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Summer 2017

Summer Diaries: Schlumberger II

July 19, 2017
- Shubham Vij

About

Schlumberger is the world’s largest oilfield service sector company which is divided into various segments (Slickline, Wireline, Drilling & Measurement etc). Schlumberger covers a vast multitude of nationalities and you’ll find engineers from almost every discipline working in some sector or the other at Schlumberger.

Selection Procedure

Schlumberger generally comes in the month of August and there are 3 rounds an aspirant has to go through before he/she can make it as an intern there. The first round is basically resume based shortlisting. The chances of making it to the list increase, for people who are involved in various extracurricular activities ( Sports, Groups, Fests etc. ) and the chances further increase if you have certain Position of Responsibility ( POR’s) under your belt.

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The second round involves a group discussion in which the Schlum people gauge you on your ability to drive a conversation, your speaking skills and how valid and supported your points are. The GD involves abstract topics (tick mark, parallel lines, a dot etc.), so as such no preparation is required for the GD. Just go in with an open mind!

The final round is the Personal Interview, which comprises of some standard questions. Taking into consideration my PI experience, they didn’t ask me any specific questions. It was more like a general talk when you meet a random person and you tell him about the stuff you do.

But still, keep 2-3 points in mind when you face your PI. Tell them about your leadership skills and team working abilities and be confident about the stuff you have on your CV ( Resume).

Life at Schlumberger

At the start (irrespective of your segment), all the interns gather in Mumbai for a 3-day induction programme. The induction programme includes an introduction to the Oil and Gas field, and we are made sensitive towards the various safety measures we need to follow during our jobs.

After the orientation, everyone is sent to their allotted location, where they are assigned their mentor, FSM (Field Service Manager) and a Field Guide from whom we have to extract as much information as possible about the industry. I was assigned Vadodara as my field location and my segment was Wireline (WL). After a week I was sent to Barmer (Rajasthan) where I spent almost a month and then returned back to Vadodara. Work at Schlumberger is quite hectic, 7 days working, no fixed timings and every day is a challenge. It is certainly not a run-of-the-mill cubicle job. At its base, it involves exploration and people at Schlumberger are extremely efficient in what they pursue. Coming to my projects, my first project was depth tension analysis of Cerus (.xml) files in which I had to write a code to calculate the total number of Jars for subsequent runs in a well subject to certain stipulations. It’s a Slickline project and you’ll understand more once you get acquainted with the field. My second project was to analyse and improvise the Process Flow Diagrams for Explosives, Handling Radioactive Sources, Service Delivery, New Employee Orientation and analysing Jarring Data. These were some of the action items of the Barmer Base which were closed marked by the completion of my project. The third project which I did, was conducting an Employee Satisfaction survey for the employees of the Barmer Base. This is when for the first time the topics we studied in our courses at the campus (Market Research Course) came to our rescue. A questionnaire was floated among the employees of the Barmer Base. At its core, my project involved analysing the responses and giving the best possible solutions to enhance the satisfaction levels of the employees

Apart from the Base projects, we also have Rig visits/ Field Visits (Rigless Jobs) where we get to see and get our hands dirty with the actual oilfield stuff. There are a variety of jobs in the Wireline Segment and field visits are an essential part of the intern which makes it easier for you to decide whether you are a good fit for Schlumberger. For those of you who are enterprising, sporty, love to face challenges, and can work 24X7 without exhaustion, then it’s the right place for you. Intern at Schlumberger is an altogether different experience; it’s an experience of a new lifestyle, the lifestyle of the oil industry.

Food, accommodation, travel and other facilities are provided for by Schlumberger and you’ll not have any complaints with the basic necessities. Apart from that, throughout your intern, you’ll be travelling a lot, and exploring new places which you’ll probably never visit during your lifetime.

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Takeaways and Advice

The internship is basically a long term interview process for the company and a good opportunity for you to decide the kind of life you want to live. Life here is away from all social circles, away from family and you may feel lonely at times. Your crew and the office staff is your family at Schlumberger.

People who aim for a job at Schlumberger need to build their leadership skills. Apart from academics, they need to get involved in the activities which are going on in the campus, take initiatives, work on them and be proactive. Enhancing your organisational skills and developing your communication skills is a must. In addition to this, you should also be able to handle emergencies when confronted by them.These are the qualities which the company looks out for when it comes for recruitments.

For any further questions and clarifications, you are free to approach me at any time!