Buckinghorse/ Hudson Hope loved working a 17-4 and getting paid for a 15-6

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Equipment technician 2 salaries reported	$50.00 per hour
Truck driver 8 salaries reported	$35.79 per hour
Heavy equipment mechanic 4 salaries reported	$54.00 per hour
Mechanic 3 salaries reported	$50.00 per hour
Lead operator 1 salary reported	$125,000 per year

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