software engineer

machine technician

process engineer

petroleum engineer

field technician

For the TL;DR version please skip to the bottom.

Worked as a laboratory technician with the largest oilfield services company in the world. Shifts are 12 hours long, and most labs give the option to work longer or on your days off if the lab is busy and you want to. Typical rotation is either (on/off): 6/2 - 6/3 or 7/2 - 7/4 depending on your location. You will work a 90 day probation period with an employment agency (I believe Elwood Staffing is the one they use now), after which you will roll over and have full benefits. 

A typical day involves coming in, doing turnover with the previous shift, and spending the rest of your day doing laboratory testing to either create and design or QA/QC test fracturing fluids, cement systems, and occasionally other systems such as muds, drilling fluids, spacers, etc. As you move up you will eventually be tasked with additional responsibilities such as inventory, equipment maintenance, training, etc. Very interesting at first as you try to ingest the insane amount of knowledge required by the job, but quickly becomes mundane after you learn it all. 

The job environment is very typical of any oilfield environment. There is never any job security with any oilfield related job. If you need something that is always guaranteed or stable, this is not the company for you. It's either boom or bust. That said, when the oilfield is booming, you will be on your feet moving and working for 12+ hours per day for up to a week straight. Very little time to sit or rest. Definitely takes some adjustment if this is your first job in the oilfield. The lab is great for short term progression (ranked LTT - LT3), but very poor afterwards. The overwhelming vast majority of everyone who moves up into higher positions including sales, finance, logistics, management, operations, etc. almost all exclusively come from field occupations (Field supervisors and field engineers specifically). If you have any degree (regardless of major) you can qualify as a field supervisor. I would very much recommend pursuing that career path if you intend to make a long term career out of the oilfield. Field engineers are typically limited specifically to engineering majors (any type). 

Work environment or management is very hit or miss. Some places have great management that are very friendly and look out for all of their employees interest, other places have horrible managers that are either lazy, incompetent, or are only looking out for their own self interests. Most places unfortunately seem to fall under the later category. This isn't all too surprising as the oilfield is one of the last few "good old boys club" type work environments left in the industry. Either you are good at sucking d*ck and can remain in favor of management, or you aren't and your career will very quickly be thrown under the bus. 

Benefits with Schlumberger are amazing! Hourly pay is among the highest in the industry for most positions. Full insurance (health, vision, dental), employee discounts on numerous brands and things (clothes, cars, food, computers, vacations, cruises, etc), tuition reimbursement (when the oilfield is booming, this gets cut back though when the oilfield is going bust), gym / fitness reimbursement, 401K, discounted stock purchase plan, free food (location and job specific), free housing (location & job specific when the oilfield is booming), all training and safety equipment (boots, coveralls, etc) are 100% provided by the company, company computer, personal company vehicle use (management positions only), company phone (location / job specific), and employee credit union. If you move up high enough in the company they still offer a traditional old fashion pension plan from what I hear.

TL;DR for the lazy:
Overall the workplace was enjoyable, but hours are long and require a lot of stamina. (You are on your feet 12+ hours per day). I've made great friends and had really nice coworkers. The job itself became rather mundane and repetitive after a while. There is poor career progression in the lab, I wish I had gone in as a field engineer or field supervisor trainee. They get better benefits and much better career progression. I initially accepted to "get my foot in the door" and became stuck as they virtually never allow transfers out of the lab. (They have a hard time getting qualified people in there in the first place.) Benefits are amazing, but as with any oilfield job there is no job security. Management is very hit or miss. Some places have great management, most don't. Made over 6 figures salary & 5 figures in additional benefits my first year on the job and every year since.

I was a legacy employee from a company SLB bought in 2009. From day one I was given more and more responsibility and roles told that I was their number one priority. I was given (1) cost of living raise in the 7 following years and the only other pay change I ever received was actually a net loss for me when I went from hourly to salaried. 

Upper management does NOT care about the employees. There are upper management policies that stop upper management from caring. It's a very bifurcated company between the employees who receive "PIP" and those who do not. PIP is Performance Incentivizing Program, or something of the like. It's the bonus structure. Even though I was a salaried employee in reasonably high level of management at our site, I somehow never qualified for it, yet people who worked the shop floor and were hourly employees did somehow qualify. 

The entire experience made me come to hate that company and the only reason I stayed as long as I did was because I loved the people I worked with. 

The benefits were expensive and not very good. The 401K program while reasonably generous in company contribution, was run poorly and with a shoddy company with very poor accessibility by the employee and with very poor ability to have a say in how your monies were invested. Vacation policy was AWFUL and I resented it. Pay was ALWAYS a point of contention with everyone. It was invariably low for the field. 

