Good place to start in the oilfield - MWD Engineer SLB Employee Review

3.0
Oct 1, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Excellent training. Very good R&D providing some of the best tools in the industry. If you are willing to sacrifice you can advance quickly in the company. You will "see the world" whether you want to or not, haha. Money in the oilfield is better than most industries. Salaries at Schlum are comparable to its competitors.

Cons

Forget about a home life. The company strives to take over every aspect of your life- before long you will only know people who work for big blue. If you start to get comfortable in a location (ie. settling down), expect to be immediately uprooted and moved to the other side of the world. Management rotates constantly in each location. Part of this seems to be so that management and field personnel don't become too attached to each other- makes it easier to downsize when business slows.

Explore other reviews about SLB

5.0
Feb 9, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Smart people, good benefits, and world wide opportunity

Cons

Salary market compensation could be slow

1.0
Jun 17, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good people at the local level. The work is engaging and challenging.

Cons

Too many to count. Career advancements are extremely limited. Pay raises are minimal and don't get close to keeping up with inflation even for top performers. At the corporate level they are using acquisitions to hide massive layoffs. They return billions in profit to investors consistently, but there is still a constant threat of layoffs and multiyear freezes on pay raises even with inflation and solid corporate profit.

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