The fact that someone still works at Chevron does not mean that he or she lacks ambition. Whoever claims otherwise is simply wrong. There are still many people here who have enviable talents and great skills and who are very ambitious, but, despite everyone repeating it like some kind of mantra, it is actually NOT so easy to find a better job. I know my opinion is not very popular, but let's be realistic, finding greener pastures is not as easy as some here say it is.
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34 year Chevron employee here. The company has always treated me well. These last few years left will help me grow my 401K, pension, and personal savings/investments into a sizable amount. Having had LTIP for the last 15 years certainly helped and it’s will continue to reward me for many years post retirement. As my momma told me, nose down and work hard and good things will come your way…
I was let go from Chevron in 2020 in Wells. It has been the best thing to ever happen in my life!! The severance package was Great and I am truly appreciative of that! Now have a job with a respective O&G company that truly respects and treats their workers as family! No corporate BS, no wasted money on cr-p like E-Colors and Check Six. They value their people and do one thing… make money while staying safe! Work atmosphere is so fun now, I truly enjoy what I do!
For all you Chevron employees, keep grinding and don’t take no sh-t! Life is truly better on the other side!
"Ambitious" means you are working for your resume, not for Chevron. If you're not a high-pot or diversity candidate, all the ambition in the world will still get you nowhere. The truly ambitious are getting demonstrable numbers on their resumes, and constantly expanding their outside network.
OP, you are largely correct, but the longer you stay at Chevron, the more your skills will decay (as in, not grow), and the more difficult it will become to find challenging projects. Do you know of any 30-year people who are actually working on challenging projects? Most are just doing technical bookkeeping or managing younger employees. The "sweet spot" to leave is 10-20 years - you have taken full advantage of Chevron training and experience, and you're not too overpriced for the market.
For the IT folks, your skills are in decline the longer you stay working on projects that arent necessarily dealing with relevant technology. Whats your plan during the next layoffs ( clockwork every 5 years )? Your Chevron skills wont have much value outside
If you work in O&G it makes sense to stay, because frankly where else can a PE go other than another OnG co. IT has so many options, why stay in a place where the business hates you and so does IT.
I’ve been very ambitious to keep those paychecks coming in like clockwork twice a month. After 29 years, so far so good.
Great job, Great Company! Why leave!
If you're any good at all in your field, and you've kept current, it's incredibly easy.
If you've sat back and amassed a high salary over the years doing the same old same old... it's a lot harder, but still not impossible.
Depends if you're a high-pot or actually do O&G work.
From my experience in IT, no one ever learned anything outside of work or participated in any outside conferences or associations. IT workers just work on useless projects dreamt up by delusional managers promising upper management millions of dollars in savings or increased productivity.
I’ve fielded offers from MS and AMZ, but the base pay at CVX was higher every time. I probably would have made up for it in stocks, but at CVX I know how hard I have to work to be perceived as an above average performer. It’s worth it for me to stay instead of being ground up at a tech company.