| Technical Advisor / Field Engineer |
Working for GE has been an alternating experience but disappointing in
general. The job of a Technical Advisor / Field Engineer within GE
Energy, International sector in particular is an uneasy job to start
with
The first couple of years were the most interesting of all, the only
interesting portion of the others. Training at the PSU in Schenectady
and then OJT at the various sites were quite an experience, in terms of
the learning and the people.
The first few weeks were all about corporate and integrity, then EHS and
then theoatical turbine education and last would be the hands-on
training, a real pride of the GE learning institue of excellence.
After graduation, each employee is assigned to his region; being of the
international dept, I was assigned to the middle east, reporting to
regional office in Dubai. Assignments that I handled ranged from Spain
to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. I basically spent the last 2 years between
the desert power plants of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and barely had 10
days off as a whole.
GE's corporate culture is based on integrity and the spirit and letter.
Growth within the company is horizontal and the career path is totally
vague. As a new empliyee, you are enticed with the traveling and
training, but as you grow with the years of experience, you find
yourself rowing in a ever ending ocean. Being more specific, the Dubai
Services management were concerned about keeping people in Field Work
without having to provide the workforce with incentives or considering
any of the professionals' family situations or needs. That in particular
made a lot of us wonder about whether we should continue past 3 years in
the field or not. Adding to that, the fact that GE is huge makes it
stagnant to change and hence would evidently kill the spirit to
challenge the process or initiate ideas within the experienced workforce.
The advantages of Field work are various, good pay, total accomodation
and living coverage, and excellent hands on experience.
The disadvantages however are numerous too, basically the job requires a
lot of traveling and for some locations (like Saudi, Pakistan, UAE)
working under extreme conditions. That makes it suitable for a bachelor
engineer who does not have management ambitions and would rather settle
for a good monthly salary rather than taking the chance into a more
challenging managerial role.
Opportunities for growth within Field Engineering work in GE IFS (esp
AIM region) are quite minute, due to the kind of management strategy
aimed to preserve workforce in the field rather than providing clear
career path and proper incentives. Vacation days are 10 per year,
regardless of the locatio, which makes family status practically a
hardship.
In terms of diversity, one gets to work with people from all cutltures,
and have to be able to interact accordingly. There is no right or wrong,
so being diplomatic is inevitable.
In terms of dress code, casual to overalls when on site. PPE are a must
at some sites and are optionals at others.
In conclusion, Field Engineering work within GE is a 2 to 3 year job, no
more; afterwards, the job becomes monotonous and demotivating in terms
of unclear career path and lack of management support to grow. In
addition, the absence of open discussions, particularily in IFS - AIM
managment, has forced employees to leave to competitors or change
careers to sales, which ultimately led to drain of resources, which
management has been trying to preserve in the first place,
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