I am a current Exxon employee that is being recruited for a role at COP. I figured a good way to judge a company is to see what the angriest people are saying anonymously. Honestly, your complaints sound just like what is on the Exxon Layoff page. Mostly that forced ranking sucks. With that in mind, does anyone want to provide a review of what work is like at the Houston HQ?
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I am ex COP and have worked at companies from less than 20 to larger than COP at Equinor (formerly Statoil). Of all, Statoil was on top of the technology like no other which was smart considering the N Sea operations are more dangerous than most. The smaller companies would laugh at the things COP would do as they spent so much time evaluating things that the opportunities often would pass them by before execution and that happened to me on several occasions. There is some belief there that you can "PowerPoint" your way to success and many that climb the ladder there are very good at that and knowing which brown eyes to target to get the most stroke out of their constant slurping up. It is probably the worst place for back stabbing and b4tt kissing I have been at as the back stabbing is subtle and behind the scenes and made to appear like it is nothing while the sucking up is nauseatingly easy to witness. The "woke" stuff is a little distracting, but I just ignored it and could care less and I don't want to know and don't care what you do or how you identify or whatever - you either can pull your weight on a project or not. If you don't, I address it. Once I had someone complain to HR saying I was being s-xists because I am male and the person was a female. I keep detailed notes as to deliverables and when someone says "I will have X done by this date" and when that date comes and they reply "I just couldn't get to it" without a good explanation, that is all noted which is what happened on multiple occasions and fortunately the allegation was cast aside after I brought my paperwork in. And since someone will say I am just a sour old guy, I am not, I just expect people to get the job done. I have worked with and for many of the opposite s-x, different races and orientations who have performed well and a few who just sucked at their jobs and that comes in all shapes, sizes, colors and orientations of people. Anyway, best of luck to you.
XOM does science and engineering, COP does head up the a-s unplanned consequences.
Worst sxploration company ever. SO many mistakes in the GOM, and Alaska where they couldnt find anything on their own leases until knowledgable independants found it.
@9bnb “ethical” laugh out loud. I don’t think you’ve ever been close to the executives. I could tell you lots of stories, but I signed an agreement not to when I was granted EOI. Let’s just say policies and procedures are for the little guys.
Thank you for your dated insight @9bnb. Your inch deep mile wide deep analysis is typical of decade old “senior-ish” capabilities. So happy for you to retire with such a clear conscience. Your perception of an ethical place to work with high levels of integrity is reflective of the bubble you remain isolated within.
Assuming you’re still weighing things up, here are some thoughts:
- oil & gas companies are oil & gas companies - particularly when they’re the scale of XOM, BP, CVX and COP (people, amount of operations, international assets). I worked for several companies, and they had some differences but their DNA was basically the same. Processes, seniority, technical vs financial considerations, yadda yadda.
- similarly, posts on the Layoff pages of all the big oil & gas companies play out the same themes - management sucks, it used to be great here 20 years ago, I’m a white guy and I hate woke stuff, and so on. The CVX page seems to be the most active, but it doesn’t paint a really different picture of any of the other Houston based firms. I’ve followed the COP page for about 8 years (I’m a former long term senior-ish COP employee, now retired), and none of the grousing about company strategy contains any worthwhile insights.
- all oil & gas companies are better places to work when prices are high than in the down cycle. Statement of the obvious.
- you didn’t say what discipline you work in - geoscience, reservoir engineering, legal, finance etc. One shift I do see COP making after the merger with Concho is putting less value on high level in-house technical work. Additionally, the company has substantially pared back exploration and sold off much of its international portfolio. The Permian is where the action is, with efficiency and predictable operations becoming more salient. If that floats your boat, great.
- as with all companies, who you work with and for matters at least as much as the logo on your business card.
- although the angriest people posting on this board will tell you differently, I thought COP in its post spin off version (upstream only) to be a mostly ethical place to work with generally high levels of integrity. Forced rankings will always suck, but there’s no chance they’ll be ditched any time soon.
Best of luck, hope this helps.
Y’all who say XOM is better have never worked there. COP is no wonderland, but it’s way better than XOM.
previous poster, you got me depressed now. Its a good job - well paid, good benefits, easy work/life balance, gym at lunchtime, long lunches, lots of vacation timeoff, 9/80s. Yeah those things you mentioned are ball-busters, but if you can survive here and put up with the ratings hampster wheel and perform strong enough to not be on the chopping block during the inevitable layoff season, my opinion is that it is a great place to work that affords you plenty of time to pursue your life outside of work. You probably won't grow too much professionally, but I am at peace with that as long as I can ride out my career here for another 20 years.
For years, COP has tried to mimic Exxon in all the superficial ways but without the ability to recreate its success. 20 years ago, conoco and Phillips merged and began trying to build an empire with the acquisition of Burlington. A technology research center was planned for Colorado, international exploration was going like gangbusters and deepwater was seen as the most important frontier. Then reality hit. All of that collapsed and now we just buy successful companies, double down on existing assets, and make vague promises about balance sheets and reserves. All smoke and mirrors. As we heard in a moment of honesty from one executive not long ago: “the cupboards are bare”. This place is ok as a stepping stone to your next career path, but unless you want to spend your time kissing up, watching your back, and fighting for good rankings, I’d take a hard pass.
All the bureaucracy of Exxon with no substance. Exxon always had the best assets in the industry. Size matters in oil and gas. Exxon is integrated. We only have upstream which is increasingly focused on L48 resource plays. We have no R&D. From a technical standpoint, we are boring unimaginative followers.
Smaller minded, less capable less ambitious version of XOM. Hope they pay you what that’s worth.
Same as it ever wuz, Exxon exxpat.
Just a different drive to a different part of the Eden that is Houston.
And smiles for a few weeks.