Pros
Great salary and benefits, including a pension. However, they paused 401k contributions during part of the pandemic. I enjoyed being surrounded by intelligent coworkers. I was also impressed by the level of responsibility I was given immediately, straight out of college. It was very much a sink-or-swim approach that could be thrilling because you felt your work had real impact. Lastly, having ExxonMobil on my resume has continued to serve me in the years since I worked there. It usually catches recruiters’ eyes, and I have many impressive bullet points on my resume thanks to ExxonMobil.
Cons
However, the points I listed above were ultimately not worth the stress and impact to mental health. It’s only after I left that I realized how bizarrely terrible Exxon’s culture is. I can’t think of a single coworker who was really happy. All of the people I hired on with have left the company, and seem almost giddy with happiness that they’ve “escaped”. It took me many years to realize I needed to leave. Some of the final straws for me were: one week where 2 different coworkers from 2 different workgroups came into my office on different days, and devolved into tears as they talked about their latest source of interpersonal stress. That showed me the negative culture was present in more groups than just mine. Last red flag was overhearing my supervisor yell at a coworker, and seeing her leave his office in tears. There shouldn’t be people crying at work. On the outside looking in I can’t believe I put up with it so long. My friends at other chemical companies are shocked by the stories I can tell about Exxon.
