Changing Careers looking for advice

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Thread Starter

surya

I am working in a process plant in operation department with mechanical back ground and now i got offer in GE. Please help me out how career will be?
 
Surya,

You didn't say what kind of job GE has offered you.

Field service?

"Office" engineer?

It seems to be "instrumentation", but you said your background is mostly operations and mechanical.

In some cases, the best instrumentation (controls) engineers I worked with had mechanical backgrounds, that combined with operations experience ("process" experience from operating a plant; learning systems and P&IDs; responding to alarms; etc.) gave them some very good knowledge that they were able to translate into very good instrumentation/controls capabilities.

But, if you let us know what you think you're going to be expected to do we might be able to offer some insight and suggestions.
 
Surya,

Congratulations on your offer!

Expect to have a pretty steep learning curve. Get to know your colleagues very well, known as "developing your network" and let them know what your skills and abilities are so that if you can help them they will know to contact you.

When you get help from a colleague be SURE to take a few minutes at some point later and let them know how and if their assistance helped solve your Customer's problem. If you never provide feedback they will always see you as a "user" and won't be so quick to help. Let them know when they've been helpful and they will be more apt to view you as a team player and a colleague.

Networking is crucial, and working for a large Company like GE means there is somebody who knows the answer to a question--but finding that person isn't always easy, though it will get easier as you meet people and especially if you let them know if they were helpful when you ask for their assistance.

There are some of the best and brightest individuals working for GE--but finding them can take time. Be prepared to tell them what your ideas and suggestions are when coming to them with a question or a problem--don't expect to just hand off questions or problems. Do your homework and at least understand the situation and what you think might be the solution.

A very respected colleague who retires from GE said at his retirement dinner, "The harder I worked, the luckier I was." The more effort he put into understanding his job and his Customers (internal and external) the better he became--and the "easier" it seemed to others that his work was. He seemed "lucky" but it was really hard work and knowledge that allowed him to quickly understand issues and provide solutions.

Having said all of that, at some large Companies you are just a resource--like a stapler or a stamping machine or an automobile used in the course of working. As such, the less idle time you have to the more return on their investment in you as a resource. So, expect to be busy, sometimes very busy.

And, there's always office politics--and the bigger the Company the more office politics there is.

Best of luck! It will be a wild ride in the beginning.
 
Very good suggestions suggested by CSA!!!

I have a new person joined and trying to help this guy, but instead it seems that several times he jumps into the discussion and giving suggestion without thinking much (most of the time). We have people with over 25 years of experience and this is a fresh from college and explained him but he wants to lead on his own way and behaving like kid. What should be the proper thing to do in this case? Informed (no complain) to his manager but no improvement and not even copied emails of what he is doing for his work. how to help and fix this issue?

thanks for your all technical help ... now some non technical :)
 
Hi CSA,

Very Good advise. I need your help regarding my offer of RE for Energy. what is the career prospect for Resident Engineer of GE Energy team? How my career track would be? What i will be doing 3 years down the road? Will i be dealing with more professional if i were a resident engineer? I would like to grow in the gas turbine service business managerial level in the future.

Thank you for your advise.
 
Most of us, when were first hired were anxious to contribute and be relevant and included. Some of us had to be taken aside and reminded, "Better to be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

Sometimes it takes more than one reminding.

For those who are just starting out from university in a new job it's best to remember that mostly what we learned in university was basic concepts and terminology that would allow us to be able to understand equipment and schemes as implemented by various companies. Basic equipment and terminology is generally constant across companies in a particular field, but specifics of philosophy of design and control and protection are usually very peculiar to companies.

This is where OJT (On-the-Job Training) comes in. For GE-design heavy duty gas turbines and auxiliaries one has to learn about them from the OEM; the particulars aren't covered in university, only the basic physical principles of heat cycles and control valves and combustion and such. So, it takes ones some time to learn the specifics of how these basic physical principles are put to use and controlled and monitored by a designer/manufacturer.

