Intern Perspectives: The GE Family

When presented with the question ‘who is your family?’ most Americans immediately respond with the people they are related to through blood or marriage, right? Well, the answer most of us often overlook is the people we spend most of our time with day in and day out – our colleagues! Statistics show that these are the people we tend to share the majority of our waking hours with. So with that being said, why wouldn’t the relationships we build at work be the number one factor in determining how satisfied we are with our company?

Before deciding to work for GE, I spoke with many recruiters from various industries and interviewed with numerous companies. However, the unique thing about the people I spoke with from GE was their tendency to hold a strong commitment to the company and people they work with. They were passionate about the work they were doing, they enjoyed sharing information about their career and company, and they all said the people are what make GE such a great company to work for.

The tone I was hearing didn’t sound like a people that thought of the company as a good place to start a career, but rather a place to spend their entire career. Around the same time, I came across an article that said my generation would work for around 5-10 employers over the course of a lifetime. So you could image my surprise when I came across a group of people that worked for GE most of their career and are still excited about their contributions to the company and the positive impact they are having on the world.

The first day on the job truly reinforced everything I had been hearing from so many people. I felt like I had made 20 new best friends overnight. The network of friends I found at GE is what makes coming to work so easy. We are always planning events around the tri-state area that we can all enjoy together.  Just last weekend, about 15 of us went into New York City and spent the whole day sightseeing, trying new foods, and meeting new people. The relationships I have made through working for GE I will carry with me for the rest of my life; so in a sense, I didn’t just make new friends – I extended my family.

The people you meet from GE all speak with the same passion about their careers, about the company culture, and about the close working relationships that they hold dear to their hearts. When I think about how to describe the feeling I get from working at such an amazing company, the only way to describe it is the feeling you get when you’re having the best time of your life with your family.

Kyle Harwood is an IMLP Intern for GE Capital Treasury in Stamford, CT. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Information Systems and Operations Management at the University of Florida. His past experience in information technology includes him working as a business/testing analyst for an investment bank and a technical writer for a startup software development company. When he is not working/studying he is mostly likely eating delicious food, working on his fitness or salsa dancing with his friends. Also, he loves meeting new people and he thinks he's kind of funny so if you ever run into him don't be surprised if he tries to make you laugh.