Oil and gas vs Banking

Originally Posted by sgengineer

Hmmm will u be able to share about the hours for such front office jobs?

I work 14 hours a day as analyst and associate as ib, typically reach office 730 and leave around 9pm, not unusual to burn weekends too. I hit 200k in total before 30.
Life gets better as vp and executive director level as i can farm out work to analysts, while i deal with client facing work. I can come in 9am and leave by 7pm, but will be on blackberry standby. However there are more travel at least 1 a month. Total comp around 440k this year, 20% lower from last year.
I dont think i can sustain long in this industry and looking to work for another 5 years in ib before moving to client side finance role as cfo where life gets even better but relatively lower pay. If not i probably play golf everyday and rely on rental income of 4 properties which should be fully paid by then to sustain myself and family

[Bean]

Exxon M, starting salary in 2010/2011 is abt $3600 (regardless class of honours)

-with addition 5% salary (duno cash or saving plan)

to TS, you mean your annual package is only 15 months? (does it inclusive of AWS too?)

[haiz2006]

What job are u exactly holding?
I have civil engineering degree...any lobang?

I have proj mgt and sales exp

[sgengineer]

Originally Posted by Bean

Exxon M, starting salary in 2010/2011 is abt $3600 (regardless class of honours)

-with addition 5% salary (duno cash or saving plan)

to TS, you mean your annual package is only 15 months? (does it inclusive of AWS too?)

Yeap, our fixed 3 months bonus is our AWS. So annual package will be 15 months.

[Bean]

Originally Posted by sgengineer

Yeap, our fixed 3 months bonus is our AWS. So annual package will be 15 months.

ok noted..

So I assume a friend of mine join EM in jul2007 , that time starting pay is about 3.2k....

So after 5 years exp in EM, am I right to say he will be getting approx 4.7k-5.3k range...

What role in IB ? (ECM, DCM , M&A?)

Myself, after 4.5 years in banking I kind of realise that for most this career path is not sustainable in the long run.

My hours are exactly like yours (come in before 730am and leave after 9pm). Typically burn 1 day of the weekend on average.

Total comp dropped by 50% and I begin to wonder if all the extra hours are worth it!?

Escape path would either be Buy-Side or to join a corporate. Or, do something more relax like GTS or Corp banking instead.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I work 14 hours a day as analyst and associate as ib, typically reach office 730 and leave around 9pm, not unusual to burn weekends too. I hit 200k in total before 30.
Life gets better as vp and executive director level as i can farm out work to analysts, while i deal with client facing work. I can come in 9am and leave by 7pm, but will be on blackberry standby. However there are more travel at least 1 a month. Total comp around 440k this year, 20% lower from last year.
I dont think i can sustain long in this industry and looking to work for another 5 years in ib before moving to client side finance role as cfo where life gets even better but relatively lower pay. If not i probably play golf everyday and rely on rental income of 4 properties which should be fully paid by then to sustain myself and family

Originally Posted by Bean

ok noted..

So I assume a friend of mine join EM in jul2007 , that time starting pay is about 3.2k....

So after 5 years exp in EM, am I right to say he will be getting approx 4.7k-5.3k range...

Normally EM graduate hires hit the 4.5-5k range after 2 years. Think ur friend should be getting 5.5 onwards depending on his performance

Originally Posted by sgengineer

I don't mean selling financial plans/credit cards but more of like front office jobs.. but from what i see it seems like its not easy to jump into front office role from a non financial background..

Also, i am wondering if the Management Associates program at the banks are good compared to the oil and gas industry...

management associates program is good if there are follow through within the HR organization. unless the HR organization is dedicated to it and not treating it as a people development project to show senior management, there is no point joining it.

Originally Posted by QXP

If you need to ask then you shouldn't be thinking of moving. It seems you have neither the passion, interest nor the faintest clue of what the banking / finance industry is about other than hearsay of great riches.

This is the most useful advise so far. Don't know what you want & dream of competing with all those world class MBA finance graduates. you can wait long long.

Just because some dua pao sian around bull you some fancy numbers of how much they make & you are already shaken and want to get out of a good company. Jeez you really gullible. How did Exxon even end up with someone like this???

Originally Posted by sgengineer

Hi All,

I am currently working as an engineer at one of the oil and gas MNC. I had been with the company for 1.5 years upon graduation and my annual salary for 2011 was ~61k.

My company has a policy that new hires will have a fixed increment of ~12% per year for the first 2 years. On top of that all SG employees are given a fix bonus of 3 months regardless of company's performance. As such, I can quite accurately project my 2012 annual income to be ~68k.

Every year we have a force ranking and employees are classified into the top 33%, middle 33% or bottom 33%. This will in turn affect their subsequent year increment where the top 33% will get ~10-12% (estimate) increment, middle 33% ~5-6% increment, bottom 33% may be given very low increments.

Hence, if one is doing well in the company (consistency performing well in the top tier), he/she will be able to hit ~10k/month or ~150k/annum salary after 10 years of service. On the other hand, the average performer will be able to hit around 7k/month or ~100k/annum salary after 10 years of service.

On top of that my company position is to provide long time employment and they do not have any records of laying off employees during bad economies as compared to other oil and gas company which may pay better but had cases of retrenchment or pay cut during an economy down turn.

On the overall, what I gathered is the company I am working for provides a stable income for me to sustain a comfortable lifestyle. Moreover I typically do not need to work OT too often, maybe only about 3-4 days per month where I have to stay till 7+ pm in office.

However, I look around and see some bankers/traders who are able to make much more money and live luxuriously and that got me to consider if I want to jump over to the financial sector for that monetary reward. However I am one who value work life balance and I am worried I might regret jumping into the financial sector where the hours are always rumored to be very bad. Also, I am also considering the risk of not being able to perform in the financial sector or how the financial sector hire and fire base on the economy.

I would like to hear advices from all you fellows out there on what you will do if you are in my shoe? Be satisfied with a comfortable life, or take a risk and jump into another sector which is deemed lucrative to either make it, or break it.

how many years have u been in exxon? your projections dont seem to consider promotional increment..