Safety policies are utterly draconian to the point that production is haulted on a daily basis all in the name of keeping safety numbers up so that Management can meet requirements for their PIP. 

I mean regulating the way employees descend stair cases? Like office building stair cases. Not rig stairs or ships ladders. It was way over the top. 

If it weren't for the people around me at my facility I'd have left a very long time ago.

A typical day starts with sending an update detailing what my responsibilities will be for the day, then into 3ds Max or After Effects (depending on which point in the overall process I'm currently involved in) and rendering, sending images to my supervisor for review. Typically, all communication is done via email and/or by the interoffice communicator (Lync), leaving extremely sparse face-to-face interaction.

I've learned how to prioritize, working on many projects at once, and how to figure out what is necessary when it's not exactly stated. I've also learned how to deal peaceably when there's very little constructive vision, needing to infer from past projects and other standards what is desired.

Most of my coworkers are very kind and genuine people. Sometimes things get spread or amplified concerning my performance without direct conversation with myself but that's never affected performance or interpersonal/professional relationships.

The hardest part of the job is probably the long hours without interaction with other people, despite having conversations or review with them via email or Lync. It affords no means of understanding the intended inflection of the person reviewing. "Sure" may be honest passive approbation or dismissive acquiescence. "That's good for now" may mean it's actually a good product or that it's merely acceptable for the moment, until we've more time to correct any glaring mistakes which may not be germane to the project's need at the moment.

The most enjoyable part of the job is working with other departments, seeing how they operate, what they need, and breaking up the erstwhile monotony of a settled working environment.

A day starts out at a man camp in ND.  We have out meal either dinner or breakfast depending on the shift.  We pack our food and head out to location.  Ride there normally will take anywhere from 15 min to 2 hours depending on the location.  We do out swap out with the other maintenance crew and we sign into the command trailer.  We review the hand over notes from the other shift.  Do any repairs and need them.  We walk the equipment and make sure that all is running as it should.  We lesson to the well site radio and respond to any issues that may come up.  

What have i learned from being out in the field.  Is how to identify the problem very quickly and to fix the problem quickly. Even if its not the proper fix but fixed enough to finish the job.  And when time allows to fix the problem then.  

My electronic maintenance mangers are the best.  They are not afraid to stand up and get out back with the bosses in the office.  Even thou they do there best.  I have the up most respect for what they do.  

When in the field you develop and certain bond.  We are all like brothers.  Here the work is very dangerous and deadly.  So we always watch each others backs.  Last thanksgiving we were snowed in and strained on location and we had a make shift thanksgiving dinner.  We are that close.  It was a wonderful moment that I hope will never forget.  

The hardest past is a double edge sword.  One side we may go days with no issues and boredom is something we have to deal with.  And the other side of the coin is there always something breaking down. I think to be personally, the hardest part of this job is being away from my two daughters.   That right there is hardest part.  

The most enjoyable part is getting my last re leaf on location before going on days off and climbing into that plane at the airport.  To me that's the best part.

good: plenty of freedom on work schedule and topic. many good scientists

bad: Project funding frequently determined through 'old-boy', ethnic, and nationality based networks. Incompetent and poor performers are retained while many competent and productive employees have been fired. This happens because some managers are better connected than others and can preserve their group/department headcounts regardless of employee qualifications and performance (lack of accountability and serious review from above local site management). Many projects are funded for >10 yrs with no significant progress; in some of these cases there are multiple, redundant projects. Ethics is not a professional factor in SLB. Too much universal application of policy regardless of whether the policy makes sense in individual context. Experience gained outside of SLB is meaningless. SLB trained personnel with fractional experience and limited education will determine whether you are qualified to do things that you've been doing for 15 years. They will argue that this makes sense because experience makes you complacent. Much asylum management by inmates (e.g. labs and other facilities managed by people with high school as their highest educational level). Quality of infrastructure, working environment, and support varies radically from location to location. Places visited frequently by CEO or other top level executives are much nicer than places that are less frequently visited.

