Imperial Oil Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Imperial Oil

Pros – Well compensated. Well structured company

Cons – Too much dead weight in the company

Advice to Senior Management – Hire real managers instead of promoting those that didn't get fired in the 80's

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Imperial Oil as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Smart people to work with. Good learning opportunities if you look for the,

Cons – Robust learning program needs to be developed.

Advice to Senior Management – More structured learning plan for co-op students especially plant operators who come in for the first time.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Imperial Oil as an intern for more than a year

Pros – Working with some of the best and brightest engineers in the oil and gas industry.

Cons – Work life balance is challenged in the company.

Advice to Senior Management – Human resources skills need improvement in regard to career development.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Imperial Oil full-time

Pros – Global link to ExxonMobil
Strong benefits and pension plan
Many careers at same company

Cons – Large corporation and link to ExxonMobil can add some additional management layers.

Current Employee – been working at Imperial Oil full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – stable company with awesome cash position
generally good people, if not a bit stifled
lots of activity and future plans

Cons – root bound, older, serious, conservative people unwilling to try new things- the old way has been highly profitable
forced ranking makes for unfairness, and the high flyers get the opportunity
seriously over influenced by majority shareholder ExxonMobil- and they get all the good jobs

Advice to Senior Management – Majority shareholder does not mean control
Try to break out of the humdrum leadership style
New generation feels smothered by needless checksheet
Controls are good, but sometimes people need to be allowed to be creative
Work life balance not existent for some people

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Imperial Oil full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Solid training. Lots of good people and there is a generous pension plan if you plan to stay with the company for many years.

Cons – The office space changed recently to that of cubicles. There should be more profit sharing and bonuses like other oil and gas companies.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Imperial Oil

Pros – huge opportunities in several areas and around the globe

Cons – too much paperwork, cklist and reports

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Imperial Oil

Pros – opportunity is available to anyone that puts forth effort

Cons – very burercratic - needless activities to satisy audit in lieu of what's right for the company and employees

Advice to Senior Management – remove some of the needles controls in place and let employees make quicker and effective decisions

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Imperial Oil

Pros – Great project and work process experience.

Cons – Lots of bureaucratic/red tape, lack of resources and lack of management support when things don't go according to the plan.

Advice to Senior Management – Get more resources. Get the managers with TRUE Leadership qualities who can take a stand for their front line employees in the line of fire, rather than passing the bucket back to the lower cadre.
Due to the lack of resources the procedures are sometimes not followed properly in order to get the work done (meet deadlines) and the managers knowingly ignore it as they would like to get the work completed. However, when its caught up in the internal audit system or some other way, the blame is squarely put on the employee for not following as per protocol.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Imperial Oil

Pros – Respectful work environment. Very competent work force. Lots of challenges from the very start. Lots of opportunities if you are mobile.

Cons – Must be content with a top-down decision making hierarchy. Salary is directly linked to performance ranking, which is a forced distribution.

Advice to Senior Management – The secretive approach of management to big-decision making does not fit in an environment staffed with highly intelligent and competent professionals.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend