#careergrowth

What are the new career objectives and how do they map to the old ultimate potential? For example POT38+ is now a Career Objective of Senior Executive/Corporate leader

It’s very clear from this promotion planning, that XOM only cares for you if your a CL38+ POT. If you 34 POT, you don’t matter whatever you think. Your career will be fine but you will watch all the great jobs go to the HIPOs only. It su-ks but atleat the company is being transparent. HIPO go far, non HIPO roles go to India. Jump whilst you can

I submitted my internal survey feedback, and I did not hold back about how broken matrix teams really are. I want my leader to be someone I am in the trenches with every day. Instead, I get loaned out to separate teams while my formal manager sits on the sidelines, sending endless check-in messages asking what I am working on, whether things are moving forward, what my accomplishments were last week, or what my upcoming goals are.

Having spent my last two roles trapped in matrix management, neither of my leaders ever truly knew what I did/do on a day-to-day basis. When your direct manager has zero visibility into your routine output, your evaluation turns into a game of telephone rather than an accurate reflection of your work. It is long overdue to return to reporting lines where employees actually answer to the people they work alongside.

To make matters worse, these managers lack any actual authority to solve the real operational problems coming at us. I bring up persistent issues and concerns, complete with fully formed solutions and ways to resolve them, and absolutely nothing changes. Nothing happens. Our supposed leaders do not have the power or backbone to address friction with cross-functional partners, especially when General Partners are involved. The culture treats GPs like corporate royalty, expecting everyone to bow down and cater to them at all costs while real workflow issues get swept under the rug.
Beyond the constant administrative check-ins and powerlessness, matrix structures create major operational headaches. Reporting to multiple leaders leaves employees to navigate conflicting demands and split focus. Accountability completely dissolves when leadership is scattered across dotted lines, meaning no single person owns the final results and finger-pointing takes over when issues arise. Performance metrics also get misaligned, forcing workers to satisfy two completely different sets of expectations. Half the workweek ends up consumed by status updates to keep disengaged managers informed instead of driving actual results.

Worst of all, career growth hits a wall because a leader who does not see your daily contributions cannot effectively advocate for your promotions or raises. If you have ever spent nearly an hour explaining your actual job to the person who writes your yearly performance review, you know exactly how frustrating this structural setup is.

Is anyone else exhausted by matrix management, or has anyone actually seen a this sh---y company execute this structure well in a department burning people out?

I got hired and been rockstar for the last 3 weeks. I’m getting great feedback from the cross functions teams and manager. I don’t get why the promotion hasn’t hit yet. I brought this up to my manager and he keeps saying it’s too soon.

That’s ridiculous. If they want me to work a 3 person job then they need to compensate me for it!

This company is filled with lies. They said I’ll have a great career here at my interview. It’s more like a dead end job.

FOUR YEARS...

I see many b5s having the same exact responsibilities as b4s. I’ve heard you don’t even get that big of a salary bump moving up to b4, if any. This is unlike any company I’ve ever heard of. It seems it’s either you’re a band 3 or a peasant. What is going on?

I’ve been working at the San Diego office doing PMIC validation for over two years now. My day to day is mostly testing the PMIC chips, screening for defects, and putting together reports and slides. Honestly, once you figure out what to look for, the work is incredibly easy. You definitely don’t need a degree to do it, yet management keeps hiring people with Master's degrees and PhDs. It feels like a massive waste of talent.

The worst part is that you’re heavily judged here not by the actual quality of your work, but by how the tech leads perceive your social skills. From talking to people in other departments, it seems like Qualcomm in general has this issue, but it feels way worse in PMIC. Maybe because the work is so simple that a test monkey could do it, so managers focus on politics instead? I’ve barely learned anything here and honestly feel like my technical skills are rotting.

I tried casually talking to a few coworkers about how easy the work is and how unfair and rude the leads can be, but they got super defensive right away, so I stopped bringing it up.

For anyone who has worked here or in similar teams: is PMIC validation in San Diego known for being super low on the technical side, or did I just land in a bad group?

Wondering if I ask for a raise what is the likelihood of it getting approved and what factors typically get considered in the process? (Cost of living, performance review, performance in general, work load, team size etc). Wondering if it is even worth asking

Been here a long time and honestly getting pretty fed up.

I know I’m one of the stronger people on my team. I’ve consistently done the work, taken on more responsibility, and when I’ve asked what I need to do to get promoted, I actually did those things. I’ve also told my manager directly that I’m interested in the next-level role and see it as an important career opportunity.

Yet somehow people who have been here less than a year are getting promoted while I keep getting passed over.

At some point you have to wonder what the point is. If you do the work, meet expectations, take the feedback seriously and still get ignored, what exactly are you supposed to do?

My manager seems to have their favorites, and it’s becoming pretty obvious that hard work and performance aren't necessarily what gets rewarded. Maybe I’m just naive, but I thought doing a good job was supposed to matter.

I’m getting tired of feeling like I have to kiss up to management just to get basic career opportunities. And yes, at this point I’m seriously questioning whether I even want to keep putting in the extra effort.

For those who have been in the same situation at Truist, what did you do? Leave? Transfer to another team? Stop going above and beyond and just collect the paycheck? Retaliate and make your manager's life at work a living he.l.l?

Curious what others have experienced.

Did you notice that there are a lot more “work from home” jobs being posted on workday? Just today there are 3 new wfh jobs. It seems like the jobs are very specific and tailored to specific people already doing the job. Lot of VP jobs.

Layoffs are now always a possibility. I'm not saying to leave, though. You can be happy with your job and still pay attention to what's happening outside the company. Know which employers are hiring and keep track of what your skills are worth in the market. That doesn't mean sending out applications every night. It just means you won't be starting from zero if something happens.

I see many colleagues serving as judges, chairs, and co‑chairs at ACS and AIChE conferences. Does that actually help your XOM career ?

I’m new to the company, and I’ve already had two project managers tell me they’ve been told they have “VP potential.” One has only been here three years. I’m trying to understand how anyone can be identified that early, and realistically, how many VP roles ExxonMobil even needs. Based on what I’ve read and with the current low CLS structure and retirements, it doesn’t seem possible.

I currently work at State Farm in claims. It is pretty draining. Most of the customers are ok but some just endlessly talk to where I can't even ask them questions or explain things to them lol. I like State Farm. The pay and benefits are great. I just don't know if I can see myself staying in claims long term. Is underwriting a good area to work in? How safe is underwriting from A.I. eliminating jobs and layoffs? I know claims is very safe because customers want to talk to a person but I don't know if I can continue claims lol

Ok, time to get real.

What career objective really matters? Is it only Senior Leader and Corp Leader? How can you tell who is on what path? Any milestones or roles vs age that people would look for? Any examples?

Does Executive Leader matter anymore? Is Career Objective of Chief and Sr Principal still around? Is it worth anything?

What CLs are each of these?

I keep hearing that “in the old days” it was not like this. It has me questioning whether this is the right company to grow my career with.

It seems like everything is a struggle these days.

I am interested to hear from those people who have worked here for a long time on what they feel has changed and more importantly if it can be fixed.

Maybe if someone up top is actually monitoring this site they will see what is being said. The fear is even if they do I have little confidence to believe they will make the change. Our company is run by people who are days away from retirement.

Momentum is everything.

Watch the people who moved fast. VP to CEO. VP to President in under five years. Then watch what happened to the people who were "doing great work" and stayed at level.

If you're being told how good you are but you can't get out of L09–L11, LG1–LG3, or LG5 — you're keeping a seat warm. Praise is what they give you instead of a promotion, not on the way to one.

And levels move both directions. Look at how many presidents from five years ago aren't presidents now. Special assignment. Retitled to SVP. Moved to the franchise team. Out. Some of them got jumped by people they used to sit above.

Nobody is going to tell you which side of that you're on. The climbers compound. So does standing still.

History repeats. Pay attention.

I received my first RSU about 6 years ago and have received a new one every year for the past 6 years.

My advice is this, do not sell. I am literally becoming rich from RSUs. I have colleagues who have sold them immediately after they vest who are now kicking themselves.

I’m not saying never sell, instead hold for a few years at least, you may get as lucky as me.

Peace

Recently several exec's have explained the importance of being well rounded in many aspects of the company. To do so they mentioned how they would make as many lateral moves in order to learn holistically. Do these same leaders support us if we have the same desire. Will management support us if we have the same desire? How to be well rounded the execs?

If your only career path here is the management track and they are removing management layers to flatten the organization...so how exactly are people going to get promoted then? They aren't doing any kind of career growth track for SMEs. You might get to a senior level as an SME and that's it.

What's the biggest percentage increase you've gotten at EJ? Mine was 6 percent, and that was the high point.

New external hire CL level 29 here, haven’t got my first assessment yet will be for next year - How important is the PDS? Some say it’s more the story than PDS that your manager knows and wants to promote about you that matters. Others say it will stay with you for years so be careful what you put in there. Possible the reality is somewhere in between but wonder what y’all think. Also, does your manager or skip manager advise you how to write this, or are you pretty much on your own?

I know there is an advancement guide for normal people dictating promotion timing. What about supervisors and hipos? Do they have separate advancement guides?

I came here five years ago expecting to build some useful experience and move forward. Instead, I've spent a lot of time doing repetitive work with systems that feel years behind where the industry is headed. The hours are long and the pressure is constant, but there's very little sense that you're building toward something. Raises are abysmal and don't really make up for the rising cost of living. Promotions are limited, and sometimes it feels as though there isn't even a path to develop into something different. Management doesn't exactly make the situation easier. After enough time doing the same tasks, you start worrying about your skills becoming outdated too. That's probably what bothers me most. It's one thing to work hard for a while when you know you're gaining something from it, and it's another thing to feel exhausted and stuck at the same time.

Looking back, would you join Factset again? I'm curious whether people feel their time here was worth it.

Three months and countless applications submitted and nothing.

Recently someone left the company because they didn’t want to move to Texas and thanked “all sponsors.” Is this just for HiPos, or can anyone request one? How does it actually work — do they assign sponsors to their favorites?

