Anyone willing to share details of their experiences after leaving?
14 replies (most recent on top)
Funny when they PIP you but then you have people asking you to take the PIP versus the PIL. Even funnier is they won't produce the PIP until you sign. My response was then fix my ranking and rating and we don't have to deal with any of this, but that wasn't possible, so I took the PIL, enjoyed my three month paid vacation and the 6 weeks of vacation that they owed me and haven't looked back.
My career development rep at the ranking meeting never met me, never talked to me, and had no idea what I did. They just had the right attributes to excel in middle management (and I'm not talking intelligence or ethics).
Anyone jn their 40s making over 350k in a place with cost of living comparable to Houston? I bought my house prior to COVID so it was cheap compared to now and I have a low interest rate mortgage. I am not seeing how the numbers work for me to leave even though I would like to.
Spent 5 years with the company before the PiPoff.
When I was in school, my peers warned about the cutthroat culture at XOM. At the time I brushed that aside thinking, “No, these guys slack off a lot, no wonder they think so.” Classic XOM arrogance by me in hindsight.
I have so many great folks in my network from my time at the company, but here’s the thing — we all left one way or another within those 5 years. Nearly everyone I respected left for far better opportunities, and all the frauds are still with the company to this day. I have a few friends remaining inside, and it doesn’t sound like things have gotten any better. Nobody I know who has left has regretted leaving.
I took the PIL just days after receiving my PIP notice. It was clear to me that my ranking there was based in politics based on my stance of the technical feasibility of our project. Multiple people came to my office on my last day or called me afterwards trying to make heads or tails of how my ranking was bs.
I work for a competitor now. It’s clear as day how toxic things were in hindsight. I have a supervisory chain that actively supports me, instead of undercutting me for their own personal gain. People collaborate, rather than undercutting each other. SME’s don’t withhold knowledge, instead freely giving it when asked. You don’t encounter people “violently agreeing” in meetings, instead you see actual constructive criticism in good faith.
Getting PIP’d was a blessing in disguise.
I'm so glad I left the company after 69 years. I'm finally doing what I always wanted to do. A Tony award winning Broadway actor. I may be a little old, and can barely walk or talk like our president and leaders in Congress, but I'm free of that toxic, toxic, TOXIC culture. It was so toxic. I mean really, really toxic. Did I tell you how toxic it was? Well, it was very toxic.
I don’t know why I hung on for so long… wanted to leave in year2, year 4 and then again in year 11, 14… kept staying…
I left a couple of years ago and haven’t looked back. I don’t miss the place. I miss some of the friends I made but they too have retired or left or are still dealing with the toxicity… so hard to meet them and talk about the same old issues…
I joined a competitor, more pay, better overall package, very nice innovative and inclusive work environment, more interesting work….
And you know what? Of the current one turns sour, I am not afraid to leave again…
The world is my oyster.
Leaving XOM was the best decision I have ever made!! The grass is really greener. Lower stress, better or equal pay, eligible for bonuses!! I only regret not leaving sooner!!!
It was brutal leaving Irving. TG for PXD HQ.
Better. Happier. Wondering why it took me so long to leave.
You won’t miss the toxic XOM culture, I promise!
My hair has grown back, I’ve lost 58 lbs, and my wife and kids look me in the eye and respect me now.
Also my dog has quit biting me.
I quit seeing my shrink and am off of all the anti depressants
I’m healthy again. You don’t realize how much stress that dumpster fire puts on you. 1 year later and I can’t fathom ever going back. I’d sooner scrub toilets than deal with the sewer rat manager I had
There are things I miss, but I was there for more than 25 years. I miss the people, the familiarity of my job - knowing things inside and out - and the benefits were definitely sweet.
I left because I was side swiped with a NSI’d and felt completely undervalued and disposable, biggest negative shock to my morale I’ve ever had. POS inexperienced young boss who put me at the bottom to demonstrate his control over me, because I dared to express my (sound) opinion on matters.
I saw people laid off in 2020, so in 2021 wasn’t sure how things would go. I’ve since met a lot of people NSI’d during that same time, who took the PIP and are doing great. But I didn’t know what would happen and had a family to think about. Also, my pride was crushed, I wanted to walk away and never look back.
I jumped off the ride and most days, am glad I did, life is good for my family. But I do often wonder, solely for the sake of my career, if I should have stayed on that merry go ‘round a little longer and grabbed the golden ring.
That’s what winning is at XOM. Being able to put up with the highs and lows; outlasting the POS bosses that come your way (there will be several!), keep showing up - smiling - and staying on until the ride is over, on your terms. In that sense: I’m annoyed with myself I gave up when I did.
Same as the poster below. I was worried about pay, but honestly there are higher positions available with lower stress. Why deal with these petty middle managers micro-managing areas that they know nothing about?
Leaving XOM was absolutely best thing I did for my well being and career. Sure, there were things and people that I missed, but looking back I should have resigned sooner.
The XOM culture fosters unhealthy competition among peers and with supervision. It was not a good place to work in terms of psychological safety. I had terrible managers and career progression was poor. Excessive workloads, insufficient autonomy, inadequate rewards, breakdown of community, mismatch of values, and the unfairness led to my burnout.
I’m much happier now in my new job with another company. I often catch myself not to let negative experiences taint the way I work going forward. I considered my experience at XOM as part of learning and then move on. It’s a slow process to dig myself out from the burnout. Work life balance is better. In many ways, I’m delivering my best works ever.