Nick Harris
Job Title: General Aviation Territory Sales Manager, Switzerland & Iberia

Studied MSc Chemistry at Bristol University and in France

After graduating in June 2000 I was in the enviable position of having a year of travelling, including working a ski season, ahead of me, with the security of a job to look forward to in September 2001.  ExxonMobil's willingness to defer my offer was one of the many reasons I joined the company as it meant I had been through the pain and trials of application forms and interviews the previous winter and could concentrate on enjoying my gap year.

I was initially interested in the company as I had a technical background, so wanted to do something loosely related to that, and was looking for a company which offered diversity and opportunity on a global scale.  I have not been disappointed; my Chemistry has helped me understand the products we deal with and I have thoroughly enjoyed, and appreciated, the general Sales and Marketing learning experience.

On joining ExxonMobil Aviation in their global headquarters in Leatherhead, Surrey, my initial role was in the Business Planning and Analysis group which was a real eye opener!  I was involved in a whole host of projects and activities from forecasting our monthly earnings in Europe, to pulling together our three-year business plan for Africa.  The role was a challenge at times with deadlines to meet and senior management to report to, but it gave me an excellent overview of the Aviation business and a chance to interact with different departments and cultures.

I have now moved to the General Aviation (everything except airlines) group where I am responsible for our customers based in Switzerland, Spain and Portugal.  In addition, I am managing a particular brand of service called AVITAT which is gradually expanding in Europe.  This role has been a completely new experience and, once again, has put me on a very steep learning curve!  It's a very varied role too; one day I could be in Geneva discussing a customer's global fuelling requirements, and the next in a meeting reviewing the global marketing plan for the AVITAT brand.  I have been doing this role for a year now, and it has been an invaluable and immensely enjoyable experience, with every day providing a fresh challenge.

I am in no doubt that ExxonMobil, and in particular the Aviation group, has been the right choice for me - when you add in the ExxonMobil Graduate Development Programme to my work experience, the last two years have been a great way to begin my working career.

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