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| A United Kingdom Perspective |
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| | David Attwood
Analyst, Europe Business Support, Gas and Power Marketing
MSci Physics from the University of Birmingham
I joined the company in 2000 as a graduate entrant. I was initially attracted to ExxonMobil because of their position as a global leader in the industry and the challenging opportunities that they had to offer. In my first four years I have had three diverse, but equally challenging roles and am happy to say that reality has more than lived up to my expectations.
From day one, as an analyst in our UK Gas Marketing group, I was immediately aware that my work had a real impact on the business. Providing analysis to support large contracts and reporting business performance to management I was rapidly able to contribute more and more. My area of responsibilities quickly grew to include representing the company in commercial negotiations and managing around ten significant gas transportation contracts.
After 18 months, I was called into my supervisor's office and asked if I would like to take an assignment as a new sales analyst in Melbourne, Australia. I agreed without hesitation! Once in the new role, I became heavily involved in the negotiation and execution of three major deals that will supply gas to South Eastern Australia well into the next decade. I was involved in the negotiations from start to finish, developing the marketing strategy, providing support to the lead negotiators as the deals evolved and was even in the room when the deals were closed out. The projects were immensely satisfying and I greatly value the experience of seeing them through to completion.
Now back in London, I am getting to grips with the rapidly evolving European gas market in our Europe Business Support group. I provide strategic analysis and advice to our marketing groups on a broad range of issues. The work has provided exposure to the full scope of our European business, the market is changing constantly and each day almost anything can land on my desk. One day I could be studying the Netherlands Gas Market and the next I could be analysing gas sales from our Norwegian portfolio.
ExxonMobil's on-the-job experience has given me some fantastic opportunities to learn about the industry and develop the skills I will need to build a successful career. By providing business training courses in establishments that include London Business School and the Thunderbird campus in Phoenix, USA, they have invested a great deal in developing my core commercial skills. These courses have complemented my day to day work, building on skills in areas such as negotiations and analysis.
Being a global company, you will be part of a diverse workforce and will work alongside people with wide-ranging experiences from many different markets and commercial scenarios. I have learnt a great deal from my colleagues and in the process have made many great friends from all around the world. There are so many opportunities on offer at ExxonMobil; I can only imagine what I will end up doing next. From the optimisation of our European gas supply portfolio, to business development in our natural gas liquids business in London or working in our LNG group in Qatar, the opportunities seem almost boundless.
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