Companies know this. When they can hire someone with specific knowledge about their equipment, that's all well and good. But, it's generally recognized that there will be some time required for anyone to learn the procedures and the philosophies and the equipment to become a contributing member. Some learn faster than others; some slower.

It would probably be a good idea to sit down, one-on-one, with the individual and "repeat" some of his comments and ask him how that sounds to him. Everyone gets some "slack" for being enthusiastic, but after a while if it continues--and isn't tempered with some experience--they will soon be excluded and disregarded. Some people can come to this realization on their own; some need some "guidance"; others need to be hit over the head--maybe more than once.

Remember--everyone generally means well. And some patience, tempered with thinking back to when we first started, is usually helpful when dealing with them and helping them to come to realize they still have some learning, and while they may be able to contribute it's best to think before speaking so as to make the best contribution.

It's not easy, to watch or to be affected by.

Best of luck!
 
KKS,

In general, GE has had a long-standing policy of people remaining in their role for a period of at least two years before being able to "post" for a new position in the Company. This is to make sure that the "investment" made in training that individual in his or her new role is not lost and that some experience is also gained by that individual before moving on.

As for moving up in that Company in the power generation Services business, well, that's easier said than done. There are only so many managerial positions and there are a LOT of people such as yourself who view moving up as critical to their professional success.

As was said before, there is a LOT of office politics in some Companies (hint, Hint, HINT) and just doing a good job technically does NOT mean you will be promoted when you decide to start posting for new jobs. Most people who get promoted study the Corporate culture very closely, learn the buzzwords and phrases that managers use to communicate, and learn to use spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations to make their points (and skew their points as well). So, if you want to move up listen very carefully to all the buzzwords ("leverage", "entitled", "Lean", etc.) and learn to document your accomplishments (improvement on running reliability; savings on spare parts; etc.) on a spreadsheet and in a PowerPoint presentation so that you can "show" your manager--and hiring managers when you post for new jobs--"hard" data and fancy presentations about how well you did your current job so as to be a predictor of how well you will do your new job.

Be prepared to lose part of your soul as you move into power generation Services. You will be sending people to do work they are untrained to do, for Customers who will chew them up and spit them out, with little support and almost no training in how to use the support available to them (the vaunted PAC--Power Answer Center). You will be scrutinizing time sheets and expense accounts, and shuffling dollars and people to try to make budgets that are considered to be "stretch targets". Your metrics (the measures by which you are judged) can and will change quickly.

Working in a technical role for a large multi-national company can be a very good thing, and it can be a very bad thing. The good thing is: There <b>IS</b> someone who knows the answer to a technical question. The bad thing is: <b>Finding</b> that person can be very difficult. You will be directed to the PAC, but the quality of your responses from the PAC will be directly proportional to the quality of the information you provide--meaning, the more work you do and the more information you provide the better the response you will receive. If you just ask, "It's broken. How do I fix it?" you are going to be very disappointed; many times. And so will your Customer--and it's not the PAC's fault....

Your manager won't be of any help unless you are extremely lucky; they are usually pretty far removed from the technical aspects of the job and expect you to be able to get the information and help you need. (Sad, but true.) As an RE, you are expected to be/become the expert for the site you are assigned to. They may know or recall someone who might be helpful on occasion, but usually not.

Unless you study and internalize the Corporate Culture at the expense of being a good technician (RE) you can expect to still be an RE after three years. In fact, if you are good at being an RE the chances of being promoted are slimmer--you can be too valuable as an RE to be promoted. To be promoted, you need to focus more on internalizing the Corporate Culture and learning how to work with others who have internalized the Corporate Culture in order to be perceived as being promotable and to be promoted. Be a good RE, but don't be a GREAT RE--but above all, if you want to be promoted study your manager and other managers. Listen to what they say, really not what they say but HOW they say it, and learn to talk like them. Get your hands on every PowerPoint presentation you can and learn to use spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations to extoll your virtues as an organizer, a collaborator, a cost-saver, an innovator, and a leader (people have quantified ALL of these intangibles--and more!!! in spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations).

