Schlumberger Telephone Interview

[accord885]

Has anyone ever had one? What kind of typical questions can one expect?

[adamc]

which division are you interviewing for?

they will all be slightly different questions

[accord885]

Field Tech Specialist or whatever they call it.

[Audio_Rookie]

mwd guy eh.......

[accord885]

ya... thats the plan... any suggestions

[adamc]

this job posted anywhere?

I can never find good oilfield listings

[Audio_Rookie]

alot more info on www.performance-shop.com about this job. I have spoke with many people that work with schlum trying to get in but I don't have the qualifications so I am now working on that.

try the career section on that site, I think this question showed up once on there before.

[Oldskool]

The interview will probably be pretty basic,

what your education is,
any oilfeild experiance,
what your backround is,

then a couple of questions to make sure your not a retard, you shouldnt be worried about it.

[Graham_A_M]

LMAO, sound like you'll be working with me. I work at the Whitecourt office, I'm a "B.O.P." and "Pressure specialist", so it sounds very much like your headed towards cased hole operations.

PM me, I can pull some strings for you quite easily.

Also, a "tip" would be to find out all you can about what it means to be a Field tech specialist so you dont sound like an idiot over the phone. It helps a LOT to show that you've taken the time of your busy schedule to educate yourself about whatever position the employer would like to place you in.

Good luck otherwise:thumbsup:

[Penguin_Racecar]

If you're applying for a Field Specialist (MWD) position with Schlumberger let me know, I can tell you exactly what it's about. I see many new hires come through here too, so I have an idea of what's needed to become a MWD.
So PM me if you want more info.

[Oldskool]

Originally posted by Penguin_Racecar
so I have an idea of what's needed to become a MWD.


AKA watch the computer and flip on the playboy channel:thumbsup:

[Penguin_Racecar]

MWD stands for Movie Watching Dude :D

[Graham_A_M]

^ Neils is an awesome guy, if you have any questions ask him.

[accord885]

PM'd

[89coupe]

According to all the MWD guys on my site, Schlumberger is a shit hole to work for.:dunno:

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by 89coupe
According to all the MWD guys on my site, Schlumberger is a shit hole to work for.:dunno:

Who's out on your site right now?

[awd]

I work for slum too -- have this page open during your interview: http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/ -- will help you out quite a bit if your oilfield knowledge is lacking.

It also makes the recruiter happy if you know about the history of schlumberger and kind of services they provide.

[Lexxan]

schlumberger pays like shit and you're going to be stuck on long ass wells which sucks

[Oldskool]

Originally posted by 89coupe
According to all the MWD guys on my site, Schlumberger is a shit hole to work for.:dunno:

Ive heard that too, from a guy I work with who applied to be a MWD tech there

[adamc]

so, lexxan, tell us a bit more about the company you work for.


I'm a 3+ year rig vet, looking to change it up a little.

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by Lexxan
schlumberger pays like shit and you're going to be stuck on long ass wells which sucks


...... uh.... yeah...... most of my co-workers make in the mid to high five figure range if not early six figure range; if that constitutes as "poor pay" then they need a good head shake.

ANd how its a "shit hole" to work for is beyond me since they're industry known as one of the safest oil (based) companies in the world... that along with the profit sharing & benefit plans: how that all translates into a "bad workplace" is beyond me... honestly....

There are people leaving the company that have taken stock options and other profit sharing options; so after 20 - 30 years they walk away as millionaires. Its not uncommon... if your smart; work hard and loyal to the company.
One perk that is frickin AWESOME! is that if you designate up to 10% of your monthly earnings to an RRSP; Schlumberger will match that. So if your making $100k/year.... Thats an extra $10k every year that Schlumberger gives you as a no strings attached "perk". Somehow all that as well as numerous cash/ benefit perks doesn't add up to "poorly paying shithole"

:dunno:

[accord885]

Well the phone interview went well. Go in for a face to face on Monday or Tuesday.

[awd]

Originally posted by Lexxan
schlumberger pays like shit and you're going to be stuck on long ass wells which sucks

LOL, not all of us want to live on a rig 300+ days of the year. SLB pays me great and I sleep in my own bed every night.

[awd]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M



...... uh.... yeah...... most of my co-workers make in the mid to high five figure range if not early six figure range; if that constitutes as "poor pay" then they need a good head shake.

ANd how its a "shit hole" to work for is beyond me since they're industry known as one of the safest oil (based) companies in the world... that along with the profit sharing & benefit plans: how that all translates into a "bad workplace" is beyond me... honestly....

