Hello, I am an engineer, but may have an opportunity to go work in pharma as a production supervisor with 10 direct reports. It’s a way into management. The salary will be a 40-50% decrease along with bonus. Any words of wisdom? My long term goal is management, and this may be my only chance. If go to a new company as an engineer it will be 2-5 years to be able to move into a management role. I do not expect to be in this supervisor role more than 1.5-2 yes at most. Thank you
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Yeah, but they should end up unemployed and told to go back to school to get an MBA.
@ @sda+1aeexGgI - early career engineers who share that desire usually end up hipos.
Don't get discouraged by XOM management style. There are much better management teams out there. Smaller company gives you opportunities that you will not get in EM. The cut is steep though. Because you are single, you could use it as a stepping stone. However, you probably will need an MBA or at least a famous last name to get to the C-Suite.
I suggest you take your observations from EM management straight into your new role.
You got what it takes already.
Narcissism and leadership - same thing.
I would not take it unless the job came with a lot of other benefits like a short/zero commute, 100% paid insurance, etc. to offset the massive decrease in pay.
Go for it. Think about where you will be in 5, 10, 15, 20 etc years from now in oil and gas vs. this new opportunity. Oil and gas and our company is shrinking and dying. Better to be in an industry and company that is growing. Many more opportunities to be had! You will quickly pass your salary over time.
Better get your MBA if your goal is management...there are plenty of people out there with engineering and MBA degrees
Some people don’t want to be in a technical role their entire career. You can always go back to pure engineering. Getting management experience only helps. Wanting to be a leader is an admirable quality. Make sure it is for the right reasons. Some people are born with a drive towards leadership and are not fulfilled until they can work in that capacity.
Some people don’t want to be in a technical role their entire career. You can always go back to pure engineering. Getting management experience only helps. Wanting to be a leader is an admirable quality. Make sure it is for the right reasons. Some people are born with a drive towards leadership and are not fulfilled until they can work in that capacity.
Wanting a manager role is not the right thing, having it call you is how it should be
Get yourself an MBA asap if you want to be a 'manager'.
Maybe the new company will pay for it.
Sounds like Engineering wasn't right choice for your education or career.
Oh, well.
Be the boss of yourself first.
Leave.
Money is not everything. In the long run, you will come out better even financially by not being part of a sinking ship.
Most importantly, at ExxonMobil you do not learn any valuable technical and managerial skills. All you learn is to either become a psychopath s—er or a bully.
If you leave a company you can always go back to a competitor who is better.
OP - My same approach and thoughts as well. There's pros and cons to the decision. Careers and life are not a perfect straight path as people make it seem. I would take a leap of faith and see how it goes. Worst case: a learning opportunity. Best case: you are happy.
Early career engineers who express a strong desire to go into management (and to have reports) give me the creeps. PLEASE TAKE THIS OFFER AT THIS OTHER COMPANY.
I understand the desire to leave oil and gas. Many people are looking at pharma and biotech. There is good job security there and there is deeper purpose in those jobs. It’s rare to get hired into management without formal experience so it’s a good opportunity. My advice is to make sure you can handle the new company for a couple of years. It’s a good chance to boost your resume. You can stay in pharma or move back to oil, or even go to chemicals. Actually with management experience you can work in pretty much any technical field. Managing people is a whole different game. I know process engineers are a leaders in the work areas, but direct management is different. I’ve seen good engineers make bad managers so find out why that is and don’t repeat it.
People like to feel like they are getting somewhere by their own accord rather than by being told. There’s a lot of nights you will lay awake thinking “how do these people function society?”. It’s a tough job. Good luck.
This post is hilarious. Increase the pip!
Hi I wrote the post. I don’t have kids or a family now and is why I can make this jump. It’s not for a large pharma co. The salary with the pharma co would be less than 100k, less than 80k. I want the management experience so I can move directly into a career role with another company afterwards or maybe stay with that co. I don’t want to go to a new company and start all over again as a process engineer. I’ve been there and done that.
Do you have a family, kids etc? What’s your current salary? Will the skills you learn at the job help you transfer to a higher paying role in the furture?
Year of experience?
Is it a big pharm? My advise is not to take the job and continue hunting