Joseph Fish
Job Title: Imperial Oil Uniformance-DV Project Lead
Studied: BA and MChem in Chemistry at the University of Oxford
As a student in my final year in college, my only pre-conceived notion when I
began thinking about which careers to apply for, was that I wanted to work for
a large, well-known, blue-chip organisation. My decision, therefore, to apply
to ExxonMobil stemmed from what I believed to be its differentiating factors
from other companies in this same category:
• Graduate Development Programme – The fact that the scheme was run in
conjunction with London Business School, covering modules on all aspects of
business functions and personal development.
• Opportunity for international travel – The fact that the company has such a
large global presence in so many countries.
After joining, my first role within the company was working for the Chemicals
Information Services supporting a range of manufacturing systems in use at the
European chemical sites. The most challenging aspect of this role was the
steep technology learning curve involved in getting to grips with so many
disparate systems. However, after a few months of training, I soon became a
specialist in several of the manufacturing systems and began working on small
chemicals projects, expanding greatly my knowledge of the chemicals business
operation.
After 2 years in the organisation, I moved into the IT Projects division to
take up an appointment as a technical specialist for a new web-enabled
refining application – Data Visualisation. This project was a global
initiative to install this application at every ExxonMobil refinery. In my
role within the project I spent a period of several months working at
refineries in the Benelux, France and Italy. This was my first experience of
working in a foreign country and was something I found both immensely
enjoyable and extremely valuable for future roles.
Following these technical roles, I moved to a role requiring a completely
different skill set, taking an appointment as a project manager in the
Projects division. Over a period of 18 months I managed a variety of different
projects, ranging in size from small to those with budgets of over a million
dollars. This role gave me the opportunity to develop skills such as managing
global remote teams across different time-zones; skills essential in the
modern day global business environment.
Recently, I was fortunate enough to be offered a role on a Project at Imperial
Oil, the Canadian Oil Company in which ExxonMobil owns a controlling stake.
Experience that I had gained in my first two roles in the organisation
happened to make me the right fit for the job. This role has provided the
greatest challenges to date, not least uprooting and moving to Toronto for 2
years. At the same time it is also providing the greatest rewards and the
experience of living and working in a foreign country is one I intend to make
the very most of.
Looking back on the differentiating factors on which I chose ExxonMobil, I can
honestly say that my hopes in each of these areas have been met and exceeded,
and as I look to the future I am sure the next few years will be just as
varied and rewarding.
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