Occidental Petroleum Reviews in Houston, TX Area

Former Employee – worked at Occidental Petroleum as an intern for less than a year

Pros – The internship includes great housing and a very nice salary. There are mentors and many networking events. You are not encouraged to work more than 40 hours a week.

Cons – Some of the intern projects were not organised well. This effects an interns ability to showcase skills and an ability to adapt and learn.

Advice to Senior Management – Make sure internship projects are organized well before the interns arrive.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Occidental Petroleum full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – 9/80, vacation package, nice office

Cons – Terrible management not too efficient or skilled, some of them are very young for management. You can be fired for no reason just because of your own, honest opinion on how to improve business. To get a promotion, you have to be on the management's good side not on your own merits, experience, or education. Not too middle-age friendly, way too many young engineers/geologists without any previous experience, which is too risky in oil and gas business.

Advice to Senior Management – When someone becomes a manager it means that person has a lot of experience. Hire managers with proper skills and a lot of wisdom because it's affecting the employees under their supervisions.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Occidental Petroleum full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – You will get good experience working fast paced operations with a lot of responsibility, you will develop skills sought after by better paying companies that will foster a much more team-oriented environment

Cons – Your compensation will pale in comparison to industry competitors, you will be appalled by the incompetence of lower level management, you will be penalized if you make smarter decisions than your boss, you will experience unnecessary competition and people working in silos due to a problematic forced ranking system that induces inherent inefficiency.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop condoning blatant acts of career sabotage by lower and middle management and pay people commensurate with their tenure and experience or continue to suffer attrition by the masses.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Occidental Petroleum full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Great for new hires, they get unlimited training, good experience, access to top management, experienced mentors and good salaries.
Good work/life balance.
Nice offices, not cubicles. Every other Friday off.

Cons – If you're mid career or over this may not be the best company for you, leadership positions are given to younger guys.
Many new hires are oblivious to the fact that high salaries are due to the latest trend in oil prices, they think it's because of their awesomeness, some can be unbearable creating an unpleasant work environment.
Heavy in politics.
Limited opportunities overseas.

Advice to Senior Management – Go back to technical excellence.
Pay more attention to experienced staff, they are the hardest and more expensive to replace.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Occidental Petroleum full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – The leadership balances priorities such as adding shareholder value and promoting career development well. The employees work together as a team and have a sense of pride in where they work.

Cons – Some of the larger oils have more locations to choose from as your career grows but beyond that fact, there is no better large oil company to work for.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep making smart acquisition decisions and growing the company in the way you have the past ~10 years.

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

Former Employee – worked at Occidental Petroleum as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Had an awesome mentor, pays very well and includes company-provided housing. A few good social events (Schlitterbahn, baseball game, Dave and Busters). We presented to the CIO at the end of the summer. The culture is pretty laid back, and I wasn't afraid of asking for help. The underground parking and on site food court was nice.

Cons – I felt like the IT interns weren't treated as well as the other interns. Only a few of us got full time offers while nearly all engineering interns received offers. We also weren't able to participate in as many social events as the others (rock climbing, skydiving). Some of the IT interns didn't have very exciting projects.

Advice to Senior Management – Treat the IT interns the same as the other interns.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Occidental Petroleum full-time for less than a year

Pros – Pros - Good pay
Mentors available
9/80 work schedule
Great bonuses
Managers are not micro-managers
Relax, friendly atmosphere

Cons – Cons – On-boarding process is a bit lacking for new employees. I didn't get a mentor
Huge work load

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

Current Employee – been working at Occidental Petroleum full-time for less than a year

Pros – Good training resources. Big company so more opportunities to move to different disciplines.

Cons – Poor Management. Manager lacking inspirational and technical skills.

Advice to Senior Management – Take more class in management. Open to different ideas and listen.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Occidental Petroleum full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Laid back atmosphere compared to some other oil companies. Seems to be lots of potential for career positions to move up or relocate to another office (geologists, landman, engineer). Vacation time, retirement, and medical benefits seem to be on par with industry. Pay for some schooling.

Cons – There has is quite a bit of turnover in the IT department and with technicians (land techs, geo techs, engineer techs). Doesn't seem to be much opportunity for them to move up or to a new work location.

Advice to Senior Management – Hold more employee appreciation events during the year.

Current Employee – been working at Occidental Petroleum full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Good work environment & opportunity to grow

Cons – May not be for everyone

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