Exxon Mobil Reviews in Houston, TX Area

Pros

The only good thing at XOM is reputation and to enlight your resume. Yes, you will learn a lot. People are smart and good at what they do, but they are brainwashed and like robots. Amazing, how they obey the rules and how scared employees are. Young people, please leave them after 3-5 years, otherwise they will destroy your life and career.

Cons

The worst compensation among operators. Maybe a little bit higher salary but that’s it. No bonuses at all, no stock options, no anything else. An average 401K, vacation, etc, worse than other majors. Even the worst holiday plan (8 paid public holidays). The only operator in Houston that does not have flex schedule and does not have bonus. You will work overtime. They use and abuse employees. They torture you psychologically. They want to scare you to do what you are told to do. They tell you if you dont do what I tell you, you will be the bottom one. No innovation at all. No creativity. An old technology. They are scared that someone will steal technology that they don’t have. It is like a military and even worse. Very sensitive people. I dont understand is why people stay. You can go anywhere else, work less, be more respected and make more money!!!

Advice to Senior Management

You are lucky that you have these loyal and smart people. You take all their credits for your own success. Open up, reward people, have flex time, remember 2007 when everyone was leaving you, it might come back . Dont live in illusion, otherwise it will come back to you. Hopefully, you will get sued for employees’ abuse for different counts. But you are Rockefeller, who can win XOM lawyers.

Pros

Exxon is a formal and very conservative company, with incredible pay and benefits. There is a big emphasis on work/life balance, and from that respect they treat their employees very well. If you are in the right area the hours are very reasonable and many managers are accommodating to the needs of employees as long as their work is done. The company is solid financial footing, and is very good at what they do. If you are selected as a high potential individual early in your career you will do very well and have many opportunities but if you aren’t then you will do the same basic job for the rest of your life.

Cons

The culture leaves a lot to be desired. There is a lot of arrogance about how great the company is; few people will admit how much the profitability relies on the price of oil which is very much out of their control. It is as far from an entrepreneurial environment as company could be, many people there believe that if there was a better way to do things someone would have thought of it years before...not the place for someone who isn’t willing to conform to a very rigid company. The Another concern is that there is a great deal of offshoring, if you aren’t an engineer or a manager, job security seems pretty poor compared to years ago with lots of positions going to lower cost locations overseas.

Advice to Senior Management

If you want to attract a younger generation of employees there needs to be a change to the culture of the company. The high pay gets people to join but the frustration with the bureaucracy is driving away some of the best and brightest young talent.

Pros

A great to place to get your first 2-5-10 years of experience, stellar quality of people, ethical, knowledgeable superviosrs, abundance of in-house knowledge and expertise in every area of the law and great willingness to mentor. In all, a perfect environement to learn proper client interaction etiquette and hone legal skills. A very professional atmosphere and a lot of autonomy early on in your career.

Cons

Plan on working 60+ hour weeks, with work days stretching across global time zones. Lots of lateral movement and cross-training with few opportunities for upward movement. Couple that with zero bonuses and modest, mostly inflation-based raises.

Advice to Senior Management

Nothing says "we aprpeciate you" like a good year end bonus.

Pros

-Exceptional pay and benefits
-Great support from senior management in the on-boarding process. I got to sit down and spend an hour each with 12-15 senior managers.
-Houston is cheap! No state income tax
-Opportunities to work abroad as soon as 18 months after you start

Cons

-Very narrow industry develops a specialized skill set
-Not a lot of workforce diversity
-The Texan mentality is either for you or it isn't...you have to decide that
-Not a lot of change in the company operations. They do what they do, they do it well, they'll keep doing it.
-Won't sponsor full time MBA, and it's very hard to convince them to let you take a leave of absence if you choose to sponsor it yourself.

Advice to Senior Management

Innovation!

Pros

Lots of opportunities, I've learned a ton, sometimes you have to offer your assistance to get the good projects, however.

Cons

Too many people, sometimes I feel like I'm part of a zoo, several colleagues have been there for 10 years and not advanced.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus more on the people at the company instead of on the bottom line. Employee retention is high, but it could be a lot better.

Pros

The compensation is great. My salary has grew 33% in 18 months with the company and continues to be trending upward, even in the current economic downturn. The work is challenging and the opportunities are amazing. I mentioned I like to travel and they have sent me all over the world. I have been to 5 different countries since I have started and seem to find more and more reasons to travel. Working on world class projects that you can read about in the papers gives me a sense of accomplishment. The people I work with are very intelligent which makes the my day and work week more enjoyable.

Cons

The politics can be overwhelming but if you can play the game it can help your career.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to remember John D. Rockefellers principles of running a business.

Pros

The compensation is decent. That's about it.

Cons

Does not inspire any creativity, huge bureaucracy, no fairness to the ranking system. "Performance Review" will be based on how much you kiss up to your boss.

Advice to Senior Management

Change outdated HR policies.

Pros

Exxon is a great company to work for in terms of available experiances. They have operations worldwide and in most cases, you get to go to the location you work on. I also feel like my work is meaningful. I get to directly track how it affects the bottom line.

Cons

The downside of exxon is their annual employee assesment process. They rank all of their employees and assign you to a bucket (middle, low or upper). While this is a benfit in my mind because it give direct feedback on your performance, the process acts like more of black box because you are unaware of who the individuals are that are number 1 and what they do differtent to get there. I feel like a lot of politics play in to it at some point.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep on keeping on. They generally do a pretty good job and are approachable in my opinion.

Pros

Great compensation and benefits package; great place for long-term career, especially because their retirement benefits are out of this world; its such a big corporation that you could start your career doing one thing and end up doing something totally different; you move jobs every couple of years, so if you end up in a position you don't realy like, you know that it will only be for a few years at most;

Cons

Not all managers are sold on the corporate policies that they use to recruit, i.e., work-life balance, service opportunities, safety, but some really are - its kind of the luck of the draw. Upside is you can move around a lot.

Advice to Senior Management

Obtain feedback about supervisors from their subordinate and have that play a part in their overall performance reviews.

Pros

One of the best reasons is that I never have to worry about being laid off. They have a fantastic benefits package. It blows everyone elses benefits out of the water. And their retirement package is amazing. It's easy to retire a millionaire from here...even the little guys.

Cons

Managers are not all on the same page. Some people have a fantastic manager, open to new ideas, but others have an old, set in their ways manager.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to treat everyone here with the same amount of respect. We all went to college!