Halliburton
 

has anyone tried getting a job with the company? If you have what was the process like for you.

I interviewed with them about two weeks ago and was offered the job, which I declined. Here's why:

First, be prepared for EVERYONE to have an opinion about the company. I had four interviews, and nobody said a word about any of the other companies, but everybody had something to say about Halliburton.

Which side are you interviewing for? I was looking at KBR.

A couple interesting things about my interview, which affected my decision:

• I was warned that layoffs were not unheard of. At the *interview*. Before I was even offered the job!
• I was informed that most of the upward mobility within the company is represented by opportunities in TX, where they're headquartered. Since you're in TX, this probably doesn't matter (may be a bonus!) but for me in Washington, it was an issue. For what it's worth, though, when we discussed layoffs, the Texas offices kept coming up.
• The two employees I spoke with bickered with each other (!) during my interview.
• They set up an initial time with me to interview, then cancelled, then rescheduled - and most of the time, to get a straight answer, I had to take the initiative and contact THEM. I wasn't very impressed w/ their HR dept, which probably wouldn't be much of an issue for you, but it was something I took note of.
• They were my lowest offer by about 20%. I was offered all four jobs I interviewed for, and the other three were all pretty close to each other.

My opinion going in was, regardless of public opinion, this is a company that's been around for a long time and is a pretty solid bet. It'd also look pretty hot on my resume (here, I guess it depends on your field - if you're interviewing for a procurement spot, the Halliburton name may not need much either way.)

Plus, the office I interviewed at was in a transitionary stage, which didn't do much for my impression of them. They were moving from one part of the city to another, and the interview was late in the afternoon on a Thursday, but overall I got the impression it was a pretty withdrawn workplace (which wouldn't have suited my personality at all.)