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Oil, gas, and...burgers? The third-largest U.S. oil company, San Francisco-based Chevron is engaged in all facets of the oil and gas business - from its exploration and production, to its marketing, to its supply and distribution. In pursuit of oily and gassy treasures, Chevron drills for crude oil and natural gas in the United States (mostly in California and Texas) and 20 countries worldwide. Its total net production is 1.5 million barrels a day of oil and its equivalent in gas. Chevron is also one of the largest refiners in the United States and the No. 1 supplier of California reformulated gasoline. Its refineries convert its crude oil into a wide range of refined products - such as motor gasoline, lubricants, diesel and aviation fuels, and chemicals. As a leading marketer of refined products, Chevron boasts 7,800 retail outfits in U.S. Chevron has a partnership with McDonald's (since January 1998) in which a Chevron Service Station and a McDonalds restaurant will share one property and building, primarily to save on real estate costs and to provide tasty burgers to tired motorists. Finally, Chevron has extensive interests in chemical operations (with plants in 10 states and in France, Japan, and Brazil), and mines and markets coal. In fact, Chevron ranks among the top 15 coal producers in the United States. Losing the flab Chevron - like the rest of the oil industry - has gotten leaner of late. Since 1991, Chevron has slashed its cost structure by $1.4 billion, and has cut its workforce by roughly 30 percent over the past decade. Chevron has "learned - sometimes the hard way - how to operate successfully in the business environment of the '90s," says Ken Derr, the company's former CEO and chairman. Currently, Chevron is continuing its restructuring programs, targeting its research, shipping, and technology operations in an effort to save at least $90 million per year. In February 1997, Chevron announced that it would eliminate 600 or more jobs at its San Ramon-based Chevron Information Technology Co. (CITC) as part of a restructuring plan intended to save $50 million annually in the unit. Chevron's corporate human resources and finance departments experienced significant savings cuts as well. Not surprisingly, the trend continued in June 1999 when Chevron announced its plan to cut 2,500 more jobs through layoffs and by offering early retirement plans to 7 percent of its payroll. Chevron hopes that the job cuts will aid in its competition with merging rivals. On the bright side, this cost-cutting has improved the compensation for non-downsized employees, as Chevron ties employee compensation to its corporate success. Chevron offers a much-praised employee stock option plan, which rewards employees with incentive pay if the company meets its financial and operating goals. Overall, employees own 12 percent of Chevron's shares - more than any other single investor group. And more than 95 percent of eligible employees participate in Chevron's profit-sharing and savings plan. Still independent...for now In need of additional revenues, Chevron has looked beyond just selling gas at its 7,800 U.S. stations. In June 1998, Chevron acquired the rights to Amoco's retail motor oil and industrial lubricants brand names, hoping to attract retail customers in the industrial Midwest. Eyeing a piece of the $100 billion fast-food market, Chevron opened a string of Foodini outlets in the West, which offer freshly-prepared and prepackaged meals to customers waiting to buy gas. Chevron could sure use the extra dough. When declining oil prices wreaked havoc on the oil industry, Chevron was the subject of merger rumors - Texaco and Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) were the most likely partners (until ARCO was acquired by BP Amoco)- especially with the $75 billion Exxon-Mobil mega-deal. In late 1998, Chevron CEO Kenneth Derr told The Los Angeles Times that the company was willing to look at mergers and joint ventures "as long as they make sense for the shareholders." In December, the company's stock jumped as rumors began to circulate that Royal Dutch/Shell and Chevron would announce a $65 billion merger. In February 1999, Chevron and Arco agreed to combine operations in West Texas, creating a company with $700 million in annual revenues, $3 billion worth of oil reserves, and 850 employees, 170 of whom were cut. Changing of the guard In September 1999, following a failed merger with Texaco, Chevron announced that CEO, Kenneth T. Derr, would step down from his post at the end of the year. He is succeeded by vice-chairman Dave O'Reilly, who has also taken on the chairman's role as Derr hits the links. Almost immediately, O'Reilly began pushing the company towards the Internet by initiating a B2B marketplace for convenience stores in a partnership with Oracle Corp. and Wal-Mart. The move is an attempt to get investors re-interested in Chevron; even though the company showed record-high profits, its stock remains dormant. The increase in revenues occurred thanks to the combination of expansion in Argentina and an increase in oil prices that began late in 1999.
