Previously I did 1 year coop at imperial oil in 2023-2024. Now as many people have resigned. They are offering me a position in Edmonton.
Any views? Honestly what their future plans will they layoff again in 1-3 years?
Honest views required
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If you do start at IOL as a new grad, milk every training opportunity / trip to Houston you can out of the company in the first 5 years and then promptly leave to another operator where career advancement exists and utilize the XOM training to get a leg up on your peers
As other commenters have said, consider other opportunities first. Imperial is not a place to go looking for a career anymore.
As a new grad you will get good experience and be paid pretty well. It is a reasonable option.
The caveat is, don't, like I did, come I thinking you will have a 30 yr rewarding career. Those days are gone.
Come, get some experience, make some money, and always be looking for the next opportunity because Mother Esso no longer looks after her own.
Honest opinion
New Grads - excellent place to work and get experience. BUT do not expect a long term career. Use that experience and the branding while you can and get better opportunities elsewhere.
Experience hires - unless you’re desperate to pay bills, do not bother. Go find work somewhere else where career longevity exists.
To a new grads, it’s a good opportunity
Extreme chaos and organizational dysfunction aside…
You could potentially get some decent post grad level experience here, but you need to understand the long term prospect has been significantly degraded from the Imperial of old. Most of us who are still here feel somewhat guilty that we haven’t left yet, almost like we are staying with an abusive spouse despite the obvious signs of how bad they are for us.
Long story short, it's an okay place to get experience and credentials, but you likely will want to plan to GTFO at the first good external opportunity. This probably means moving away from Edmonton within a couple of years, so you might delay getting your personal life going, buying a house, etc as a result.
Don’t go
The other thing to consider is that if you want to work in the industry, pretty much all the white collar and professional jobs are in Calgary. If you want a career path that is focused on refinery operations, Edmonton would be the place to be. The job market in Calgary has a wider variety of advancement opportunities within the industry.
It’s better to be a contractor at Imperial than an employee.
Imperial is a good place to be while you wait for a better opportunity. Just look at it as a temporary assignment.
Canada is not a growing market for jobs in the ExxonMobil circuit, so opportunities here will continue to shrink. Offshoring will continue, decisions will be made in Houston, and local roles will be more limited. Expat assignments will be very limited in the future.
If you're interested in a role in the energy industry in Canada, best to focus on a company with HQ here. Suncor, CNRL, Cenovus, TC Energy, Enbridge, Pembina, Keyera, Interpipeline all offer much better opportunities for advancement.
Imperial was a good place to start a career 30+ years ago. Unfortunately that is no longer true today.