Rotation Spotlight: Will Kievit

Note: It's hard to follow in the footsteps of an NBC IMLP, with 30 rock and all...

In truth, I didn’t even apply for NBC’s program and I am really happy working for GE Capital because I am learning about finance and capital systems, which ultimately make the world go ‘round.

GE Capital funds all sorts of things from Kinney Drug Stores and Jack in the Box fast food to billion dollar energy deals like their Linden electrical plant in New Jersey.

My current rotation is working with GE Capital’s Energy Financial Services (EFS). Obviously when a company is shelling out millions and billions of dollars, there is a lot of risk associated with its deals, so there is a LOT of reporting , regulations, and analysis that goes along with it.

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Web-apps to the rescue

At the end of my first week in the office, my Assignment Leader asked me to put together a pitch to present to his boss, just to make sure that she was up to speed with what I will and will not be doing during my first rotation. Seeing as how this rotation is all about process improvement, a flowchart was a must...but how was I going to draw this chart if I don’t have Visio?

This situation was the exact same one that many other IMLP’s at bootcamp found themselves in while working on the final case study. The solution? Well a web-based application of course! Andrew Starr (a first-rotation GE Corporate IMLP) suggested this web-app called Gliffy, which in essence is a slightly watered down version of Visio on a browser. Similar to other charting applications, it features a set of templates with pre-defined commonly used shapes. But Gliffy goes one step further and adds versioning to every file you save, making it really easy to revert to an older version of your diagrams if you ever need to.

Sadly enough Gliffy is only free for the first 30 days, then you have to pay to use this service. But during 30-day trial you have access to all of its features – so it’s perfect for when you’re in a diagramming pinch!

Here are a few other (free) web application that may come in handy:

• The Big Picture: simple yet beautiful task/project management application.
• Aviary: not a single app, but a suite of image editing software – basically Photoshop on the web
• Groove Shark: similar to Pandora, but you build your own play list in place of the application suggestions.