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Chances are, you've bought Shell gasoline Shell Oil Company, owned by Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the world's largest energy company after Exxon Mobil, sells one of the most recognizable brands of gasoline in the U.S. Drawing from its oil and gas fields in California, Texas, and the Gulf of Mexico, Shell operates more than 9,300 service stations around the country. The company also sells electricity and natural gas directly to residential and small business customers through Shell Energy Services Co., a new unit it formed in March 1998. Moving coast to coast Holland's Royal Dutch-Shell Group founded the American Gasoline Company in 1912 to meet the energy demands of the rapidly developing Pacific Northwest. The company flourished quickly, taking over California Oilfields. In the following year and opening its first independent refinery in Martinez, CA in 1915. The success of these initial efforts led to swift expansion nationwide, and a 1922 merger with the Union Oil Company of Delaware formed the Shell Union Oil Corporation of today. The new corporation grew to include many products beyond oil and gas, including petrochemical fertilizers, synthetic rubber, explosives, aircraft fuel, and purified penicillin. Royal Dutch acquired Shell oil in 1985 but had to pay disgruntled shareholders a $110 million settlement. The three-tier approach to saving money: cuts, consolidation, and investment Faced with a world wide glut in oil prices, Shell has sought to cut costs by laying off workers and consolidating operations. In 1998, Shell slashed both its U.S. and European workforce by 20 percent. The company has also formed a number of alliances and partnerships such as Altura Energy, a joint venture with BP Amoco, and Motiva Enterprises, a partnership between Shell, Texaco, and Saudi Aramoco that will consolidate marketing and refining operations along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts. At the same time, Shell is investing $2.5 billion into several exploration and development projects such as the deepwater Ram/Powell field in the Gulf of Mexico. After spending all of that money, Shell made some extra cash in August 1999 by selling off its overseas coal assets for more than $1 billion. Shell's $800 million agreement to redevelop offshore oil fields in Iran is under investigation by the Clinton administration, which sought to impose economic penalties on the country for its support of terrorism. Discouraging investments is part of the federal law designed to punish Iran. Shell is also facing action in courts, since 400 independent gasoline dealers filed claims that the company charged unfair prices and collected excessive rents, effectively "pricing them into extinction". Buying back $3 billion worth of shares is on the company's to-do list for 2000, as is laying off 10,000 more workers. Also in the works is a vertical online marketplace created with Commerce One which joins together entire supply chains.
Shell recruits from about 50 campuses across the country, usually from what one former Shell recruiter calls "'program schools' that historically had graduated many of our most successful employees." The vast majority of Shell's professional staff is hired through college recruiting because, as one employee puts it, Shell "has a policy of maintaining a young profile." Adds another employee, "Except for craftsman and/or in operations, Shell usually only hires people with a degree." According to one insider, "You're really better off having the higher education upfront rather than going back later. If you can be hired on as a professional, great. If not, it will be a long road for career advancement. The one bad thing about Shell is that they tend to label you into a career path when you're hired. Either you are swimming upstream, downstream, or in a race boat. It really doesn't change much even if you go back for advanced degrees." The college interviews last about 30 minutes with the best applicants (graduates with a 3.5 GPA or better) invited for a day long visit to a Shell location for final interviews. Says the former recruiter, "the student would meet and discuss career possibilities with folks they would be working with, including some relatively new people that probably were from the previous college year's recruiting process and know first hand what you are going through in selecting the best career choice." "They did a personality profile and gave me tests to see if I could spell my name correctly," jokes one employee. "The interview process test your specific knowledge about your studies and heavily on how you react with others, in other words, are you a team player and how much/well of a team player you will be." Applicants should consult Shell's employment Web page www.shellus.com/jobs. The web page asks users for details about their educational and professional background and then lists the appropriate opportunities that are currently available. Applicants should include their GPA from college or professional school on their resumes. Shell also accepts staff referrals and local requests for employment interviews. Says the former recruiter, "Although the energy sector is going through some tough times now, Shell historically has continued to hire new staff even in periods of static staff levels."
Harnessing talent and potential Shell employees benefit from the company's "international renown" and an "impressive" pay scale. "Shell seems to be the best of the major oil companies to work for," says one employee. Shell management encourages "multi-talented" employees to work in a variety of careers; one employee reports working in research, operations, human resources, and finance during his 19-year tenure at Shell. Says another employee, "Shell provide for a highly competitive environment where your full potential will be harnessed to the hilt. They provide a career path which rewards high performers." A time of uncertainty However, depressed oil prices have taken its toll at Shell. "It's a time of uncertainty throughout the corporation," says one insider. "Every oil company is trying to position themselves strategically for long-term low prices/low prices/low margins. Shell is doing the same thing." Another employee says the downside to working at Shell is "they demand long hours of work and to a certain extent, you may have to sacrifice a bit of your family." Investing in the workforce The company is known for consistently setting industry standards for compensation and benefits, but measures to encourage diversity within the workplace and to increase support for minority employees have been implemented only recently. As one employee puts it, "Shell seems to put a LOT of emphasis on diversity. It is one of the company's stated strategic goals." Employees also say that expansion into China, Africa, and the Middle East should create new opportunities to travel and gain exposure to international business deals.
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