You should see you will spend as much, or more, time learning how to promote yourself so you can be promoted as you will be spending as an RE.

Best of luck! You can learn a LOT (technically) as an RE, but most of what you learn (technically) won't be transferable if you want to be in the Services division. Consider what you want in the long term, and how you can leverage one position to get to where you want to be. As you advance in Services, technical skills become less and less applicable--and can even be a detractor.
 
Hello There,

CSA I have very high regard for your opinions and advice which helps me a lot in my day to day work here at a process plant and gain interdisciplinary knowledge. But my experience with JFWTC, Bengaluru was hurtful one. I was recruited for R&D (recruited via campus placement), but for six months I sat and run Excel sheets and gave at least ten written tests and internal assessment interviews. Till date I do not know what exactly they were looking for?

Even in exit interview they told me to be patient and continue till I finish my tenure as an intern!

One can not compare life at a research centre and in a process plant but what I have learned from my little experience is that one should not jump to conclusions. Had there had been a mentor like CSA, I surely had continued with GE. "most people never leave a company, they leave their immediate boss."

Having said that, I still have very high regards for GE and its contribution to my country in field of developing scientific temper and innovation. They are doing tremendous work specially in field of Healthcare (have developed a portable malaria detection kit for just$40) and Nuclear power.

Its a great place to work and grow, but one need to be patient and I hope now they might have altered their HR policies to suit specific regional aspirations.

Regards,
fluidflow
 
fluidflow,

Thank you for the kind words.

I wish your experience had been much better. Had you been able to find an informal mentor or mentors you would probably have had a better chance of success.

Life isn't about what happens to you--it's about how you react to what happens to you. You made a decision to move forward when you felt like you weren't. That had to be difficult--deciding to leave such a prestigious, major, multi-national corporation.

But, continue on that forward-looking journey. Learn from your experiences, and decide what you want to do--if you haven't already--and then commit to doing it. Keep moving forward.
 
Dear CSA,

Thank you for being so understanding and generous.

Once again you very correctly pointed out that I have still not found peace within. This is the third job since I left GE within a span of three years!

I want to work where technology really eradicates misery and transform human life. How can anyone justify running a plant at part load and earn millions when just by running at base load at least ten villages can be lightened.

Or totally the fault is mine because I still remember Thomas Jeffersons' Declaration of Independence and what Dr.Ambedakar said in Constituent assembly when we gained Independence. "they talk of love, they preach us love, but never behave lovingly."

I extend my apologies to all the members of this forum as I know that this is not the place to vent myself ; this is a place for common creative.

Regards,
fluidflow
 
fluidflow,

Oh, trust me--I understand about the misgivings one can have when leaving The General. And, the "support" one gets from friends and family for leaving such a prestigious, major multi-national corporation can be less than encouraging, even years after you're made the decision. So, I can empathize with your plight. Believe me when I say, "Been there; done that."

As for running at Part Load, well, that just means there's an opportunity for you to learn about electric power grids and load and generation. If every turbine generator synchronized to a grid were running at full capacity, it's very likely that the grid frequency would be much higher than normal. The amount of generation must exactly match the amount of load on the grid for the grid frequency to be at rated. So, that means that some machines will need to run at reduced load some times in order to keep the grid frequency at or near rated.

It also means that when load increases--or when another unit or block of generation is lost (trips)--then the unit which were operating at Part Load need to be able to increase their load in order to be able to help restore the grid frequency and maintain grid stability. And, operating at Part Load with Pre-selected Load Control enabled and active <b>IS NOT</b> the correct way for units being operated at Part Load to be operated.

And, that's--in my personal opinion--is a major part of the problem with grid frequency stability in many parts of the world that experience frequent grid frequency excursions: Power plant operators mistakenly operate their units at Part Load with Pre-selected Load Control enabled and active.

But, I digress. I can tell you that while I may have a lot of knowledge and experience with GE-design heavy duty gas turbines and GE Speedtronic turbine control systems I don't have a lot of experience with other turbines and control systems. And, that is proving to be somewhat limiting for me now. By having worked for The General for nearly 30 years I was very limited in my exposure to other turbines and control systems.

Very early in my career I was "stuck" at a particular site doing operations for the Customer who didn't have a clue about gas turbines. I was BORED out of my skull. That's when I started studying--really studying--the Speedtronic turbine control system and programming logic and Piping Schematics. I had several months over the course of the Summer Peak season to learn a lot, and I did. At the time, I really hated the assignment--because I wanted to be starting-up gas turbines! That's where the fun and the glory is! But, in hindsight, that was the best assignment I could have ever had at that time in my career. I learned things I still use today; I made and nurtured contacts in the Company that I nurtured for decades, and which helped be achieve any success I was able to.

But, it wasn't because my Manager thought it was a good assignment for me that I was there--it was strictly because it was a long-term, paid assignment and it was for a LOT of money. He didn't give a rat's @$$ about my development as an engineer, though he was pleasantly surprised to learn I'd learned a lot. And what did my efforts get me? Well, there were other TAs who were starting-up gas turbines and leaving the jobs with very long punch-lists of things which didn't work or needed tuning. Guess who got to clean up all those messes? That's right--me.

And, I hated those assignments, too. Because when I arrived on site the Customer was already very upset with GE, and I was the GE rep on site and I got a lot of abuse. But, again--in hindsight--it was an excellent experience/assignment for me, because I got to work on real problems and solve real problems. Some of them were easy; some were hard; and some, I had to dig and study and ask a lot of questions just to understand what was supposed to be happening and when it was supposed to happen--and then I could see what wasn't happening and I could solve the problem! Anyone can start up something that works.

As for assignments in any company--rarely are they used to enhance one's career. Even in The General. You're just a warm body, and if there's a billable job available you're going to get assigned to it--whether or not it's right for you or your experience or your development. Looking at if from the employer's perspective, there's a task that needs to be done. Someone has to do it. It's pretty simple. And, as my current Manager is fond of saying, "It's a paying job!"--meaning that I might not like it, but it pays the bills--and pays my salary. While he's right, it doesn't make some of my current assignments any more palatable.

I've said this in other posts: When we graduate from university we are full of ourselves. We (think) we are ready to conquer the world. In this business, power generation, we are only able to speak the jargon and language of the industry when we graduate. And, sometimes, not even that much. We have a LOT to learn, and while it's sometimes very hard to sit on our hands and keep our mouths closed and watch and learn and listen--especially when we have just spent several years working very hard and thinking we've learned a lot (and a very prestigious, major multi-national corporation hires us!)--that's just what we need to do. Watch, and listen, and learn. And, ask questions when it's appropriate. And not try to impress others with our book-learning.

And, this is very difficult for a lot of people--including me. But, had I done a lot more watching and listening I would have learned a LOT more, and had the opportunity to make even more contacts in the industry and learn even more over time. Some people that I tried to impress with my book-learning were NOT impressed, not at all. And that knowledge and experience was lost to me forever (mostly; I managed to salvage one or two of those contacts over time). [By the way, the Fortune at the bottom of this page is: "Those of you who think you know it all are very annoying to those of us who do." That's how some older, experienced people can view recent university graduates.]

But, alas. We do what we do, and we try to learn from it. Reflection at any point in one's life is critical to development and success. Some people have to work harder than others at development and success, but most of us who use reflection--make time for thinking back about what went well and what could have been done better, without self-recrimination--do very well.

I suggest you keep moving forward, look at your time at The General as a life lesson, don't have self-doubt about things that can't be changed or undone, and resolve to make different choices in the future--based on reflection and goals and with commitment. That's how we grow--by learning from negative experiences, not by dwelling on them.

Okay; enough of this sappy stuff! Let's learn about power generation!
 
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