GE Energy Reviews in Atlanta, GA Area

Pros

- Dealing with smart people
- Global environment
- Many different opportunities

Cons

- Too complicated
- Politics
- Difficult to drive change and innovation

Advice to Senior Management

See my cons...

Pros

Opportunity to work with a large company, exposure, looks good on a resume, employees very dedicated to their jobs

Cons

Extremely top down, no respect or communication to various "levels" within the company, Executives look down on engineers as the "little people" and make decisions based on their own well-being. Lots of secrets.

Advice to Senior Management

Respect all employees, take pride in the work of engineers, don't be afraid to talk to employees lower on the totem pole

Pros

good compensation package, No need to work after hours hours/weekends very often.
good opportunities for training. You can meet very professional people here.

Cons

Very bad middle management, they are only interested in politics. Half of the day usually lost in unnecessary phone calls, too much powerpoint. very subjective apprisal process. You never feel safe at your job.

Advice to Senior Management

Let the people to be focused on their jobs, stop distracting them with unecessary things. Promote managers based on results not politics.

Pros

Brand Name looks good on resume.

Cons

High bureaucracy. People are promoted based on speaking skills rather than merit.
Raises are negligible. Employees are overworked and there is no clear vision from upper management. High attrition rate, most of the good employees have left. Management is clueless about project planning. Legacy Technologies are still prominently used across the board.

Advice to Senior Management

Let go off the middle managers and slacking employees. Hire bright individuals who have managed and implemented production ready software development.

Pros

The financial management program is GE's leadership program in finance. The classes you take are in accounting, both managerial and financial, controls and business strategy. The classes are very useful in your role and great for general knowledge on how businesses are ran.

The four roles you get on the program can make or break your experience. Personally, the roles I've received were beneficial in my career growth, with manager's that give decent feedback on your performance and help work with you on your career development.

Cons

There are several downsides to the program. Top of my list is the sheer amount of hours you devote towards GE. You have your normal role as expected, and you work 40+ hours a week. Like most other entry level career programs, you can expect to work 50+ or 60+ hours a week. In addition to that., you have to take the courses, which have recently become extremely time consuming. About 10+, 20+ hours a week. In the end, you spend every waking hour, breathing and living GE. Essentially the courses you study for as free training.

Your managers also vary every 6 months, and I will have to say that most I've found were mediocre at best. In my four rotations at GE, I have had one manager I truly thought was exceptional. The others were not, in my opinion and in GE's opinion (given the amount of time they've spent in their current positions) "promotion-worthy." The courses for the first year is also unnecessarily demanding.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to find not just 'good' managers for the different rotations, but 'great' managers. The courses for the first year are unnecessarily hard.

Pros

Still looking for a cutting edge technology

Cons

Large company, need to lean out some of their procedures

Pros

big company a lot of perks. The company is one of the most advanced in the world and that is easy to tell when you work for them. They supply you with all the technology you need and do not hold back. If you are on salary you are expected to get your work done, but you can come and go as you please. Very liberating in that respect as people around me do not always need to come into the work location to work.

Cons

too big sometimes to function without tons of paper work. Too bureaucratic sometimes

Advice to Senior Management

none

Pros

Well paid and retirement benefits are good.

Cons

Need to coerce people to help you work. If it isn't in PPT it didn't happen.

Advice to Senior Management

do more one over one over ones.

Pros

Ability to change jobs/career and stay within the organization.

Cons

Inconsistent recognition, and little/no public recognition.

Pros

Good people, corporate processes, onboarding, coaching and mentoring. Great place to build career.

Cons

Matrix organization, can be confusing to people who have not worked in this type of organizational environment. "Decisions by commitee." Younger, leadership...too much "inside the box" thinking...not enough external experiences by leadership team. Most manager have spent 8-12 years from college, and then run an organization..the "GE way"

Advice to Senior Management

Simplification and eliminating "red-tape" grew GE when Jack was running the organization. Too many layers. Length of decisions cost money and resources...get back to basics!