I work as an accountant for exxon. It’s my first job ever. Should I leave after the one year mark or stick around to let my pension and 401k vest? I’m getting my MBA after five years either way.
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Fellow accountant here.
Please do not make a life decision based on postings from anonymous contributors. The people contributing to this site are most likely coming with a negative attitude so they might be biased.
I am not advocating for you to stay or go.
However, your MBA will be a great opportunity/experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my program. Make the most out of the case competitions.
Seek a mentor in and outside of the company. Brainstorm with them.
Best of luck kid
You do not need to be senior management to make 200k+ as a Controller. There’s a reason why XOM is hurting
It depends, if your skills are more valuable somewhere else then leave. However, there will be more oil booms and the young people that survive this downturn will become the leaders of tomorrow. That's how I saw it worked in 1986. Exxon is in a tough spot right now but will survive and prosper as it has for the last 150 years.
Accountancy, eh?
Stay long enough for Auntie EM to pay for that MBA (once they bring the Education perk back).
And possibly stay after -
Accountants are one thing the company will always need. Far more than scientists or engineers.
And No - BYU is NOT a 3rd-tier university.
Yeah I can agree that if OP is switching careers after MBA then maximize salary. At big 4 the 150-240k+ comes after 8-12 years once you make senior manager which if you work at Exxon can probably do but not an easy path.
@1bjt+183BkesS My bad, I didn’t see the “well into the hundred the thousands”. Assuming you mean $150s+, yeah, Exxon controllers aren’t making that much. But according to glassdoor, early career managers are making around $100k at Deloitte. And if OP is going to quit to get an MBA, it’s more important for them to have a higher salary starting out than at the 5th year mark right before he/she leaves.
@1bjt+183BkesS
If OP’s exit opportunity is an MBA, he or she should have no issue getting into a good school with 5 years experience at ExxonMobil. I know personally know people that have left Exxon from controllers and have been accepted and attended Yale, Stanford, Boston, and North Western within the last couple years.
Also, you’re wrong about the salaries. MBAs from a tier 1 university at Exxon start at $120k in controllers. After 4 years, I am making a bit over $92k. Had the market not c-apped out, maybe I could have been close to $100k this year. Dunno.
OP here. You’re correct about my salary being 70k. That’s my biggest consideration, that’s pretty much unheard of for a fresh accounting grad. I do want to be a CPA some day. Anyone know any jobs that would allow work as an accountant and meet the CPA requirements to stay licensed and makes 75k+? Microsoft finance development program is 85k for anyone looking but I think the application has closed and you have to be a recent graduate.
GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!!!
You’d be surprised at what EM Controllers make.
@1ocw+183BkesS - Yes EY and the big 4 pays less than EM out of school but you’re missing two key things: promotion and exit opportunities. Being a controller at EM is a dead end from the start, you’ll get like 3% raises. Big 4 will get bonuses + higher promotions. After 5 years assuming you made manager you’ll be well into six figures. No way an EM controller is making that 5 years.
Lol don’t start your accounting career at Exxon, go to the big 4 like pwc, Deloitte, etc. Much more prestigious.
If you are staying only 5 years, it might be worth staying. As I’m sure you know, XOM pays accountants more right out of university than big 4 and other accounting firms. If you were to go into something more lucrative like consulting or IB, then I can understand leaving. But if you want to stay with accounting, Exxon is going to pay you much more on average for the work life balance than an accounting firm. Honestly, you’ll probably make more per hour than IB at Exxon as well, but only because they work crazy hours in investment banking.
Let’s talk real-ish numbers. Exxon starts controllers at around $70k for undergrads (at least they did 2 years ago). EY starts at $56kish (this was how much my brother started out at this year for EY with a masters in public accounting). The time value of money benefits for making $15k more for 5 years early in your career is a decent reason to stay. $15k for 5 years at a 6% real return is worth $385k in 30 years (assuming you invested your additional salary). Even if you don’t invest it and just save the $15k per year for these 5 years, that’s an additional $75k you can put towards your MBA.
Just some food for thought. But I wouldn’t bank on the pension, which will be worth peanuts if you stay only 5 years and take it in 30 years with inflation (assuming it even exists).
Never mind the economics. Just ask yourself if you want to continue working for a company that lies to its shareholders, lies to the industry media and lies to its employees?
“We have no plans for a headcount reduction” - said many times, right up until a couple days before the Bloomberg article that revealed the plans. Then using a rigged and corrupted ranking system to target 8-10% of employees and NSI them for bogus reasons, but pushing them out of the company labelled as “poor performers”. Now going through another 2-3 cycles of doing more or less them same.
Take it from a 30-year employee. You’re young enough that your skills are transferable, as they haven’t become too specialised in the EM way of doing things. Find another job a.a.a.p. and leave on your own terms.
Although I can live without the snarky accountant comments, I appreciate you guys input. Changing course from O/G seems best. Thanks.
- OP
Op here. Per enrollment package:
Reason 4: It’s your money – you can take it with you if you leave the company, or borrow against it if you need a loan.
The concept of “vesting” is so important. Vesting means ownership of the money in your 401(k) Plan. Your employee contributions to the plan are always 100% vested; however, you must become vested to keep the employer matching contributions to the plan. You are 100% vested in your employer match at the earliest of the following events:
- Completion of three (3) years of vesting service
- Reaching age 65
- Your death
If you need to access your savings prior to retirement, you can borrow from the Savings Plan’s assets with your individual account serving as collateral. Before you consider taking a loan, you should visit the Education & Tools section of the Plan website to make sure you understand all the implications.
You’re thinking of staying to keep a couple months of savings plan match?! Wow not so good with the math stuff eh?
If you’re in Accounting, you should know that whatever you put into your 401k is vested immediately. So you’re thinking about staying around for another couple of years to get a couple months worth of match? Your salary and upward mobility are likely frozen, just like the 401k, for the next couple of years. To add onto what the person below said, further downsizing is likely especially in a function like Accounting. Could easily outsource overseas or to a Master Service Provider.
Seems like a no-brainer to me...
GTFO NOW! You still have many years in your career of work, why invest any more in a sinking ship? And especially being in accounting? They will be moving your job function overseas inevitably....maybe not next year, or in 3 years, but it's coming. Many of the other oil majors have done this long ago. When I worked at Shell, they did it in like 2008-09.
I've already worked in the O&G industry for almost 20 years, so hard for me to do a career pivot (plus already now have a family, mortgage, etc) but if I were young and early in my career like you, I would re-think a career in O&G altogether. Go into something IT / Computer related as technology is where the future is heading, and with the rapidly changing political climate being so anti-fossil fuel, I feel our industry is going to face a rapidly declining quality of life for those of us who work for such "evil" fossil fuel majors. O&G isn't going to disappear overnight, much to liberal/progressives' chagrin, but they will work relentlessly to decimate the industry over the coming decades and ruin the lives of its workers. Just my .02
Im the OP. I know the match is gone but I have a few months where it was matched 401k and I still pay into it.
OMG do the math. How many years to vesting? .vs. getting a better paying job?
You're just starting out give it a minute. Also get some experience and the mighty XOM name on your resume.
lol, pension! And I'm not sure you heard ... but the 401K match is gone.
Leave. Leave NOW!!!
My magic 8-Ball said “ask again later”......