At Schlumberger, working at the Midland, TX Wireline facility, the area is very easy to get to, good co-workers (operators and engineers and technicians).  A typical day consists of a morning safety meeting (Monday through Friday) with "Warm-up to Work" consisting of stretches followed by getting various tools that need maintenance performed upon them into the shop, reviewing the required and performing maintenance according to the various publications and maintenance manuals.  Once the maintenance is done, move the tools to their allocated location(s) to await the next job.  Training is part OTJ (on the job) and some of it is classroom with hands on and safety gear is provided and / or available as needed or required.  There isn't any really hard things to the job if you know how to follow directions, read manuals and schematics as well as use various electrical meters for measurements.  It is enjoyable to see lots of tools waiting to get processed and at the end of the day when the 'lots' has become little or none to be processed.  There are no set time for breaks.  You take a break as you need as long as you get the job(s) done in a timely manner. Lunch is typically a one hour break.

"If you don't like it, there's the door." That's the typical phrase you hear thrown around. Employee appreciation is practically non-existent. If you think working hard, putting in extra hours, being on time, never calling in, going above and beyond is going to get you anywhere ahead of the typical lazy incompetent co-worker, you are mistaken. This company seems to have a thing for forcing good, quality employees out the door and retaining people who can barely tie their own laces. Kind of reminds me of the military. Micro-management is king. The promotion process is a joke. It sounds good when they sell it to you but when you actually see it in action it's a different story. When I first started I could have told you what a typical day entailed. Not anymore. In fact every time I come back from my weekend I have to sift through dozens of emails explaining to me the latest rule changes, schedule changes, supervisor changes, crew changes, etc. It is schizophrenic and it is constantly changing. And 95% percent of the time they are not good changes. The actual job itself is great. I love it. The pay is pretty good. The benefits are average. And....I just got moved to a different crew as I was typing this review. The work is probably comparable with any other oil field company. I would look at one that values their employees a little more.

Working under pressure is a must with Schlumberger. The job demands top notch attention to all the projects running during a typical day. As an office support engineer, remote troubleshooting has to be done on a minute base, Solutions need to be found to minimize the none productive time. Tool programs are send every hour, and have to be checked for errors before initiation and results/ feedback must be sent to the field in a very fast pace. Reports must be created for every task and must be presented daily.

Working in the OSC ( Office Support Center), I acquired a few skills, such as working under extreme pressure, multitasking, quality reporting, quality checking, efficient troubleshooting and adaptability to different projects and environments. 

Team work is very important at the OSC. In Fact, it won't be possible to efficiently find all the solutions with out a good support team as the tasks and experiences of each engineer/project are very different and frequent.

The most rewarding part of the job at the OSC is finding complicated solutions knowing that the day was saved for some engineer out in the field and that the client is happy with our performance.

Schlumberger was a good company to start one's career right out of college, being that the company is well respected in the Oil and  Gas industry; serving as a good reputable company to build one's resume. The company was pretty flexible in the work schedule, being able to come into work between 7 and 11 pretty much, specifics depending upon the arrangement with one's manager. This flexible set up is great for working adults in school and those with children. Schlumberger is not the company for quick career advancement, for they will keep a person in a position for 10 plus years without any promotion. You are definitely in charge of your own career, you will need to literally fight your way to the top unless you know someone in high places. There are several lateral movements that occur in the company with no pay increases nor bonuses of any kind. In addition, many benefits have been cut as a result of the decline in the oil industry. No tuition reimbursement, vacation not allowed to roll over(which is diffult in the mist of an increase in work and decrease in workers) and reduction in company appreciation events(Holiday parties, other celebratory events). Overall very demotivating environment, low wages and other incentives.

I had a very bad experience with this company. Because I had an engineering degree I was hired as a salaried employee. As we typically worked 94+ hrs a week this did not work in my favor. I did not receive overtime like my fellow workers. My manager figured out it was a lot less expensive to send me out than my hourly colleagues.  I spent 300 days in the field in 2014, twice the amount of time that my colleagues did and still managed to make around 60K less. 
       A typical liner hanger installation would typically take about 36 hrs. from start to finish. We would be up for that whole time except for a few hours that we got to sleep in our truck. I was once up for four days straight on a trouble job.
       I had approximately 5-6 managers in my 3 years with the company. The stress level was very high and nobody lasted. After 2-1/2 years at my location I was the most senior employee. Our segment failed to make any money even when oil was trading above 100 dollars per barrel. I contribute this to very poor management. We were a new segment to the company that required a long term approach for growth but management was very short sighted. They couldn't retain employees and lost millions of dollars paying for mistakes made in the field.
        I enjoyed the company of my co-workers. We were all played off when the price of oil collapsed.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Software engineer 4 salaries reported	$109,148 per year
Machine technician 4 salaries reported	$35.00 per hour
Process engineer 1 salary reported	$45.00 per hour
Petroleum engineer 3 salaries reported	$116,667 per year
Field technician 1 salary reported	$33.50 per hour

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