https://www.quora.com/Why-did-you-leave-ExxonMobil
The best part of working at ExxonMobil are twofold 1) Global Nature 2) Profitability
I worked at ExxonMobil for 8 years in the Global Services Company (GSC). The global nature of the company means you will be exposed to different cultures, countries and travel all over the world (if you are lucky). I traveled to 6 out of 7 continents and did business in over 20 countries while I was there. At one point, I managed staff in Bangkok, UK and Germany (while I was located in the USA).
It was truly an amazing global experience. Rome, Paris, London, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Cairo, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Calgary, DC, LA, Chicago, Mexico City, Barbados, US Virgin Islands – I conducted business in person in all those locations.
The profitability of the company allows for lots of opportunities. Let me explain.
LAY OFFS Because the company is SO profitable, they rarely lay people off. Essentially, unless you REALLY F*#$ up, you will have a high paying job for life. That can be a blessing and a curse, however. If you drop to the bottom of the rankings (see below), you will be a glorified paper pusher in a mind-numbing role for the remainder of your career. Because your skill set deteriorates with the role, and you get used to the salary/vacation/perks, you have the “golden handcuffs” and cannot really leave the company as you'll probably take a pay cut. There are a ton of people I ran across that knew the EXACT date they were going to retire…. which was like 5 years away (or more) and we're pushing paper to just get by until that time.
PENSION The profitability of the company also allows for a decent pension and benefits. You essentially are eligible for a pension after 5 years with the company. If you complete 15 years and are older than 55, you can retire and receive a pension. The pension is enough (in most cases) to provide for you and your spouse the remainder of your days. Most people retire (at the latest) by 60. Pension is calculated accordingly: 80% of your pension at 55 and increased by 5% every year until you’re fully vested at 60. Average pension came to about 2/3 your salary. You can receive your pension as a lumpsum or as an annuity.
EDUCATION BENEFITS ExxonMobil fully funded my MBA at a Tier 1 Business School for books and equipment. This was over a $150K benefit that they picked up the tab for 100%. There was no requirement (for me) to stay for any period after completion of my degree. From what I understand this reimbursement policy has been curtailed and is now only $25K max. Still, $25K goes a heck of a long way towards an education.
CAMPUS The profitability also has allowed Exxon to build an AMAZING campus for their employees in Houston. The spend was around $2B and rivals anything Google, Facebook or Apple have.
STATUS it’s always awesome to tell your friends and family you work for a Fortune 2 Company and one of the most profitable companies in history.
The drawbacks?
FORCED RANKING You will be force ranked by your manager. What does this mean? you will be ranked from 1 -? against all your peers. The components of ranking are nebulous, at best. As with any large company, most of the energy you spend is around politics (and not necessarily working). And, as with any large blue-chip company, careerism is ever present.
Your peers are incentivized to cut your throat for incremental gains in ranking (which result in title and salary). Political capital can evaporate in an instant and you can be caught in the crosshairs of the ranking system through no fault of your own.
This is important, as the higher your rank, the higher the opportunity to move around the company, get raises, get career advances, etc. Those in the bottom 1/3 are rarely given raises. Rankings also correlate with age. Specifically, the older you are, the lower your rankings generally are.
CAREER Your career is also not your own. You are expected to be a cog in the machine that is XOM. A shiny, well compensated, comfortable cog - but a cog, nonetheless. If you are on the management track (executive) track, you will know by your late 30s. If you haven’t been tapped in the shoulder by the time you are 40, you are not advancing in your career, and you will be moved laterally for the remainder of your time at the company. Being moved to middle management is almost worse, as you will be making a he-l of a lot of money (up to $250K) and not really doing much at all! Try recreating that on the outside.
HOUSTON your job is in Houston if you live in the USA. It is very rare to be relocated (unless you are super special and have a sponsor at the senior executive level or work in a chemical plant / refinery). I lived in Houston for the entire time. Eventually, I actually grew to like it, however, it took a few summers for me to get there.
CAREER TRAJECTORY Very, very rare and difficult and rare to move up. You have less than a 0.25% chance to make executive (yes, I did say a QUARTER of one percent). At every iteration of a management career trajectory, the stakes are higher and higher, and competition is more cutthroat. Remember, one good ranking session could be the difference in millions over the life of a career. One bad ranking session drops you YEARS below in salary and career.
It is extremely difficult to recover from a boss who drops you 20+ points in rankings. XOM HR Guidance says that a boss can only drop you 15 points a session, however, bosses have autonomy and can act with impunity during rankings. I have heard of cases where people go from top 10% to bottom in one rank session.
Essentially, these men and women on the executive track have only worked at Exxon their whole lives. They won’t be able to derive the same clout or salary outside the company. As a result, they will do ANYTHING to advance. I have heard some disturbing stories that I won’t share in this forum about career advancement.
ENGINEERS ONLY if you don’t have an engineering degree, you are at a significant disadvantage and will be treated as a second-class citizen during your tenure. Chances of moving up are limited if you even get hired. Petroleum and Chemical are prized. Mechanical is second. Civil is somewhere around third. Also, most people come to work there right out of school. Most people who have been recruited within the past 5 years have a 4.0 GPA from a state school that has a reputation for Tech. MIT, Virginia Tech, Colorado School of Mines are big places Exxon recruits from. Exxon rarely recruits from the Ivy’s or Stanford. This comment is specific to the Business Lines. Recently, XOM has recruited people into IT and other support functions as contractors then employees. This employee has a limited scope and, thus, limited trajectory.
I once saw an online “trash bin” of resumes by a colleague. This colleague was in charge of recruiting for the division I worked in, and he had over 100 resumes in the bin. This bin contained the resumes of candidates that were deemed “rejects” for ExxonMobil. He sorted candidates in the bin by GPA. We didn’t get to a 3.95 GPA until Candidate #48....
Your “experienced hire” moniker will be branded on you like a scarlet letter. If you come from WestPoint, Annapolis, or the Air Force Academy as an officer, you have a higher likelihood of advancing...
SALARY RANGES Employees fall into “Classification Level” or CL.
This is specific to college educated work force. Admin staff are lower in salary and this chart is not meant to outline their respective salaries.
22 or 23: entry level - $110K to $135K
23 to 25: mid-range - $135 - $160K
26 to 27: Senior range - $160 - $180K
28 to 29: Middle Management: $180 - $250K
30: Executive - $300 - $400K (division leaders)
31 and up lots of $$$ (senior division leaders)
*This is not compensation for Corporation Executives in Dallas - just rank and file in Houston. **97% - 98% only make it to CL 26 - 27 during their careers
Bonuses are given to the top 20% of CL 26 and higher. Generally, it is given in the form of RSU's (Restricted Stock Units) maturing over a 3-year period starting from around $25K to the equivalent of your annual salary if you are lucky enough to be a CL 30.
Why did I leave? At the end of the day, I decide to move onto a role outside of Oil and Gas that was more fulfilling, and, in a location, I enjoyed better than Houston.
Good luck!
- 7K views on Quora.com
Upvotes 113
2 shares