Chevron employs about 34,000 people worldwide, 8,000 of whom are at the company's San Francisco headquarters. Chevron recruits at numerous colleges around the country, "usually for technical fields." If you're shooting for one of these positions, this may be your best bet. The company posts its recruiting schedule at schools and job fairs on its web site, located at www.chevron.com, as well as a listing of current U.S. job openings. Chevron also accepts resumes by regular mail and e-mail. Chevron has opportunities in eight broad areas: Accounting, Earth Science, Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Marketing, and Research. The hiring process works differently for each department, but generally follows this format if you go through campus recruiting: First, you have a campus interview, and if all goes well, you will be called for a day-long visit at the hiring location. You will begin your day at Human Resources for an "initial short interview" and will spend the rest of the day interviewing with managers and potential colleagues. Reports one insider: "You will be invited to the company for a round of interviews lasting most of a day. Most people find that much interviewing somewhat stressful. After that a decision will be made within a week or two whether to make a job offer." The company has a Finance MBA Development Program that "is considered to be the most attractive to MBAs with a strong interest in Finance." The company also has an MBA Development Summer Internship Program, which is an excellent gateway - perhaps the best gateway - to land a finance job. Says an insider: Chevron "relies on large pools of interns (summer hires working between junior and senior year) hired through your college placement center to prescreen potential new hires." Interns are placed in a corporate group (i.e. Treasury, Comptroller, Strategic Planning) or an operating company (Production, Shipping, or Chemical).
Positive reviews At its corporate headquarters located in lovely San Francisco, Chevron gets mostly positive reviews from its employees. "Chevron is a fantastic place to work" with "friendly" and "team-oriented" people, employees say. An insider says: "Management is always willing to listen to the employees and most of the time make changes based on our input." Says another: "I would describe the culture as open and friendly." And those that work at Chevron's corporate headquarters in San Francisco love the city. "San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and I have seen many of them," says one. If you end up working for Chevron, be ready to travel to the far reaches of the world. One longtime employee describes traveling to "Angola, Nigeria, Congo, Australia, Kazakhstan, Russia, England, Papua New Guinea, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and China." Some complaints However, there is a vocal minority that centers their focus on the rapid downsizing the company has gone through in recent years. "Everybody with less than 15 years with the company is scared of losing their job," an insider says. Moreover, due to the massive downsizing, the responsibilities for those that have remained have markedly increased. "We have gone through several iterations of downsizing so there is plenty of work for everyone to do," a source says. These increased pressures, some in the company say, has affected employee morale. "Lower management and staff do not seem at all happy. This is probably due to heavy workloads, fewer employees, and limited compensation," a contact says. Employee-friendly policies Employees at Chevron rave about the pay, benefits, and flexible hours. "Something about Chevron, pay is very good," a source says. Another source adds: "Your best bet is overseas if you want to make good money." Employees laud the savings plan, where the company "puts as much as $3 dollars to our $1 in the 401(k)." Employees are also ecstatic about the company stock plan, where Chevron gives employees stock in equivalent of 2 percent of their base pay. "The stock plan is an absolute blessing," one employee says, echoed by others. Workers are allowed to enter in 9-80 plans, where they work 80 hours over 9 days, and take every other Friday off. Another insider mentions that the company offers "alternate work schedules, educational refund, and part-time work schedules," but that "policies differ greatly among the various departments." The dress code "varies by location," with operations in the South "more conservative" and California "quite liberal and loose." A longtime employee says: "When I hired on it was dark suits and hats. Now it's casual dress and encouragement of some non-conformity." At IT headquarters in San Ramon, says one insider, "dress code is casual - no ties for men, women can wear pants and shirts instead of dresses if they want." In the company's San Francisco headquarters however, it's still "business dress."
Gregory Matiuk Human Resources Chevron Corporation1 P.O. Box 7318 San Francisco CA 94120 1-888-825-5247 1-888-329-8647
Gasoline;diesel fuel;lubricants;petroleum production;refining;pipelines;marketing More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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