A lot of prior ones were heavily weighted to early career employees with less than 10 years.

It seems like now a lot of mid career employees with 10-25 years are seeing opportunities shrink and are voting with their feet. Lots of very highly regarded employees and high performers don't see a future with EM. Most who leave do extremely well elsewhere.

Bumped from @bz+1m197mkb2.

I've been here for many years. I do my job well. Not "above and beyond." Not "wearing 17 hats." I mean I do the job I'm actually paid to do.

In all my years here, I've seen exactly ONE person on my team get promoted. And, they have a different job title than me. My reward for sticking around and doing my job? Same performance review every year, bonus and tiny raise. Rinse and repeat.

So at this point, I've accepted that employment here is a transaction. I sell my time and skills, they give me a paycheck and benefits. Pretty straightforward.

I don't see a promotion in my future, so I'm not really sure why I'd voluntarily take on a bunch of responsibilities outside my job description for the privilege of... getting even more responsibilities.

What I find hilarious is watching some people on my team immediately volunteer for literally anything leadership throws at them. "Can you take this on?" Absolutely. "Can you also do this other person's job?" Sure. "Can you work on this project that's completely unrelated to your role?" Of course. "Can you stay late?" Where do I sign?

And then somehow everyone acts surprised when those extra responsibilities become permanent.

A lot of these people are older, so I've genuinely wondered if this is generational. Maybe they were raised with the idea that you work hard, prove yourself, and eventually the company recognizes your loyalty.

Meanwhile, my millennial brain is sitting here thinking: You want me to do a different job? Cool. What's the new job title and compensation?

Because I've watched enough Truist "career development" to understand that "great visibility" and "opportunity to grow" are sometimes just Truist corporate-speak for congratulations, you now have more work.

Maybe I'm cynical. Maybe I'm transactional. Or maybe I've just figured out that doing 30% more work for 0% more money isn't actually a promotion.

Curious what others think. Are people from different generations really approaching work differently, or are some of us simply less willing to donate our labor outside our job description to Truist?

The moment you spend everyday worrying about a layoff is your personal red flag to get out of that position/team or out of this company.
I am so glad I moved on.
No more micromanaging cr-p and no more unrealistic expectations. Gotta do what’s best for you.

The people who get promoted fastest are the ones who know how to impress their bosses. Actual expertise and the ability to lead people don't matter much. Sad but very true.

I got another rejection, wrapped up in all the usual nice words about my experience. Apparently someone else was a better match, which is probably true, but it doesn't make getting rejected any more fun. I'm trying not to take it personally and just keep applying. Anyone else spending way too much time reading these emails lately?

I'm starting to wonder if doing good work quietly is a disadvantage here. I hit my numbers, meet my deadlines, and don't need someone constantly checking on me, but I still get passed over. Meanwhile, the loudest people in the room somehow get noticed for everything. I really don't want to become someone who has to brag about every little accomplishment just to get a promotion.

Looking for a new job right now is basically a second full-time job after you finish your first one. I don't know how the rest of you are managing, but I'm utterly exhausted.

I was recently re-allocated to a new (for me) department. I've been with the bank for 20 years and have been shuffled around before but it was usually due to old team being absorbed for another project. This time feels different. My boss and his boss pulled up to inform me that I was being moved to another department as they have an urgent need in GFC for investigations/research. I’m curious if anyone knows how/why it’s determined who gets moved off the team/department they’ve been in for 10+ years to a new department. My old team is still active and together, but I’m the one moved. For reference, Meets/Meets, B5, salaried.

Is it true that new hires with less than 1 year tenure are given the "developing contributor" primarily due to them being new to role and not really because of performance reasons? Also, what are the implications of this rating?. I believe getting rated the same next year will spell doom and gloom.

Those who were laid off should ask themselves why they were selected instead of someone else on their team. What was missing? Many people are complaining about how unfair it was, but you wouldn’t be in this situation if you had consistently made yourself indispensable. Too many treat the company like a home where they deserve to be taken care of. Your role is only secure if you are a difference‑maker. The fact that you were chosen because your removal doesn’t affect the team’s productivity should tell you something

If you haven’t upgraded your skills or delivered meaningful impact, you become an easy target — fair and square. And you should expect the same outcome anywhere else. You wouldn’t hire or keep a contractor for your home if they weren’t excellent, just because you liked them, especially when better quality and cost saving options exists. That’s why you read reviews before hiring one

Take what you can from it, PayPal has turned me into a machine. I don't give a flying f*ck what happens I am used to it by now. Worst scenario I move out and get a new job, I am now a resilient beast

I walked away from Verizon two years ago. The internal dynamics were exhausting, and I couldn't see a path to grow there. From what I read today, those same patterns are still around. My own career took off in a much better direction after I left, so I have no second thoughts.

They push us on career development, offer resume writing and behavioral interview guidance. Push us to be the best in our position BUT there's no place in the company we can go. No jobs posted for us to even apply to. Mobility? This company offers little to none. Do better, work harder, move nowhere and the yearly compensation is cr-p.