Pros
Schlumberger does actually try very hard to take care of its employees and official policies give employees many opportunities that would be very difficult to find in other companies. Schlumberger has not only has plans in place to help employees move to locations around the world, but encourages this type of movement within the company. The health care, dental, retirement and stock purchase plan actually seem to do a very effective job at helping all employees get the most out of their pay. There are career development plans that are reviewed yearly and personal goals and objectives set to help employees actually grow as people as well as grow within the company. From what I have seen, this is taken very seriously by everyone and is not just empty words and promises, but actual commitment to keeping employees happy. Overall, Schlumberger is a good place to start a career.
Cons
There is a culture in Schlumberger to continually improve processes and limit mistakes by keeping track of mishaps and hazards no matter how small. While this is a good thing on the surface, this generally leads to policies and standard procedures to be changed without enough thought on how the changes will effect other areas. This tends to lead to continual modification of polices that counter each policies' effectiveness. One oddity that this has led to is a company wide requirement that all employees back their cars into parking spaces when parking. No joke, there was a problem with people backing out when leaving and not paying enough attention so they force people to back in, or at least pull forward when leaving. In addition to having parking policies, everyone in Schlumberger is required to pass a 'Commentary Drive' driving test that requires employees drive a car around with a trainer and tell them what they are doing the entire time ( like: "Im looking in my rearview mirror, there is a car behind me that may be following to close" ). This would make sense if it were require of individuals where driving on company time, however, it applies to everyone that has a drivers license.
