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| A United Kingdom Perspective |
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| | Emily Voakes
Business Line HR Adviser
LLB Law, University of Manchester
After graduating in 2004, I spent 6 months working as a HR Consultant for a small start up company. I really enjoyed working with businesses to develop and implement their HR strategy and seeing the difference that this can make to their business performance. Having determined that HR was the career for me, I set about finding an HR position within a company that could offer excellent career development opportunities, exceptional training and opportunities for international travel and expatriate assignments.
ExxonMobil ticked all of the boxes and have delivered on their promises since I joined in 2005. My first position was within the Policy, Compensation and Benefits Group based at Leatherhead. When they say you have a real job from day one they mean it. Within my first year I had taken on numerous projects in addition to my day to day job as a Client Services Adviser for employees within the UK and Ireland for all of their HR issues. One example of the sort of project roles that I took on is taking responsibility for the UK roll out of a high profile global compensation systems upgrade and ensuring successful implementation within the UK. This involved working in a global team of HR contacts and in the go-live stage I will be training all of the UK managers on the new systems.
I am now working in the Site HR Group and have remained at the Leatherhead office. I am supporting the Fuels Marketing functions and work closely with the business line managers on a wide range of HR issues that come up day to day, such as staffing planning and employment law advice. So far this job has been varied and exciting with no two days the same. It is really reactive and keeps you on your toes whilst also providing some longer term problem solving opportunities.
The training provided so far has been fantastic. As well as attending a company run course in Brussels, I am half way through the London Business School training modules that have been designed especially for ExxonMobil Graduates. The quality of the training is incredible and the opportunity to socialise in London with the rest of my graduate intake is a real bonus!
One of my concerns about joining a large multi-national was that I would not be exposed to the same levels of responsibility as I was in my previous job. This has not proven to be the case and I really have been given responsibility for important projects and pieces of work and have been rewarded for what I have achieved. I am part of a team in which I really contribute and make a difference.
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