Pooja

Yes, yes I can

Based on her career experience so far, Pooja has learned that she can do more than she ever thought she could.

One week Pooja was proudly holding her new Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree. The next week she was starting employment with Schlumberger. And the next, she was flying to Nigeria for a field assignment. Soon after, she had her first offshore experience plus three months of training in Abu Dhabi.

After further field experience in the North Sea, Pooja landed at the Stonehouse product center, UK, where she does engineering and sustaining on the same tools she had used offshore. “Working on technologies that I used to run as a field engineer makes me so much more aware of the impact my changes will have in the field.” The two perspectives have also doubled Pooja’s admiration for the technologies. “One of my projects involves sustaining a drilling dynamics tool that tells you, in real time, the downhole drilling conditions. The technology is very cool, and the fact that it works at downhole temperatures and pressures is impressive.”

Schlumberger has given Pooja multiple chances to step out of her comfort zone. “I’ve worked in environments I never would have experienced otherwise, and with people I would not have encountered. I don’t think I have had two days that have been the same. Spontaneity comes with the job.”

In her experience, gender is less of an issue than it was in the past. “The generations before us paved the way for us to work in a much more equal workspace. You can see this reflected in the industry and in Schlumberger.”

Pooja has one main piece of advice, as much for herself as for new employees: “You can do more then you think you can. If you put yourself in a challenging situation, you will be amazed to see what you can achieve, so for anyone thinking, ‘Can I do this?’, in most situations, the answer is probably, ‘Yes, yes, I can.’”