Goodbye College, Hello GE

As I approached graduation, I worried about leaving my college bubble where I’d grown accustomed to working and sleeping in crazy rhythms.  I was sad to leave my friends who had become my family and move, all alone, miles from home.  The excitement of starting a new job was mixed in with my fears and anxieties of starting over. However, I found that unlike many of my college friends, my job allowed me to quickly form lasting friendships and make an impact on the company. 

At the beginning I was worried about entering the working world because I thought that my coworkers would be very formal in their everyday interactions. I was very relieved to find a welcoming work environment and very friendly colleagues.  Thanks to the IMLP events and the welcoming environment at GE, my calendar quickly filled up with happy hours, sponsored dinners, community service events and weekend trips to local tourist attractions. Not to mention fun Segway tours, and the networking events with a lot of people sharing common interests.

GE gave me also the opportunity All of the IMLPs at Junior Bootcamp in Detroit, MIto attend a 4-week Bootcamp training course at the GE Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center in Detroit, MI.  Here I met the IMLPs from other businesses, 105 recent graduates from all over the globe.  All the other IMLPs were new grads like me, with similar interests, fears and a general feeling of excitement over starting our new jobs. Bootcamp was one of the most beneficial experiences of my life.  I developed friendships and learned more in those 4-weeks than what I could learn in an entire semester in college.  Most importantly, Bootcamp gave us the tools necessary to make a successful transition into GE.

Armed with a new network of GE colleagues and friends, I headed back to my first rotation location.  I’m located in Cincinnati, OH where there are three GE businesses, Energy, Aviation and Corporate.  Although I’m in a completely new part of the country, I now have 12 friends who work at the same location. I also have more than 100 friends who I can reach out to for simple questions like, “how do I connect to a GE network printer?”  I believe that IMLP is the perfect transition from college to the working world, as it allows you to quickly meet friends and develop a support system. 

Without IMLP, I believe my transition would have been much more difficult.  I am so thankful for the program because I know that if I ever need anything, I can count on my new IMLP family. 

Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End

The events described bellow took place during the last week of Junior Bootcamp - week of August 3

 

And so begins the final stretch of four weeks known as Junior Bootcamp. With only five days left, a pot of mixed feelings started to brew among many of the new IMLP’s:

• Relieved, to be done with the month-long Junior Bootcamp session and survived
• Sadness, for not knowing when would be the next time we’ll see our newly – yet strongly – forged friendships
• Excited, to finally start our first rotation and put to the test all what he have learned at bootcamp
• Stressed, knowing that in just a few days we will have to present our final deliverables to upper-level GE managers

As the last week marches on, every group works furiously to complete their code as much as they can while other focused on updating the financials from the previous presentation or work on putting together the actual material that will be presented. With so much that needs to be done…we only had four days to complete all of this! (since Friday was the final presentation and ‘graduation’ ceremony).

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Hitting the Ground Running at Junior Bootcamp

After a week of orientation at GE Capital, it was time to start the next adventure: Junior Bootcamp in Danbury, CT with the other IMLP’s from all GE businesses. A total of 64 new IMLP’s from six GE businesses and across six countries all gathered in a Danbury Hotel.

As expected, we had no time to waste. The group arrived to the hotel on Saturday and bootcamp started the very next day (Sunday) at 9:30am. Here we were welcomed by Greg Druckman, who presented with the four-week schedule that we’ll be following though out the length of our intensive training along with a few stories of bootcamps past.

But while our heads were still spinning, they hit us with a week full of self-development and improvement courses, such as honing out presentation and public speaking skills, proper project management techniques and how to properly handle a project budget. All of this while forming various groups and mixed in with a handful of guest speakers and some homework.

You must be saying…“But how could you do all of this in just one week?”

The answer is with a lot of enthusiasm! As you may have noticed at this point, bootcamp is a pretty rigorous four-week training.

But not everything at bookcamp is about working hard; it’s also about playing hard (and sleeping a lot!).

In the evening, there are a few social activities that take place – from going out, watching movies,  late night trips to McDonalds and even just sitting around sharing stories of our past.

The matter of the fact is that while we are working hard, we're also learning a lot and having fun making new friends - and I don’t think any of us would want it any other way.

Guest Post by Maurice Williams, IMLP

Introducing... Our Newest Blogger (He's from NBC)

A little background about me... I'm Matt, a soon-tobe- first rotationer with  the IMLP program with NBC Universal in July.

I first heard of the IMLP Program when GE came to visit Syracuse University (where I got my degree in Information Management and Technology) for a Career Fair.  At first,I didn't realize that NBC Universal was even a part of the IMLP Program until I met a recruiter for my first interview.

Following the first interview, came a phone call about a 2nd interview that would be held over the phone, and if NBC liked what they heard, I would be eligable for  final round of interviews.

Shortly thereafter, I was flown out to Burbank, California to do a series of on location interviews at NBC Universal's HQ in Universal City, California. The interview consisted of 5 different 30 minute interviews (don't worry, I had a break in between).

After learning of my acceptance into the program a few weeks later, I was paired up with an IMLP "buddy" who is already on program.

On top of this, we have one full week for "orientation" at 30 Rock in the Big Apple, followed by the Junior bootcamp, whereall GE and NBC Universal IMLP's train for a month in Connecticut.

Despite being more then a month away from starting, I am preparing for my move out to California (I'm from New York) for my first two rotations. Packing, finding living arrangements, and getting my things out there, has really been keeping me busy.

Posted by: Matthew Bellezza, SU '09 Grad, NBC IMLP and the newest member of the blogging team!

Gary Reiner Unplugged.

While at Junior Bootcamp in Danbury,CT  Gary Reiner (GE’s current CIO) traveled from the nearby Fairfield offices to visit a group of 90 newly hired IMLP trainees.

Before his arrival, the main lobby was buzzing with excitement- practicing prepared questions, theorizing if he would arrive in a helicopter or reviewing Google search results, like the recent article in Fortune that named him “one of the world’s most influential” in business today.

After a light lunch, he stood up in front a crowd composed of recent college grads from all over the world: India, Hungary, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and the US with degrees ranging from MIS, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, International Business, Business Administration and Information Technology.

“Unplugged” from PowerPoint, Mr. Reiner spoke of IMLPs becoming advocates for change across businesses and the importance of seeing constraints and devising solutions.

His informal Q&A session left the group feeling a connection to higher management at GE.