IMLP UK - New Beginnings

While researching IMLP, I was amazed at the fantastic opportunities the program offers in terms of training and development over the four six-month rotations. However, I always found it challenging to get a grasp of the type of work you would be responsible for as a member of the program within such a vast company. I’ve since discovered the reason for this is that the work is so varied – every day is a new experience and no two IMLP rotations are the same! I felt it would be useful however for me to give an overview of the work I’ve been doing so far and what I’ve learnt during my time on IMLP.

I currently work within the Technology Services Group (TSG). TSG is a cross business team providing Architecture services (Infrastructure, Application & Data) across the Aviation & Energy divisions.  Within TSG I am placed with the On Demand team, which manages our private cloud environment. It’s a great example of how GE is embracing emerging technologies and using them to generate cost efficiencies for the business. In addition to being cheaper than a traditional physical server, our virtual servers have reduced build times from an average of 6 weeks down to around 30 minutes! This allows our development teams to start working on new services far faster than ever before.

My role is to develop a capacity utilization dashboard to inform our internal customers of how much system resource they are consuming. This is vital as they are charged on a utility basis – much like a cellphone bill – so we can save the business a lot of money by providing this insight and adjusting virtual server allocation to match consumption.

My technical learning is focused around the Extract, Trasnform and Load (ETL) process, which is where data from multiple sources is pulled, cleansed and consolidated in a single source. This process is critical to Data Warehousing – which is a vital skill to possess as we enter the era of Big Data. TSG is full of technology experts so I’ve expanded my knowledge in other areas too, such as IP Provisioning & Web Service – simply by having conversations with the experts in those roles  

Additionally, my Assignment Leader brought me to Cincinnati for 3 weeks to meet the team and understand the wider business better. That was a fantastic experience. In addition to meeting my team to ‘put a name to a face’, I was able to sit with wider TSG leadership during my time in Cincinnati, which was exposure I would never have managed had I remained in Cheltenham.

Another great thing about IMLP is that the program is driven by the IMLPs themselves. So in addition to my rotational work I’ve organised recruitment events at both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities and helped run our IMLP assessment centres in London. This was great fun as I remember what it was like to be in that position myself a year ago – and as IMLPs we can help improve the process for the following year’s intake.

TI Day - September 2010

In September, I experienced my first Technology Infrastructure event in the UK as a GE Healthcare IMLP intern. This event changed my perception of the definition of an internship. When I first joined GE, I thought this would be just another typical internship; but, in GE it is so much more! Rather, it is a learning curve which helps you decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. This event was one of the contributing factors to my learning curve.

IMLP’s from GE Aviation and Healthcare were the main players, and we focused on team building activities, knowledge sharing, and round tables with the CIO’s.  We also had former IMLP’s relate their opinions and advice on corporate do’s and dont's, which was followed by a charity event, and ended with a dinner in central London.

The best part of the event was to learn more information about the other businesses that IMLP's represent. The sharing of ideas and thoughts from the IMLP's about their future in GE and their industries was very interesting and broadened the horizons about GE as a business. Furthermore, the roundtable with the leaders was helpful in pointing us to the right direction in our fields. This gave us more insight into a glimpse of our future in GE.  The best part was this event also focused on the importance of balancing life and work, as witnessed by the team building activities, charity event, and dinner in central London.

Overall, this was a very enriching event focusing on both an IMLP's career and work-life balance. I would like to experience this again and also encourage more events like this! 

by Sreeharsha N.

When one becomes the customer ...

Some people say Information Technology is a business enabler, other ones that it is a support system and many mention it is a service. Most people agree we always have a customer focus and it is one of our main drivers.

During this rotation I have been working in the Network environment to maintain the quality that Six Sigma excelence standards give us.

For the first time since I started the IMLP I had the chance to interact with vendors and telecom carriers, making us the customer in this case. It is a very interesting perspective as we need to define our requirements, standards and needs and that is not as easy as it seems.

GE is a worldwide company and when defining global processes we cannot forget how different each region, country or even site are, so the program manager challenge is not to lose that global mindset when drilling down to low level issues.

This rotation is giving me the capapbility to zoom in and out into project details without losing the objectives we have and thanks to the international scope, the chance to be working with teams in Asia, Europe and America teaches me one can fix things being thousands miles apart from the issue.

IMLP Internships in GE Aviation UK!

In order to keep on growing the IMLP in the UK, GE Aviation is recruiting IMLP Interns (also known as Co-Op or EID) for this summer in Cheltenham.

They will be the first ones to join GE Aviation in the UK as IMLP Interns and will be working closely with IMLPs based in Cheltenham. Exposure to leadership and an amazing learning experience is guaranteed.

Exciting rotations of one-year length will be available so they will understand how GE operates, the infrastructure and services we provide while are mentored to develop new skills.

This initiative is part of the effort the recruiting team is putting to bring top talent to the UK IMLP.

Please, find more details and how to apply here.

We are looking forward to working with you!

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! Umm, what's my line?

There are definitely some perks in working for a company with such a vast business portfolio as GE: we have resources in areas that some companies could only dream of!  In April, IMLP's from across the UK teamed up with our colleagues at CNBC in London to shoot the first evThe 'cast' of the UK IMLP video in the studio. L to R: Eulogio, Rich, Gemma, Miguel, Lydie, Seb, Renuader IMLP promotional video, starring yours truly and a whole host of IMLPs, alumni, and interns.

Lead by UK IMLP Eulogio, the entire commercial was designed and scripted by the cast and shot in one afternoon at the CNBC News Studio.  We filmed over 3 hours of footage (there were plenty of outtakes!) and with the help of the editing geniuses at NBC we chopped this down to a two and a half minute segment. The video will be used in our online recruitment advertising for IMLP.

The IMLP program is rapidly expanding in the UK, and one of our largest challenges is getting our message out to the graduating students in a market where both IMLP and the GE brand are not well known.  This video, along with the huge publicity boost provided by GE’s sponsorship of the 2012 London Olympics, will go a long way towards bridging that gap.

Visiting the NBC Studios was a fantastic experience for everyone.  We learned a lot about how filming works in a studio environment and the pressures involved in making live television, as we were fortunate enough to sit in the control room during a live news broadcast with a breaking story!

Thanks to all the IMLP's involved, and an extra special thanks to Lloyd, Martin, Charlotte and Tim from CNBC for giving up their time and being such superb hosts.

Check out the video and find out more about IMLP in the UK by following this link: