If you are experienced professional, do not join Exxon, they treat you badly since you are molded by them. Recently they started hiring third tier universities around the globe, so not the best and brightest, so there is no merit to your education. Your raise, promotion, managerial roles are reserved from someone who starts fresh in Exxon, very much inward looking. There is also big culture of favoritism for college groups even if you are smart and hardworking. Think about it.
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I began as a new hire straight from college many years ago and immediately loved the company and its values. Within five years, a dramatic shift began as I went through my first experience with layoffs. I fortunately survived, but it seemed that the loyalty we all shared was replaced by paranoia. The camaraderie vanished and every person felt they were on their own to survive. Then the unspeakable happened. They brought in an experienced outside hire and placed him in a fairly high management position. This was unheard of since Exxon was known for "growing its own" and promoting from within. This action further diluted loyalty and increased paranoia. Then waves of MBAs were hired to focus on the bottom line. The human element was pushed aside for the numbers game.
I ended up leaving the company but came back as a contractor 15 years later because of a dire shortage of experienced people. I was shocked at the state of the company from when I had left. There was hardly any trace of the former company values, although it was still in printed materials. Morale seemed very low, and everyone seemed to be under a lot of pressure and stress. I noticed the groups who once wielded power within the company were mostly sidelined and viewed as necessary irritants. Most workers were contractors, not employees, and we were treated like second class citizens. If we saw something going off course due to incompetency or neglect, our input was not always welcomed as it made the employees look bad. Even though we were right, it was still held against us. This put a damper on speaking up too soon, which was not good for the overall projects we worked on. My attitude became, "Thank God I'm no longer an employee here." It was very bittersweet and unsatisfying to have to say that. I still remain thankful for the first few years I spent there because it was a first-class company and I got to work with some truly first-class people.
How sweet, @svg felt it was his responsibility to complain about people. You are getting extra gifts for Christmas this year and a Christmas bonus.
I was n employee at a company bought by Exxon. We were all treated as third rate humans by every Exxon employee we came in contact with. Now that I’m out, it’s amazing how much better life is. My new company values my opinion, treats me like a human being, and my co-workers aren’t all out to get me. It’s so nice not to be sick to my stomach every day about work.
The majority of experienced hires (particularly in non-technical positions) are 2nd rate employees that have failed in their career elsewhere or they are traveling salesmen (women) - the ones moving around every couple of years.
Sorry, no solution there
(Experienced hire BTW, but truth should be told)
They get you right out of college and you are entrenched in the XOM culture. You end up thinking like everyone else at XOM for your entire 30-40 year career. We need some people in leadership that are experts in their field from outside the company. I don’t expect them to stay at XOM if they want to remain an expert but they can help XOM turn the tides. It won’t be easy.
As an experienced hire, it was immediately clear that the culture was inward-looking, stale, and empty. The promotion of "EMRE behaviors" are just talk and a huge waste of time. They remove common sense and discourage simply being a steward and responsible employee. There is so much emphasis on following the rules and fitting day-to-day activities within behavioral categories, that the end result is a vacant sense of falling in line and checking boxes. When it comes to promoted employee behavior vs. reality, the emperor has no clothes.
A feverish CYA mentality is rampant, and the corporate nonsensical vocabulary, heavily emphasizing three letter acronyms and "behaviors", are laughingly distracting from delivering impactful work. Collaboration was heavily discouraged, despite verbal efforts to encourage, as there is a constant urgency to promote oneself over peers for survival. The open offices in Spring make this situation stressful, as it creates a spotlight under which you need to perform in front of others. The culture is rigidly stiff and prevents true innovation. Many of the "innovations" presented are completely useless, or old news elsewhere; many are only new at EM because of the corporation's stubborn, elitist view towards competition.
As for OP, I wonder if a binary "first tier university vs. not" mindset reflects reality, as a strongly distinguishing agent of ability is not inherent in one's choice of school. Money matters. There are plenty of bright students that simply cannot afford high tuitions of many "first tier" universities, or rather are not willing to chain to their ankles a mortgage's worth of debt to fund an undergraduate degree. Not to take away from what I presume to be your educational attainment at a well-known university, and I understand where you are coming from and congratulate you on your accomplishment, but the reality is there is more to professional ability and success than simply the institution where one obtained a bachelor's degree. As a matter of fact, the rigid mentality of school branding was rampant within EM.
Experienced hire. Came in got a pay bump, wasn’t really feeling EM, and left. Not whining just a fact. I prefer to go to work to actually work and EM is politics based at the operational employee level which is a little strange since your “Average Joe” never carries much pull.
Wish you guys the best thanks for the leverage I used with the next company. Sorry for those who are legitimately triggered and not just trolling.
Experienced hire here too. I guess it depends on your job role/management/office location. I am proud to be part of Exxon. God willing I will retire from here.
BS. Experienced hire here too but sick and tired of this complaining. Let’s face it: if your former company was so good and your career was doing so well, why did you leave in the first place?
So much whining. Love my job at Exxon. There’s going to be bs to deal with at any job.
Bad culture here when I first joined as an experienced hire, happy to leave the company and found a new job recently. No more sleepless nights having to deal with the silly managers and supervisors who failed to think out of the box in executing their role, imagine those years I have to report to them and speechless when I observed they glued themselves to the company.
Be wise and think of your future before the company heartlessly dump you.
Shut up OP. You didn't have any issues with cashing those check for years. Now since you're probably on a PIP, you want to trash the company
Is it better than LSU though?
BYU is NOT a third-tier university!
As an experienced hire, I recommend everybody to stay away from this company. We only have one life to live and most of our time is better spent somewhere else. The culture, the leadership, the lack of development and mentorship, the lack of collaboration is not “ normal”. I still value my experience here and I hope it will just be something I get to enjoy talking about and leave behind shortly.... there are much better companies out there folks.