Intern Reflections: Eight Great Weeks

Editor's Note: This is a guest post from Shubha Brata Roy, an ITLP intern with GE Energy in India.

I joined GE two months ago as an ITLP intern in Gurgaon, India. I must say on the very first day itself I could sense the excellence that flows in the veins of this corporate giant. The introduction was nothing but a joy-ride. The perfection of the entire process was so scintillating that it made my transition from college to corporate very smooth.Shubha Brata Roy looks back as his internship at GE Energy comes to an end this Friday

The project I got for my ITLP internship was equally challenging from the GE standards. But I found this to be a magical place, just like Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, where you always get help when you are looking for it. And so are the magical people around here; with great abilities and great responsibilities, but still down to earth. Working for GE is a passion for these people, and every morning they return with a goal to make a difference, where it actually matters. They work for society where the society needs them and at the same time make money for the shareholders who vouch for them.

One thing that has fascinated me about this company is its integrity. While reading through Jack Welch's books, I used to wonder how a company as big and as diverse as GE could sustain in the business without compromising on its integrity. I mean how can a company which does business with almost every other country in this globe and is exposed to so many diverse cultures, stay above the social and political perils? But it was only when I spoke to the leaders in person, I could realize that this is something which they feel proud of in this company. And this pride gives them strength to fight any distractions that comes their way. So being an ITLP is an honour for a candidate to take this legacy forward.

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Preparing for China with Distance Learning

In addition to our formal classroom training at Bootcamp, ITLPs also take several distance learning courses during their time on program. Over the past few months, those of us in our 2^nd rotation have been working on a business intelligence case study in preparation for Senior Bootcamp.

Our case study dealt with sales and performance data from GE Healthcare devices, such as x-ray machinesOur teams were tasked with designing a business intelligence reporting system. We had to integrate different data sources and standardize and design reports. As with our previous classes, our final presentation included a detailed project plan, financial analyses, and, as usual, a tough question and answer session with our GE reviewer. Our reviewer happened to be an ITLP alum, so we knew there was no sneaking anything past her. But our presentation went well, and our team passed the course. Our next stop: China for Senior Bootcamp, where we will be working to implement the system we designed.

Distance learning classes have proven to be more beneficial to me than I had thought they could be. They serve to hone our presentation skills, as every interaction with our teammates and instructors is via phone. These are skills that I rarely (if ever) had to use in school, so it’s been very useful to get more instruction on virtual presentations.

Distance learning classes also help to keep the larger ITLP class connected. Our teams combine all businesses and regions, so someone from GE Healthcare in the US might work with teammates from GE Aviation in Europe and GE Energy in India. It’s always good to keep building your network and keep your finger on the pulse of the larger ITLP program, and these classes are a great way to do that.

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Seeing GE Aviation's Work Take Flight

Andrew, a second rotation ITLP in Aviation, recently had the (awesome) opportunity to attend the delivery celebration for the first GEnx 787 engine delivery to Japan Airlines (JAL) last week. Here’s his account of the trip:The first 787 delivery to JAL complete with GEnx engines

For my second rotation, I am located at the GE Aviation site in Yakima, Washington. The main landing gear systems for the GEnx 787, among other actuation systems, are made by GE right here in Yakima.  And the bigger deal is the engine on the wing: the GEnx.

We drove over to Seattle for the day from Yakima and started by attending the celebration lunch at Boeing.  We got to hear from the program leaders from Boeing, GE, and Japan Airlines.  It really gave me a good perspective on our customers, the airframer Boeing, and the airline JAL.  I have always heard that Asian culture is really built around strong relationships and trust, which was very apparent to me.  The GE and Boeing Program leaders were talking about the dinners, and gatherings that they had with JAL leading up to the delivery.  All GE, JAL, and Boeing program leaders were wearing Kimonos that were given to them by JAL. 

While it may have seemed like the relationship was strong among the three companies, there are certainly some challenges. There are going to be heavy demands placed on these planes, which will be relied upon for Boston to Japan flights.  If for any reason there needs to be unexpected maintenance in Boston there will not be another 787 sitting around ready to pick up the slack.  At worst case, they will have to fly in another plane all the way from Japan.  Our customers truly depend upon the quality, durability, and safety of our product.

One of the vintage planes that Andrew had a chance to sit in

In between the celebration lunch and the actual takeoff we got to see the John Sessions airplane collection at Paine Field.  John Sessions is an individual who has an incredible passion for flying and aircraft.  He has quite a collection of vintage airplanes, among them a P-51B which saw combat in WWII; he said there are only 5 of these in the world.  Since they were all his planes (and he was a very cool guy) he let us climb around inside the planes and even sit in the cockpits."

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GE Tops Forbes Rankings

Have you heard the news? Yes, GE has been named the Happiest Company for Young Professionals. According to CareerBliss, who interviewed more than 200,000 young employees, GE ranks first for happiness and sense of reward from our daily job.  In other words, every day we wake up and we’re happy to go to work and make an impact at one of the biggest companies in the world.

But that wasn’t the only award recently received by GE. Forbes posted another article revealing that once again, GE ranks in first place in the annual Hay Group survey “Best Companies for Leadership” (read more here and see our post from last year for more details). This makes it five times in six years has topped the list.

If you combine the two results, you may have an idea of what it means to be a young professional working at GE. While you grow professionally and personally, you wake up every day happy to go to work where friends and colleagues welcome you in a collaborative and open environment.  As an ITLP, you’ll realize how your skills can impact the projects and the business you are working on. You can influence small changes in the way people work, making them save time and effort. People rely on you for all the IT questions they may have and will ask you how you can make their life easier or solve a complex problem. In your role you will increase productivity of your business and you will bring accuracy and automation in their daily calculations, from financial data and reports for leadership to engineering calculations showing gas turbine efficiency. In order to give you experience and expertise you may have the opportunity to change location, business, and perspective every six months, opening up your horizons and gaining business acumen. You will do all of this in a great community of peers who are there to help, and together with you, make the program better. At the end of the program, you will realize how the business and the projects you worked on improved; you will realize that you were part of it, contributing to make GE an even better company.

Team Building (and Fun!) at GE

GE softball leagues are a fun (and sometimes competitive!) way to mingle with your corworkersSummertime in the US is almost here, and at GE that means...softball teams are forming! Already I’ve been invited to be on two different teams, and have had to scrounge around my apartment to find my old glove. Though I’m not even remotely a good player (I haven’t really played since 8^th grade), I am excited for the opportunity to meet new people and have fun doing something with my GE friends other than our usual work.

GE softball leagues exist at several of our locations, pitting teams made up of different departments and functions against each other. At both locations where I’ve lived so far, there is an annual team made up of IT employees, ITLPs and IT interns that I’ve been able to join. The teams span a wide variety of softball playing ability, but everyone is encouraging and mostly focused on just having a good time. There is some competition though – at the end of the summer, the top teams compete in the playoffs to determine an overall champion.

Softball isn’t the only opportunity for having fun at GE either. In the last 6 months, I’ve also been invited to participate in two different run/walk races, help plan a game day for the IT organization, bake snacks for an international lunch, and go on a cruise down the Hudson River. Whether it’s a GE-wide programs, team events, or individuals finding exciting things to do in the area, there are always opportunities to meet people and have some fun.

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