First interview was on campus a few weeks after Career Day (Feb/March 2015). A few weeks later, I received an email saying that I passed the first interview but since oil prices had dropped so low they wouldn't be doing second interviews until the fall. Recieved an email in early October and was scheduled for the onsite at the end of October.
A week before the interview, I was emailed my travel information and assigned a group of 4 for a presentation on a service line. One person dropped out early. The afternoon of the day before (~4pm) I received an email saying that two more people had been added to our presentation group. Since we had already finished the presentation, we redistributed the slides and the two new people had to research and finalize their slide that evening. We finalized the presentation the next day in Midland, TX about 20 minutes before the group meeting with all the recruiters and interviewees- definitely a time crunch!
We were in a conference room in the hotel from 6pm that evening until 3:10 am with the two recruiters and twenty something interviewees from a variety of schools (Colorado School of Mines, UPenn, WVU, Carnegie Mellon). Lots of Petroleum engineering majors, but also Chemical and Environmental. During these 9 hours, the recruiters did icebreakers, powerpoints on different segements and their lifestyle/schedules. In between, different groups would do their presentations and the recruiters would follow up with questions and then do their own presentation to fill in any gaps. If they thought your group did good then they would skip it (saves time!). They though our group did a particularly good job- I would strongly recommend downloading the Oilfield Review app by Schlumberger and reading the introductory articles. Sometime around midnight/1ish we did a teamwork game where you had to build a tower to hold up a marshmellow with coffee straws, tape, and spaghetti. In the middle they switched people around to keep you on your toes and make sure one person wasn't doing all the work.
Also- we didn't eat dinner until around 9pm, so definetely eat at the airport/bring snacks. I didn't and I was starving by then. The hotel set up a buffet for us.
The next day we left the hotel by 8am. First we went to one of Schlumberger's offices and talked to some engineers there. Next, we went to one of their field operation central stations where we talked to more engineers and they showed us a bunch of equipment and trucks, as well as a new cement mixing facility. We also had about an hour + where we just got to ask 3 of the engineers any questions about being a field engineer/working at schlumberger without the recruiters being present- good because you could ask honest questions without it potentially counting against you. We were supposed to go to a well site but they didnt have enough PPE. Went to lunch at a chinese buffet, and then headed back to the hotel and had exit interviews. For these, you had to pick your top 3 segements and locations and then explain to the recruiter why you picked what and ask any remaining questions. Last, we went to a steak dinner place 7-~10pm, some of the engineers we had met earlier joined us. After we returned to the hotel, some of the interviewees stayed and had more drinks with the recruiters at the hotel bar until ~11. Caught a shuttle the next morning back to the airport.
All in all, a good interview. They were very honest about the life of a field engineer and didn't try to sugar coat it. Make sure you get a good night sleep at least the night before you fly out- they are definitely seeing who can handle themselves with little sleep (gotta pay attention! Try to ask questions, joke around/talk with the other interviewees!). Make sure your presentation is prepared, and you understand the techniques. Make sure everything you put on the slide is correct- no bsing, theyll catch it.