There are people leaving the company that have taken stock options and other profit sharing options; so after 20 - 30 years they walk away as millionaires. Its not uncommon... if your smart; work hard and loyal to the company.
One perk that is frickin AWESOME! is that if you designate up to 10% of your monthly earnings to an RRSP; Schlumberger will match that. So if your making $100k/year.... Thats an extra $10k every year that Schlumberger gives you as a no strings attached "perk". Somehow all that as well as numerous cash/ benefit perks doesn't add up to "poorly paying shithole"

:dunno:

You have to understand that most guys don't realize how valuable the stock options, profit sharing and retirement plan is -- no other company comes close.

[Supa Dexta]

Originally posted by accord885
Well the phone interview went well. Go in for a face to face on Monday or Tuesday.

What schooling do you have, and/or experience? I've just put out my resume to a bunch of places, no word back yet, but it's only been a few days.. I've got an electronics degree and a decent resume of past experience, although no oil related yet.. I may go get my courses as a step forward, I just wanted to throw out my resumes first and see if there were any bites... And if I don't hear anything back in the next couple of weeks, I'll likely head out with a buddy to work on a rig, and atleast get out there...

[accord885]

This is in responce to a application i send out 6months ago. I have a Mechanical Engineering Technologist Diploma. Have 5 Years of managment experiance and also Industrial Repair Exp.

Best advise is to apply in person. Works a lot better.

[Penguin_Racecar]

Schlumberger hires plenty plenty of people into the field with Electronics Degrees. A friend of mine works for SLB with his electronics engineering degree.

[Graham_A_M]

^ Any engineering degree will open a door for a "Field engineer" position. A lot of my co-workers are chemical engineers, mechanical, civil, electrical.. etc etc...

Let me know if anybody is interested since I can open quite a few doors on behalf of interested applicants.

[Supa Dexta]

sign me up!.. I'll pm you..

[awd]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M
^ Any engineering degree will open a door for a "Field engineer" position. A lot of my co-workers are chemical engineers, mechanical, civil, electrical.. etc etc...

Let me know if anybody is interested since I can open quite a few doors on behalf of interested applicants.

That and we get $3000 for new employee referrals - LOL.

And for Engineers they are not demanding a pinky ring either -- Geologists, Petrophysists and any other type of technical bach degree seem to be getting jobs too.

Field Specialists need a 2-3 yr technologist diploma (ie, petroleum, power, electrical, computers, chemical, etc)

[Dave P]

Do any Schlumberger workers work in sales?

pm me

:D

[Graham_A_M]

^ yeah they do, but you need a quite a bit of knowledge on behalf of what ever division of the company your working with. Basically, the role of a salesman in the company (as far as the divisions that I know of are concerned) is to speak on behalf of Schlumberger towards these oil field clients. Such (for an example) lets say Shell Canada wanted two of their wells to be logged; since they need to know what the "mud perosity" is, and to see where certain gas pockets, and differing rock formations are: so they'd know where to drill, where not to drill, to see if there is still hope of finding oil in a given well or not.... and so on and on.
Given a comprehensive knowledge of the logging tools we have (and which districts have what) they'd need to give cost estimates and details in regards to whats the best 'mode of action' we can give the client. As well as what kind of discounts we could potentially offer in regards to being a more suprerior choice over the competition.
Needless to say it would be really important to know exactly what all the tools do, and what can be used in place of what, as well as how it would all come together to best serve the clients needs. So I think a person would have to have a fair share of experience in the wireline division, or fracting division (etc etc) to be able to be well suited for the job as a "salesperson"

Hopefully that answers your question.

[adamc]

most calgary oil and gas "sales" jobs are highly technical.

since the majority of the time you are selling a SERVICE rather than a tangible product.

since the processes in this business are often speculative, and based on good educated guesses, sales people are often required to have engineer level knowledge of the specific service they are selling.

suffice to say, it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to walk into these jobs. to get into marketing (drilling rig contracting) with my company, you are pretty much required to have 15-20 years of field experience.

this is quite common, lots of guys that have spent a long time in the field move into the office eventually.

[Graham_A_M]

^ I'm surpised you dont do that, or at least become a "Consultant" since they make idiotic coin as well.

[adamc]

I am trying to :thumbsup:

Consultants are very well paid, I'm just not a numbers guy, never did well in Math, would have a tough time working through the more technical parts of petroleum engineering..

Sales is where I want to be..

Unfortunately I am finding out that I don't have enough experience for a lot of these jobs that I am looking at..

In addition to the experience, a lot of these jobs are requiring
an already established network of potential clients/customers.. I just recently moved here, so that's kind of hard. :)



What I am doing though is contacting people I want to work for and getting all the information straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

Heads of HR, division presidents, etc, etc.
I happen to have a lunch meeting with one of the heads of a very large drilling contractor, on tuesday, and he will hopefully be willing to give me some guidance on obtaining the job I'm after.

