Courtesy: www.reuters.com
By Kara Connell
GE recruiters are on campus on September 23rd and 24th to recruit Full-Time Experienced Commercial Leadership Program (ECLP) members and ECLP Summer Associates. Thunderbird has numerous alumni that have been through the ECLP program and two that just began this summer. Elizabeth Kurfess (T-bird alum ’08), Lisa Scovotti (’11), and Alex Drinker (’12) have shared some of their experiences with us below.
Elizabeth
Favorite Thunderbird memory
My favorite memory from Thunderbird is Regional Nights. I loved eating the different foods and watching all of the performances performed by my classmates.
Tell us about your career path since graduating from GE’s ECLP program in 2010.
My career post-ECLP started as a Global Product Manager for an entrepreneurial venture within GE around Energy Management with GE Appliances in Louisville, KY. We were designing products and software (an iPhone app) to connect the house to the smart grid so you could understand your energy usage and control things remotely. Then I became the Marketing Manager for the “Connected Home.”
Next, I moved to GE capital in San Francisco where I am an Access GE Growth Leader sharing insights, best practices, expertise from across the global industrial GE with strategic customers to help them grow and improve.
Lisa
Favorite Thunderbird memory
My favorite Thunderbird memory is the China Winterim to Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hong Kong.
As a recent ECLP graduate, what was the most exciting experience you had as an ECLP?
I enjoyed attending the Global ECLP Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2012. My ECLP class completed Credit boot camp training and had great general leadership training.
Tell us about your off-program role.
I am currently an Assistant Vice President of Sales in our Corporate Finance – Retail Lending division located in New York City. Thus far I do most of my work on early-read analyses for senior approval (pulling financials and deal specifics through financial and pricing models) along with prospect database management and company / industry research.
Alex
Favorite Thunderbird memory
My favorite experience would have to be participating in a Muay Thai demonstration during Asia Regional Night. I joined the Thai Smile Club as a way to network and learn more about another culture. I didn’t expect that decision to turn into me fighting my Thai classmate on stage in front of hundreds of people.
As December graduate from Thunderbird, what did you do before the ECLP program started in July?
After I graduated, I traveled to Costa Rica for a few weeks and then started with GE 5 months early. I worked in GE Capital headquarters in Norwalk, CT focusing on growing our digital presence via social media and our website, GECapital.com. I also worked heavily with our analytics team in Bangalore to create a universal commercial dashboard for all US Capital businesses.
Tell us about your first rotation in Dallas.
I was lucky enough to land a rotation in GE Capital Equipment Finance and couldn’t be happier. My Assignment Leader is a 20 year veteran of GE and is a fantastic leader and mentor. He has me focused on a number of key projects including developing new strategies on how to grow our Vendor Programs. I am working on a daily basis with our Sales and Marketing leaders to find new and innovative ways to increase sales of equipment such as GE’s CNG In a Box, a compressed natural gas fueling station developed by GE Energy.
Come out and enjoy the GE Roadshow at Thunderbird tomorrow and Tuesday to learn all about the ECLP! See GlobalConnect for details and to RSVP.