Life at GE : Careers : GE
The best aspect of my job is the opportunity to see across the entire P&L, from sales to execution to support. In IT, we are in a unique position to have insight across all these business processes, with an equally unique opportunity to point out places where we can help make a difference.
Two things come to mind when I think of working at GE. First: the unquestionable focus on people - their personal and professional development and their careers. Second: good ideas are rewarded and funded. I've not come across a single project with a strong return on investment that has been turned down for lack of funding. If it's the right thing to do, our businesses find a way to do it.
Early in my career, I made sure to get visibility in a number of functions. I had roles in Technology, Manufacturing, Services, Sales and Marketing and Quality. Exposure to multiple functions was critical to being able to support them later. From the IT side, I made sure that I ran custom development projects, ran infrastructure projects, and worked on packaged Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) deployments. Every role and every project came with lessons to apply to what we do here every day.
My current role is probably the most challenging I've faced. We are trying to do a number of things at once: support a business that is going through substantial change, invest in tools that have lacked investment for several years, and move our application architecture to new technology standards. The trick is moving all three forward together.
Data warehousing is probably the single skill that I've leaned on the most. In business, access to information and decision support can be a competitive advantage. Having a basic understanding of data warehousing and multi-dimensional tools allows business leaders to transition from basic score-carding and reporting to advanced analytics.
Find the biggest, nastiest problem you can, and put yourself right in the center of solving it. The rest will take care of itself.
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