A-Z Of Employers: Schlumberger

What does it do?

Although not a household name, Schlumberger is one of the big players in the oil and gas industry, providing the technology and services that the energy companies themselves need, to find the stuff, and get it out of the ground, both on land and at sea. The business began in 1927 when two French brothers, Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger, invented a technique to detect the presence of oil and gas in the earth's subsurface through the use of electrical measurements. Given the presence of oil and gas in most parts of the globe, it quickly became an international business, although the pronunciation of the name retains a French feel, with a soft "g" at the end. The move into the UK came in the 1960s when gas and oil was discovered in the North Sea.

Vital Statistics:

Schlumberger employs a total of 66,000 people, of more than 140 nationalities. They work in more than 80 countries, with a presence in just about every centre of oil and gas activity around the world.

The office:

Most of the UK's workforce of just under 4,000 are at the field operations centre in Aberdeen. Support work takes place in several other places, including Belfast, Southampton and Cambridge.

Is this you?

Around 200 graduate field engineers a year are hired from UK universities, mainly mechanical, electrical and chemical engineers, although any engineering or science degree is considered. No work experience is necessary. You'll have to be prepared to travel - most new recruits find themselves abroad within days of joining.

The recruitment process:

Online applications, at www.slb.com/careers, trigger a phone or on-campus interview, followed, for those who get through, by a one or two day assessment centre experience. Among the tasks here is a team game, a hands-on mechanical aptitude test, a mechanical written test and another interview. Training, approved by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, lasts about three years, and is split between formal classroom instruction (including geology, geophysics and familiarisation with job-specific equipment) for roughly 25 per cent of the time, and practical on the job training, conducted at the well site or oil rig. After 18 months, trainees attend basic management courses, covering personnel, financial and asset management.

Top Dollar?

Graduates start on £30,000 plus offshore and location-related bonuses, which reflect the arduous nature of the job. Thereafter, progression is rapid. After six to eight months, engineers should be on at least £50,000.

Beam me up Scotty?

After training, engineers working in the toughest locations might expect to be paid £90,000, filling positions covering operational and management roles.

Who's the boss?

Andrew Gould, a chartered accountant, is the chairman and CEO. He joined Schlumberger in 1975 from accountants Ernst and Young, having graduated in economic history at the University of Wales.

Little known fact:

Some of Schlumberger's sensor equipment used to monitor oil wells has been sent into space by Nasa to measure asteroid properties.

Next week: Scott Wilson, engineering consultants