National Oilwell Varco Reviews

Current Employee – been working at National Oilwell Varco full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great to learn experience and relaxed dress code

Cons – Low paying and almost too relaxed culture

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at National Oilwell Varco full-time for less than a year

Pros – good money. low pace, a lot of traveling

Cons – no direction, boring, inefficient projects

Current Employee – been working at National Oilwell Varco full-time for more than a year

Pros – Awesome projects. Diversified work in manufacturing.

Cons – "Office space" but not funny.... mismanagement run-amuck.

Advice to Senior Management – The GM is awesome! Middle management is abysmal.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at National Oilwell Varco full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Strong and growing company. Great people to work with.

Cons – Because it is a large corporation use caution and do thorough research before applying to this company. NOV is made up many small and large companies with diverse environments or cultures.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep up the good work.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at National Oilwell Varco full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Will take just about anyone with a degree.

Cons – Pay is second to last in similar position at other similar companies. So big it is completely disorganized.

Advice to Senior Management – You get what you pay for. Anyone that is mildly good at what the do always leave for more pay...

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at National Oilwell Varco full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Excellent strategic focus and good at keeping to their core business. Good financial position, executive management and position in the industry. Good resource base in materials, facilities and people.

Cons – Middle management does not see or share the vision.Lack of business process management tools, methods and inconsistent execution. Not good at adopting best practice from other companies or industries. Too much chrony-ism.

Advice to Senior Management – The Chiefs need to look over there sholulder to be sure the tribe is still following their direction.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at National Oilwell Varco full-time for more than a year

Pros – All about the people - go to great lengths to retain good workers in recession, and to minimize layoffs during acquisitions

Cons – Very mom and pop culture...not very advanced or "mature" when it comes to policies, standardization, and technology.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at National Oilwell Varco full-time for less than a year

Pros – They are great at understanding that family comes first, therefore vacation requests and days off are never a problem, provided that you have them available. They reimburse your college tuition at the end of the semester but you must pay for it up front first and you must have a C or better in all classes. Health insurance is priced comfortably and 401k is easy to set up.

Cons – Low pay is the biggest con, even for those who have been with the company for 5+ years. Few or no employee reviews or assessments and no promising career in general, especially for new grads. Low bonus pay, even when quarterly profits are impressive, especially for hourly employees. Average age for employees at our location is about 45, the newer generation looks around for a better offer pretty quickly. A lot of people have been quitting at our location lately.

Advice to Senior Management – Really good employees are hard to come by, pay better and match or exceed an offer when they present it at the time or resignation.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at National Oilwell Varco full-time for more than a year

Pros – Laid back work environment allowing employees to work at their own pace.

Cons – Too laid back that I wonder how in the world can they ever complete anything on time.

Advice to Senior Management – Take the reign and change to a more structured culture.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at National Oilwell Varco full-time

Pros – - Decent benefits
- Very good and talented co-workers below the management level.
- Overtime opportunities
- Pretty flexible when it comes to taking leave or family emergencies.

Cons – * Im not sure about other facilities, just what Ive observed from this one over the years*
- Notorious for lack of advancement opportunities. There are people here that truly do want to move up within the company but they either get sabatoged/blocked by their Supervisors or they just hire someone from the outside without any knowledge of the position.
- "Good ol boy" system: There are many cases of favoritism and bias within the ranks. Its not what you know, but who you know. Management will hire friends or their friend's kids in positions they have no experience in.
- Ultra low morale: The attitude on the floor is that there is zero incentive to go above and beyond and to just put in your 8 to 12 hours. There isnt any investment with the workers, if someone quits, they'll just hire people off the street for a low wage.
- Low wages: This is the main reason that turn over is so high at this particular facility. There was a freeze on wages a couple years ago and there was chatter about bringing this facility up to other NOV's but that has not happened. Unfortunately, we've lost so many good people over the years from top to bottom because of this. In recent years, they cant even keep new hires and they will quit in short order.
- Production over Safety: This is prolly the biggest problem Ive seen. They claim safety trumps production but that is a farce. This is an aging facility from the 1960's-1970's with infrastructure that is outdated and obsolete. The machines on the floor are very old and are fixed to just get the job done. There are many machines in which the emergency brakes do not work, have improper guards, and heavily leak oil. They aquire machines and tools at the cheapest price/quality possible. OSHA would seriously have a field day with all the discrepancies and safety hazards here. The management is more concerned with rushing out the product regardless if its within specifications or if the equipment works or not.
- Zero input from below management level.

Advice to Senior Management – It is time to get some new blood in upper management. All of the old guard, so to speak, are very set in their ways and cling onto ideas and principals that are not relevant now. I am adamant that to fix most of the cons listed above, the current regime needs to retire and be replaced. Corporate needs to give this place and its inner workings/policies a good hard look and act accordingly. This facility could very well have the potential to be the brightest star in the Houston area but will remain the dimmest if these outdated policies continue. We certainly have very good and loyal workers here but if the management could care less, then neither will they.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend