salience
July 29, 2003
In the confusion of the past few weeks, I haven't been able to subdue my emotion enough to bring these thoughts into the light...
Things at work are going really well. I have a mile long list of contacts, I'm gaining a ton of experience, and Angela wants me to come back to the team during the Christmas break. For awhile there, I was really struggling with Corporate America. All of a sudden it hit me: is this it?? If I count down the minutes every day when I only have to do this for 14 weeks, what am I going to do when this is my life for 50 weeks out of every year?
Every day I would get to my desk and watch the office wake up. Employees would come in, dragging their feet, dreading another day. The break room was base, where people went to hide, to escape being it. Being fortunate enough to sit in the middle of the CFO cluster, I would listen to these executives shouting on the phone all day, cursing at their machines, throwing papers around their glass-enclosed offices, calling their wives to vent their frustration. Lunch was just a time for business outside of the office. The afternoon crawled by with detailed meetings. In those last minutes before five o'clock, tension would build, everyone watching the clock to see those last seconds drain out of the work day. In a massive push, everyone was packed up, waiting for cellphones to ring, at the elevators. Happy, as if for the first time.
Day in and day out.
I could not stop wondering, "Holy Mother of God, what have I gotten myself into?"
At lunch, all of us interns would talk about the future. We're all business nerds, used to having things planned out. Suddenly we were collectively confused. Yeah, we all want to make the most money in the least amount of time. That is a given. But is this our only option?
Even worse was the day we realized that it doesn't matter what you do at work. It's just the impression that is important. Unless one is a high ranking exec, she could just come to the office and play solitaire all day, if she so chose. As long as she was there, looked busy, every now and again making a lively phone call, or sitting in a meeting somewhere, everyone would assume that she was earning her money.
The game was immensely disappointing. Where's the challenge? If we all dedicated ourselves to one company after undergrad, it could take years to get a challenging job. Years of just staring at a computer screen, of playing with an excel file for two weeks, of organizing unnecessary meetings with your advisors to discuss said excel file.
Of waiting.
Designated the representative by my intimidated peers, I set up a lunch with Angela. She only wanted to talk to four of us--she figured everyone else could get the word through the intern grapevine. We all piled into her brand new bmw, and she took us to her favorite luxury restaraunt. She insisted that we all order whatever we wanted, after all, "The General" was paying for it, not her. And for an hour and a half, she just talked. About everything. How at 26 she was making more than she ever dreamed. How even without her master's she was being considered for a CFO position. What everyone expects of her, how there is no place she would rather be.
The difference between her and everyone else, she said, was that she liked the game. She thought it petty, but if it could give her enough financial security to start substantial investments so she could finally settle down and get married, she was all for it.
What was comforting was I realized she has the same goals I do. She is the oldest of nine kids. The first in her family to go to college. She too has watched her parents struggle to support everyone. Family is everything, including expensive. I want to be able to support my parents. I want to give back everything I took, everything I put them through, and then some, with more than enough left over to build my own life. I know how to win the game, but I have to hit the ground running.
She stressed the proactiveness of business. How things are slow to start, but if one plans out her career track within a company, in a matter of months she can be on her way to meeting her goals. GE is a company that emphasizes sacrifice. It allows its employees to move, to improve upon the business, to always look ahead.
One of the greatest things I have learned so far is how the company works to project an image to the economy. Nothing in this environment is, "Let's see how it all turns out." Everything is, "This is our goal. Let's do whatever we have to, to meet and exceed our expectations."
GE Global was tied with CitiGroup for #1 in the Fortune 500 in market value last year. Additionally, it is made up of many businesses, all of which can stand alone in the Fortune 500. Transportation Systems in Erie has just named its new CEO, a woman of 36. The first woman, and youngest, CEO at GE. She has three children. She makes seven figures. The CEO of Contractual Services, the business I'm interning for, was just named one of the ten most influential men in business by Fortune 500. Transportation Systems and Contractual Services combined make about $500 million in revenue annually.
The statistics go on and on...
What am I saying, exactly? Taking a job anywhere else would be a step down. Sure, I might make more money initially, but in the long run I would be stuck in one job. GE Global is such a vast enterprise that there are endless possibilities when it comes to careers. Angela, for instance, has worked in Ohio, Milan, Asia, Portugal, and now Georgia. All in four years. Her resume of leadership and training pours out the door. Next quarter she could go to any other big company and name her price.
If she wants to.
After many long discussions with the other interns, especially the other female interns (how exactly will my biological clock fit in with my career?, etc.), coworkers, and my family, I am confident with where I stand. It is entirely possible that I will be working for GE in two years. It is also possible that I will be getting my master's from Harvard or Princeton, while interning for Chase Manhattan, and then entering the GE FMP.
Regardless, I have realized that "the game" I had worried so much about in the beginning was really just self-doubt. Corporate America is not complicated. It's political: all about who you know, how you present yourself, and whether or not you put yourself out there.
But that's not anything new.
Just like life, it's proactive.
Things at work are going really well. I have a mile long list of contacts, I'm gaining a ton of experience, and Angela wants me to come back to the team during the Christmas break. For awhile there, I was really struggling with Corporate America. All of a sudden it hit me: is this it?? If I count down the minutes every day when I only have to do this for 14 weeks, what am I going to do when this is my life for 50 weeks out of every year?
Every day I would get to my desk and watch the office wake up. Employees would come in, dragging their feet, dreading another day. The break room was base, where people went to hide, to escape being it. Being fortunate enough to sit in the middle of the CFO cluster, I would listen to these executives shouting on the phone all day, cursing at their machines, throwing papers around their glass-enclosed offices, calling their wives to vent their frustration. Lunch was just a time for business outside of the office. The afternoon crawled by with detailed meetings. In those last minutes before five o'clock, tension would build, everyone watching the clock to see those last seconds drain out of the work day. In a massive push, everyone was packed up, waiting for cellphones to ring, at the elevators. Happy, as if for the first time.
Day in and day out.
I could not stop wondering, "Holy Mother of God, what have I gotten myself into?"
At lunch, all of us interns would talk about the future. We're all business nerds, used to having things planned out. Suddenly we were collectively confused. Yeah, we all want to make the most money in the least amount of time. That is a given. But is this our only option?
Even worse was the day we realized that it doesn't matter what you do at work. It's just the impression that is important. Unless one is a high ranking exec, she could just come to the office and play solitaire all day, if she so chose. As long as she was there, looked busy, every now and again making a lively phone call, or sitting in a meeting somewhere, everyone would assume that she was earning her money.
The game was immensely disappointing. Where's the challenge? If we all dedicated ourselves to one company after undergrad, it could take years to get a challenging job. Years of just staring at a computer screen, of playing with an excel file for two weeks, of organizing unnecessary meetings with your advisors to discuss said excel file.
Of waiting.
Designated the representative by my intimidated peers, I set up a lunch with Angela. She only wanted to talk to four of us--she figured everyone else could get the word through the intern grapevine. We all piled into her brand new bmw, and she took us to her favorite luxury restaraunt. She insisted that we all order whatever we wanted, after all, "The General" was paying for it, not her. And for an hour and a half, she just talked. About everything. How at 26 she was making more than she ever dreamed. How even without her master's she was being considered for a CFO position. What everyone expects of her, how there is no place she would rather be.
The difference between her and everyone else, she said, was that she liked the game. She thought it petty, but if it could give her enough financial security to start substantial investments so she could finally settle down and get married, she was all for it.
What was comforting was I realized she has the same goals I do. She is the oldest of nine kids. The first in her family to go to college. She too has watched her parents struggle to support everyone. Family is everything, including expensive. I want to be able to support my parents. I want to give back everything I took, everything I put them through, and then some, with more than enough left over to build my own life. I know how to win the game, but I have to hit the ground running.
She stressed the proactiveness of business. How things are slow to start, but if one plans out her career track within a company, in a matter of months she can be on her way to meeting her goals. GE is a company that emphasizes sacrifice. It allows its employees to move, to improve upon the business, to always look ahead.
One of the greatest things I have learned so far is how the company works to project an image to the economy. Nothing in this environment is, "Let's see how it all turns out." Everything is, "This is our goal. Let's do whatever we have to, to meet and exceed our expectations."
GE Global was tied with CitiGroup for #1 in the Fortune 500 in market value last year. Additionally, it is made up of many businesses, all of which can stand alone in the Fortune 500. Transportation Systems in Erie has just named its new CEO, a woman of 36. The first woman, and youngest, CEO at GE. She has three children. She makes seven figures. The CEO of Contractual Services, the business I'm interning for, was just named one of the ten most influential men in business by Fortune 500. Transportation Systems and Contractual Services combined make about $500 million in revenue annually.
The statistics go on and on...
What am I saying, exactly? Taking a job anywhere else would be a step down. Sure, I might make more money initially, but in the long run I would be stuck in one job. GE Global is such a vast enterprise that there are endless possibilities when it comes to careers. Angela, for instance, has worked in Ohio, Milan, Asia, Portugal, and now Georgia. All in four years. Her resume of leadership and training pours out the door. Next quarter she could go to any other big company and name her price.
If she wants to.
After many long discussions with the other interns, especially the other female interns (how exactly will my biological clock fit in with my career?, etc.), coworkers, and my family, I am confident with where I stand. It is entirely possible that I will be working for GE in two years. It is also possible that I will be getting my master's from Harvard or Princeton, while interning for Chase Manhattan, and then entering the GE FMP.
Regardless, I have realized that "the game" I had worried so much about in the beginning was really just self-doubt. Corporate America is not complicated. It's political: all about who you know, how you present yourself, and whether or not you put yourself out there.
But that's not anything new.
Just like life, it's proactive.
lasaliente, 10:29
