Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Hey, regardless of whether they are 100% accurate, I believe that they are somewhat true. Thanks for your insight.
I was just curious about how high, really, are the salaries in O&G. Let's take the top 2 Majors for reference.
Exxon: I believe that the overall package is 12mths + 3mths (fixed), with no AWS. Starting is ~$3.8k/mth basic; increment for the first 3 years is between 4-8%. The average guy would probably plateau at 10k-15k/mth.
Shell: I believe that the overall package is 12mths + Bonus (highly variable, usually between 4 months to 18 months). Starting is ~$3.4k/mth basic (no NS), or ~$3.6k/mth basic (with NS); increment for the first 3 years is really high, like almost 20% per year. The average guy would probably plateau at 11k-15k/mth.
Could someone confirm if I've got the above figures right?
If they're right, it seems like civil service pays pretty good in comparison. The bonus in civil service could easily match up, or be even better, than Exxon (although not as high as in Shell). The base is high too. Starting is ~$4k/mth. With someone that calibre, his/her pay would probably plateau at 12k-15k/mth. Con someone affirm/rebut this? I've got a feeling that I'm missing an equation somewhere.. |
Hi, too many unregistered posters here. Can I clarify that you are the same poster who provided the IB FO names earlier?
If we are talking about Exxon and Shell one thing you have to understand is that these 2 supermajors put more emphasis on career progression rather than starting salary or bonus. Also just like banking, the treatment between hot jobs like trading & upstream (think of them as FO equivalent) is very different from the other jobs which are like your MO & BO.
Their starting salaries are not fantastic high and their bonus while still much higher than others isn't exactly top of the top either. What they excel in is the no. of opportunities given to top talent and the ability of top talents to move up in speed that rivals the banking industry. There is no way a normal non AO civil servant can come remotely close in terms of career progression.
For eg. take Shell (since they have a more structured program), you said there was a
NUS valedictorian who joined them. Chances are he was recruited as a graduate trainee at <4k which sounds correct. Assuming he wasn't going in as one of those "FO" jobs if you add in all the other stuff like allowance, aws & bonus maybe he gets 70k+, higher than your typical freshie but not fantastic.
But what is interesting is what happens after that. Essentially if the guy doesn't screw up, he can expect to roughly double his pay within 3 years of the program. So we are talking 140k for 3 year's work, not bad. But the fun is just starting, as a grad he would automatically be given a high CEP status a.k.a the equivalent of real scholars in civil service.
What this means is that his chances of getting promotion & expatriation is very high. As you probably know, getting an expatriation automatically means you live like some king with all expenses paid for your whole family plus a whole lot of beanies & allowances which has the effect of more than doubling your pay.
Besides expatriation, generally from what I observe these high CEP people usually get promoted once every 2-3 years. Each promotion is an increase in salary, allowance, bonus, stocks. Assuming your valedictorian friend can continue this trajectory, even without the need for expatriation or switch to the "FO", he should be able to get at least 300k+ within 10 years. This just for a MO/BO job which is probably on par I guess with many good banks?
Exxon is harder to predict because they do not have a very structured program and progression is much more individualistic. I have seen people who get thrown out after a few years because of stress or poor performance, I have also seen people who move up faster than Shell breaking the $500k barrier in their late 30s (again normal jobs, not talking about trading or drillers)
Exxon operates a leadership analysis system as well, but it is much more brutal in the sense that it's a yes or no thing. If it's a no, work hard and no slacking - be prepared to end your career as a local manager (think they call it L28 or 29 which is not bad, roughly the equivalent of MX9 in civil service).
If yes then again things go crazy, lots of promotion opportunities, globe trotting and huge investments in your personal development. Between the 2, I would say Exxon is stronger on the upside and Shell is stronger on average.
As for "FO" jobs in this industry, their packages fall broadly into 2 kinds. Those on the trading related side generally have basics that are 30-40% higher than the rest and uncapped bonus. Bonus quantum vary depending on individual, but I would say based on my exp, about on par with the trading desks from BB.
As for the drilling side, they also generally have higher pay & bonus than the rest, but bonus wise is lower than the trading side. But what they have instead is expatriation benefits all the time as the nature of their work means they are unlikely to be based in Singapore even if they were recruited here.
I have an acquaintance from big oil who has been mostly working abroad ever since he left school, he recently decided to retire at before 50 because with all expenses paid by the co. throughout his life. he was smart enough to plow all his salary & bonus to buying many properties in Singapore.