This is a frank question. Let's say thing turn around and we start to hire - are we going to be attactive to top talent?
I'd say 'no' (recent events were traumatic and covered by the media - this will be a turn off for any strong candidate) - but I'd like to hear other opinions...
BYU is not even a top 50 or top 75 school. You can always hire from there.
I've assisted with recruiting from BYU for several years.
I don't foresee any dropoff of interest in EM.
Maybe more as a stepping stone than a career.
Top talent? Haven't hired top talent in decades - since top talent started going to Wall Street in the 90s and IT in the 2000s. XOM has always hired above average students from large state midcountry schools who were grateful to be a part of them. Not going to change now.
EM used to have (more than 20 years ago) three things that made it a great employer:
So... NO.
Agree with the comment about as long as compensation is above market average strong talent should follow. That said, it'll only be from the typical Gulf Coast farm schools as most of the East Coasters new have a more robust pharma industry they can join and not leave home.
Geo software developer, what language(s) did you focus on learning and how did you bust into that field?
Energy transition is the biggest challenge of our generation and the oil and gas industry has a major role to play there. Great talent wants both - an ability to be part of solving a major challenge and a great working environment. We can provide both - so do feel optimistic that we will continue to attract strong talent. Don’t let the short term turbulence distract you from the long term.
We'll always give offers to the best and the brightest of whomever happens to apply at that instant of time. That was fairly difficult two years ago during the hiring frenzy. Even though the candidate quality was down as the truly brightest ones were considering options outside O&G, the ones who did apply and given offers to turned us down at 2:1 ratio. Going forward we will need to consider a successful profile for a true O&G employee, not just academic success from a "good" school or worse, someone's friend or relative who wants in.
Myself, graduate degree Geo with lots of software dev experience, found job outside O&G with good salary. NO plans to return to O&G. I read the boards because I still care about the industry.
We never attracted/hired "best of the best". We hired best of who applied. And even in that case a lot of the best were turned down for ridiculous reasons.
Chem E top grads will not. Too many other options for careers.
Petrochem E grads - where else?
Even well-endowed grad schools for O&G are shutting down or pivoting to something else.
If the dinosaur's endowment allows.
@1lfc as I said, you can argue with yourself about what top talent is. I’m not saying it’s top talent or it isn’t. I’m just saying Exxon will continue to attract the same caliber people it always has. You know, 4.0 gpa rule followers. At the end of the day they are still just college kids. There’s no such thing as top talent when you’re 22.
@1ljm+17LOWNbV
Top talent, Seriously? What rock are you living under?
Speaking specifically about chemical engineers here. Idk about other disciplines. I feel that This is a bad question. To 90% of graduates, the single most important factor is salary. The better question is, will Exxon continue to offer mind bogglingly stupid salaries (40-50% higher than Average chE starting salary)? As long as they do, Exxon will have no problem attracting “top talent” like they always have. You can argue about whether or not it’s truly “top talent”, but regardless of the answer to that question, Exxon will attract the same caliber talent as what they always have. Take away the pay differential and it’s a different story. Nobody and I mean nobody goes to Exxon for the brand. This is why attrition is so bad. The money allows you to tolerate if for a few years before you get the stones to leave the money behind.
This is an earnest answer.
No - a parent who has contributed to an excellent education for their child would not want to hear 'ExxonMobil' on the list.
That certainly includes me. Will never happen.
Yep, forget MIT, OU is a better option. They last longer.
The fact and data:
In UIS/RTD most MIT Ph.D.s left before the pandemic to take jobs in other companies and their message was that they were tired of working with incompetent and insecure younger supervisors and function managers who were actively hiding the real "no" results with made up victories to appease management (useless VPs).
Thousands of top talent employees are losing their jobs. Or EM doesn't know what top talent is and has hired thousands of people that should never have been here. Which one is it? Either way, management has shown everyone that they are definitely not top talent or even a couple of notches below that. Remember, management is like boiling milk- the scum always rises to the top.
Population growing crazily in USA and world. Too many graduates. Too few jobs. Too many people looking for jobs. No problem getting new employees. Lucky to find a job. Option 1 unemployed. Option 2 work at Exxon. Most would chose option 2.
Yeah, now try to get a CS major from MIT in 2020... Things have chaged. When I was joining a decade ago we had a shot - not today