[awd]

Sales jobs technical? LOL, not really man.

I know more than a few sales guys/girls that have less than 1-2 years experience in the field -- if they don't know something when talking to a client, which happens daily, they just make a phone call.

[awd]

Originally posted by adamc
I am trying to :thumbsup:

Consultants are very well paid, I'm just not a numbers guy, never did well in Math, would have a tough time working through the more technical parts of petroleum engineering..

Sales is where I want to be..

Unfortunately I am finding out that I don't have enough experience for a lot of these jobs that I am looking at..

In addition to the experience, a lot of these jobs are requiring
an already established network of potential clients/customers.. I just recently moved here, so that's kind of hard. :)



What I am doing though is contacting people I want to work for and getting all the information straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

Heads of HR, division presidents, etc, etc.
I happen to have a lunch meeting with one of the heads of a very large drilling contractor, on tuesday, and he will hopefully be willing to give me some guidance on obtaining the job I'm after.

Most Consultants are glorified office administrators -- all they do is coordinate services, follow a program and make sure no one gets killed.

[Supa Dexta]

A friend of mine who mwd's, originally got a name at haliburton to contact. He had his interview and all that, and they then asked him to go start his own "business" and come back to them. So after an initial 3k or so investment to set up his own business legally, it allowed him to be a consultant to haliburton, with hardly any of the drawbacks. He didn't have to move, He can take time off when he wants.. etc.. It had something to do with haliburton not wanting him as a full time employee, for labour rules, something about having to have 70-80% of their workforce on at all times maybe... And this was without any experience, they trained him and everything.. He's now trying to get me some tips to break into this industry.. heres hoping,

[adamc]

awd, maybe not for slb?

I don't know, every sales person I've run into (mostly drilling side of things, some service)
has been in the field for a bunch of years.

I know precision and nabors, the biggest drilling contractors, have marketing and sales departments made entirely up of ex-field supervisors, engineers, etc etc.

So it's almost impossible for somebody like myself, with only a diploma, and 4 years in the field, to walk into one of those positions.

But we'll see, I guess, the oil business is all nepotism and luck anyhow.

[Graham_A_M]

Well Adam, my bosses and Field engineers (to a lesser extent) deal with sales people, so Ill find out whats required and get back to you. The pay is pretty damn good:D

[fast&dangr]

Uh, $100 000 for 1 month on, 7 days off not including travel days IS shit money. Go wait tables at Swiss Chalet - you'll make more and be home every night.

[Supa Dexta]

say what? are you counting your zero's? there is no one at swiss chalet making 100k a yr, managers included...all of them together even...

:rofl:

[accord885]

Well the interview went well. We'll see what becomes of it. What other companys in Alb. do directional drilling? Know if any are hiring?

[Penguin_Racecar]

Who was your telephone interview with?

[accord885]

They had a 3rd party company do the interview cant remember the company's name. Then had a face to face with a blond guy in recruiting on the 3rd floor. Went pretty well I think

[Supa Dexta]

So I just signed up for h2s, which first aid course is recommended?

Saint John Ambulance Emergency Level First Aid
Saint John Ambulance Standard First Aid

one of those? this is thru enform....

EDIT nevermind, those courses aren't on until january.. :rolleyes:

must be other places though.

[awd]

Originally posted by fast&dangr
Uh, $100 000 for 1 month on, 7 days off not including travel days IS shit money. Go wait tables at Swiss Chalet - you'll make more and be home every night.

MWD's make a fuck of alot more than 100K/yr...

[fast&dangr]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
say what? are you counting your zero's? there is no one at swiss chalet making 100k a yr, managers included...all of them together even...

:rofl:

you would if you worked 1 month on 1 week off, 12 hour shifts. You'd probably break 6 figs on tips alone - tax free, putting you way ahead of some schlub on wages. Thats alot of hours. Making 100k is easy. Working 3300+ hours a year is not. Nor is it worth it. It works out to about $30/hr. You could make that on 40% less hours working as an operator at Bumcore polishing dials all day. I dont care, go bust your ass for money you could easily make elsewhere in the oilpatch. HD Mechs are pulling up to $34.50 up north and on a springboard, you work as much or as little as you want.

[mvprimate]

For all you Schlumberger MWD's, I was just wondering if you get tool specific bonuses. I talked to a Sperry Sun guy and he said he gets extra daily bonuses depending on what tools he is running or if he is training someone. He also said resistivity are some of the best paying but also more work (your out there anyways right, so why not), is this the same for schlumb?