What General Electric Seeks In MBA Hires

Leslie Coyne, Director of Global University Recruiting at GE

Leslie Coyne, Director of Global University Recruiting at GE

What advice would you give to students who have their hearts set on working for you? How can they enhance their job prospects?

I would encourage them to apply for an internship with GE. Most MBA candidates know this, but more-and-more frequently, we are finding that we are hiring people into our leadership programs primarily from our intern pool and we are making those decisions earlier-and-earlier because it’s becoming increasingly competitive with our peers. So I would encourage them to meet us at campus events and apply for the internship program.

For our commercial leadership program – the acronym is ECLP (which stands for Experienced Commercial Leadership Program) – we have a blog that talks quite a bit about what our expectations are and how MBA candidates can market themselves specifically for this program that recruits MBAs (The web address is eclpblog.com).

We’re looking more and more at people who have an interesting profile in terms of their background and experiences.  We’re looking beyond GPAs and leadership experiences. We’re looking for what do they do in their extracurricular activities; what they’re passionate about; and what they’re interested in doing. We’re always fascinated by people who have taken on incredible challenges and achieved their goals. We have more-and-more stories about candidates who’ve started their own businesses…or taken time out to serve non-profit organizations. So we’re looking for people who are passionate about solving complex problems and tackling some of the world’s biggest problems and finding their own ways of doing that at the place where they are in their lives.

So we’re looking more and more outside the traditional profile and looking for unique characteristics that really demonstrate the passion and hunger to win.

GE staffers at a manufacturing site

GE team working together

Recruiting can be a two-way street. What has General Electric done to make itself more appealing to MBA candidates?

First of all, I would say it is best-in-class growth and development. We make it our mission to challenge, inspire and guide our new recruits. Those are the three tenets that we expect our recruiting leaders and our leadership program managers to focus on as we bring MBAs into the company.

I would also say that, through the work that our employees do, we make a massive global impact… With our innovations in healthcare, we’re saving 3,000 lives a day. Our aircraft engines launch an  an aircraft every two seconds. GE powers one quarter of the world’s electricity, and perhaps most compelling, no one is better positioned to bridge together the physical and digital worlds to deliver on the promise of the industrial internet.

People today want to see how they can make a direct impact immediately. So when people come into GE, they can have a diversity of experiences and get those experiences very quickly. They don’t have to change careers because they can do any number of things. I was at a graduation ceremony [recently] and the president of the college said that students will change careers several different times. You can do that at GE and not have to leave the company.

GE staffer overseeing a manufacturing facility

GE staffer overseeing a manufacturing facility

I also think our culture is very unique and compelling in the sense that we are innovative. We are open. We are collaborative. Many may think of GE as this enormous company that they can’t see themselves fitting into. When you join GE, you join a family where everyone contributes and has a profound impact on the team, so no job is too small and we all work together. I’ve worked for other Fortune 100 companies and, [at GE], we are always looking out for each other in a strong team environment where you always know your team is  supporting you – and you’re always supporting them.

If an MBA was weighing an offer from General Electric and another firm, what would give you the edge?

I think it goes back to the three different areas. It’s hard for anyone to compete against us when you think of the power of the collective GE businesses; the diversity of the businesses we offer; and the fact that we are changing society with the products and services that we’re offering our customers. We offer world class growth and development. We invest a billion dollars in training each year. We have a collaborative environment [marked by] innovation and openness. Those three things, in parallel, are unique.

Could you give us an overview of your MBA recruiting and interview process? What are the steps that students should expect? How can they make a good impression and stay on your radar?

We offer a variety of marketing and innovation case competitions that are a really great way to get experience and exposure to sales and marketing opportunities, which is the Experienced Commercial Leadership Program. And that is often a key feeder to our interview process. I would also highlight that we do most of our hiring for summer associates in the fall. So a key piece of advice: Don’t wait until the spring. We do most of our recruiting and hiring in the fall. Again, to emphasize, the internship is really a key area where we make the majority of our hires.

When it comes to General Electric, what are some of the biggest misconceptions that students may have about your organization (and your industry)?

I think many people see GE as a buttoned up corporate environment. Perhaps 15-20 years ago, that may have been accurate, but not today.

We are an environment that encourages unique thoughts and perspectives. We are becoming more-and-more informal. We are encouraging individuality and want people to challenge the status quo as opposed to thinking about our structure in a hierarchical way. We have very much of an open door environment where you can go ahead and speak with any leader at any time. Many of our employees will mention the exposure they get with senior leadership at the business and corporate level is pleasantly surprising to them. They love the attention they get from senior leaders who want to investment in them and who truly care about them.

So I think the idea that GE is this stodgy, bureaucratic company is not the case anymore. We’re looking for people who want to get into GE, who want to be true to who they are and be the same individual they were and to find opportunities to grow and develop themselves in this environment.