Curious to what people have done to successfully find employment elsewhere. Does LinkedIn really work? I see a lot of job postings on there, but also lots of applicants. Are recruiter/head hunters still the best route? What has worked and what hasn't. Thanks in advance and hope for helpful responses.
11 replies (most recent on top)
Haha like dating apps - stay with xom and your amazing spouse
Exxon sent my resume, references .... to my current employer at the time - before I was contacted for an interview. Nice way to cause trouble at my current employer at the time.
@c3 Seems like you guys are having fun in HR department
@OP I have zero interest in leaving such a great company. I love ExxonMobil, the great benefits, the opportunities, how they care I could go all night
You will regret leaving such a great company
I tried for years to escape XOM to no avail. I finally achieved escape velocity last year by relying on networking and connections. Applying to jobs cold on LinkedIn was the absolute worst. As other people have said, lots of fake jobs and non-responses into a black box. My current company just posted 2 jobs for product management and got hundreds of applications in a short time and then ended up hiring internally. I suspect that happens a lot too, so unless you have someone on the inside with influence vouching or you have really unique experience that is exactly what the company is looking for - it is tough sledding.
If you use LI - use it strategically. Look for job postings where you have connections and then reach out to them before you apply to see if you can get a warm introduction to the hiring manager. But mostly use your network. Tell people that you are looking and be explicit about what you do and what you are looking for. I got my current job through a guy that I had biked with for years - I told him I was looking and what I was currently doing and it ended up being exactly what they needed.
Good luck - it is tough out there and can get discouraging, but keep working at it.
Reach out to people you know. That is pretty much the only way.
XOM BTC is hiring
Should I use my company laptop to search for a new friend or my personal one.
Asking for a friend.
When I interviewing with Exxon the geniuses in HR called my current place of employment for a reference. The irony of that happened again. Lol
I get a lot of supposed head hunters contacting me on LinkedIn that refuse to give any job descriptions unless I contact them on WhatsApp. They seem like scammers.
When I have been able to get real job descriptions, it turns out either building gas stations across the country or there is a requirement to be able to lift 50 lbs or lift 300 lbs with a group of 6 individuals. WTF! Also some expat job recruiting ads describe jobs with 62 days on/13 days off, targeting out BTC staff.
@OP This is my fifth job, and I’ve changed roles for different reasons. I’ve always relied on online applications (applying to jobs posted on LinkedIn, no networking or referrals). But 2026 job market is brutal; a lot of postings are fake or already filled.
My friend got his new job by doing something different: he watched for posts from hiring managers saying they were hiring, then sent them cold emails or messages. Even when companies weren’t actively hiring, he still emailed people in his field especially managers with a short note and his resume. Sometimes they forwarded it to relevant openings, but most of the time there was no response.
LinkedIn works for sure. And surprisingly, XOM on your resume will take you far. Make sure you remove XOM lingo from the resume and it’ll work out. That’s how I escaped!