Interview at GE Capital

I had an interview yesterday at GE Capital in Stamford, CT and while I was prepared to talk at length about my job experiences, engineering classes, and business classes, I was surprised at how much I discussed concepts covered in this seminar. The job is for a technical risk analyst position within GE Capital’s Energy Financial Services department. I didn’t realize this until talking with a human resources representative during my interview, but this department is a perfect example of taking advantage of structural holes in a network. Most people would think of finance and engineering as two different worlds, and for the most part they are. Within any organization there is going to be overlap between fields. For example, an engineering firm would not be able to operate without a finance department that handles their investments. This Energy Financial Services department is a little different though. They are made up of about 250 people in finance that focus on project investments and managing their portfolios but they have a team of about 10 engineers who are experts in their different areas of energy to assist in the risk analysis. Because of their background and knowledge base, they are able to advise the finance team on the best projects to put money into and develop. Without the input of both finance and technology, Energy Financial Services would not be able to succeed to the level that it does. It was by taking advantage of the structural whole that existed between the energy industry and investments that they were able to become the leader in technical investments.

Something else I noticed while touring the facility was the layout of the floors and the amount of natural light that was created. The whole building was very open and all of the offices and cubicles were a mix of frosted and translucent glass, as opposed to the traditional gray, high walled cubicles I’m used to seeing. It was obvious walking around that the department was very cooperative and promoted discussion and curiosity.