I am an experienced hire new to exxon interested only in technical career. Would like to hear your thoughts about technical careers in the refineries and the spring campus. How difficult is it to succesd and make it into some of the senior positions like principal, senior principal, etc. Management says it's easier to reach these cl levels as technical vs management. Is it possible to get to these positions through strictly technical roles? What is difference between chances to succeed in the refineries vs emtech departments. Which one is better for technical who have no interest or inclination for management.
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I am experienced hire and principal and most principals around me are also experienced hires. Dont listen to negativity. And it is easier to reach cl 28 as technical.
I have seen experienced hires held back significantly, despite their performance exceeding equivalent campus hires.
Beware of the tight relationships at refineries. You will be sacrificed before they PIP 25 year colleagues whose kids all grew up together.
After working a decade here, they still refer to me as an experience hire. Management and lifers made it very clear that I don’t belong. ..unless they want something from me.
It is not an inclusive environment.
Be careful of transferring to a Refinery. There are local politics and long term relationships so you could end up as the PIP sacrifice such that all the locals are safe for another year.
OP, as an experienced hire and a Principal Engineer I can tell you it is possible. The differences in opinion you see here might be influenced by discipline. If that is you goal, go for it, but know also that you should not tell your supervisor that you would never want to do a supervisor role - If your ambition is to be a Senior Principal, know they like to see one supervisory role in work history.
I’m so sorry they told you that. Nothing could be further from the truth
OO - as someone who was in your shoes and retired after 15 years at age 59, I can say there is NO technical career upside for you, esp now. Any remnants of senior/executive positions will NOT go to any outsider now. The best you can do is make substantially more money than your last company, pocket the money and enjoy your trajectory and earnings. Dont get caught up in the annual competitive performance rankings, etc. Unless you invent a new source of energy or something you will NEVER be ranked above the "real" Exxon people and those selected for high career trajectories. If you can't deal with that, then GTFO now. Good luck
Sorry Bro! Senior positions are for the political folks (Insiders). Technical is being outsourced.
Every sentence of your post made me laugh even harder than the previous one.
EM is no longer a place for technical careers, especially as an experienced hire. Don't waste your life here.
You at the minimum have to be a ChemE for a top tier school.
Even then it’s a 50/50 chance if you’re anything else only way you’ll get up there is those at the top retire or move on.
Don’t invest any time in this company hoping for a technical career. As an experienced hire, you’re set up for failure. The upper level technical roles already have a succession plan with hipos in the queue, and if by some d-mb luck you do make it to STP, you will eventually be ranked low/PIP’ed to save the managers. Sign your soul over to the devil (check the management track box) or run from EM. Your choice.
Too late to have such a career in EM now. The technical future is low cost countries, the cheapest contractors that can be found, and maximum 3td party leveraging. As others have said, if you want a technical career in this industry, this is the wrong company now.
You have been hired to train people and then, EM will PIP you. It is how EM works!
Experienced hires are easy targets for PIP. They are not viewed to be the same as college hires.
You’ve hired into a group that has been told to move 80% of its Spring campus employees to India.
If your serious intention is to have a career… find another operator.