My Boston Business Journal Article Plus a Weekend Visit from Nick

WEEK 17 (October 3-9)

Monday morning sees my boss back from his overseas business trip in support of that large international proposal we sent out in September. He brings back some good news; saying he feels confident in our chances of winning the bid but also warns us that the proposal process is not over yet.  You see, our team still has to be prepared for what may be several questions from the client, all of which must be answered within 72 hours!

To help aid in this process, my boss puts me in charge of managing a ‘question matrix’ to log new questions when they arrive, keep track of when they are due and record our answers.

On Monday afternoon we have our monthly ‘Team Time’ meeting which allows our department to get together and communicate on the status of projects, new initiatives and more. This month’s session was particularly fun because we were given a lovely overview of the F414 engine (the engine line I work on) and our first ‘Fun Team’ event was announced. Our department will be hosting a happy hour at Tavern in the Square on October 19^th as part of the new ‘fun’ initiative.

Boston Business Journal Photo

That evening it’s off to my first ever photo shoot! The occasion is my upcoming Boston Business Journal article.  Fortunately the rain holds out and the photographer was able to snap a few good shots outside of Dodge Hall. He says to look for the issue on stands this Friday! 

When I get home I try to be diligent about my networking and so make my first attempt at a LinkedIn introduction request. Luckily, it works! An employee working in the marketing department at one of my dream companies accepts my request.  Now I just have to initiate an informational phone interview.

Tuesday finds me in some more fun meetings. Today I attend a Northeastern/GE lunch event. We have a speaker come in and discuss his role in advanced technologies (a.k.a. all that cool, secret, high-tech engine stuff) while we all happily munching on Qdoba tacos. 

After lunch I sign off on the posters I am creating as part of the PM council’s list of initiatives. Now I’ll just wait for the full-size print out before I sent them to get framed.

I also set about completing my mid-term appraisal. GE requires all of its co-ops to complete an appraisal process workflow which begins when you start your rotation. It involves setting goals, discussing them with your boss and going through periodic reviews to make sure you’re on track.

I also run about tying up some loose ends which include desperately trying to find a solution to the Six Sigma green belt course cancellation. I feel like I’m becoming a stalker of all of the Master Black Belts on the Lynn site and anyone remotely related to Six Sigma.

The afternoon is also punctuated by a meeting with some additional PM Council members to introduce them to my cubicle-mate and I. We will be working with them closely in the future so we thought it would be a good idea to meet first. 

After my long day I jet to campus to meet with my Market Research team to work on our consulting project ‘problem definition’ for the NFPA which is due Thursday. 

On Wednesday I head over to Building 29, where GE tests engines, to physically look for parts I need as part of my engine test procurement project. It was nice to see the engine, test equipment and parts that make up my list of 4,000+ pieces first-hand. 

That afternoon I also send out an e-mail to the individuals from GE Capital and GE Aviation recruiting that I met during ‘GE Day’ at Northeastern with the hopes of getting a dialogue going on potential co-op, full-time and leadership development opportunities for the Northeastern MBA  program. I also spoke to the director of the Career Center at school and she’s all in so I hope something positive can come from this!

Braised duck at Hamersley's Bistro

In celebration of my classmate’s birthday I head to Hamersley’s Bistro that night for an amazing dinner of braised duck, mint and pea risotto and vino. Loved it! 

On Thursday I hand in a draft of a large, standardize action item list based on the steps taken during our most recent proposal process. My aim is to get a generic ‘checklist’ type form that project managers can use for future proposals to help streamline the process. My boss seems pleased with the initial effort and gives me some great pointers to help improve it.

I also get the posters back from the printer today! They look great and I’m super excited to get them framed and up on the walls of our conference rooms.

Before class that night I meet with a first-year MBA student, a former employee of Dunkin’ Brands, to chat about her experience working for one of my dream companies.  I ask for potential contacts she may have in HR, Marketing or elsewhere with whom I might start networking with. Ironically, this meeting takes place at a Starbucks – whoops! Don’t tell Dunkin’ Brands that!

That night in class my group begins to realize that we are not getting the participation we need from NFPA for our research project and will have to request an extension from our professor to complete our proposal. What’s worse, we may even require a company change! Yikes! It’s a tough decision to make but if the NFPA won’t even give us their contact list there’s not much we can do for them in terms of a market research project. Luckily, our professor is very understanding and tells us this isn’t the first time such a setback has happened.

We all agree to give it a few more days before we start contacting our backup company: TRU Chocolate.

Friday is an exciting day! My article for the Boston Business Journal comes out! Eeek! I try frantically to look it up online, but, alas, the newspaper is a paid subscription (even digitally!) and I can only access a small excerpt from the entire article. I immediately set about calling their offices and sending e-mails to the woman who interviewed me to see if I can snag a free hard copy or temporary subscription. 

I also am in high spirits because Nick is coming to Boston for the long weekend! Since he’s still in Montreal on business and has a rental car at his disposal, it is so much easier to visit than if he were back home on the West Coast. I rush home and start cleaning in anticipation of his arrival.

Since I just saw Nick last weekend it was a much less rushed visit. We indulge in the more ‘vanilla’ things in life like a visit to the Laundromat, an afternoon viewing of Moneyball and some other errand running.

Getting excited for BBQ from Spoon Truck

On Saturday we stop by Spoon Truck (owned by my classmate’s husband) for lunch. The newbie food truck serves up home-style barbeque. I order one of their bowls, piled high with pulled pork, burnt ends baked beans, vinegar slaw and bacon scallion hush puppies. Yum! We also splurge on some fried pickles and orange soda and park ourselves on a planter to devour our feast.

Sunday starts off with the best Huevos Rancheros in the city at The Otherside Café, followed by checking out digital cameras, picking out a tie for Nick, a visit the Lindt store, trying to locate my Boston Business Journal article (apparently the Boston Business Journal is not sold anywhere!) and afternoon coffee with my friend at Pavement Coffeehouse. We even do work together at Snell Library! It’s a glimpse into what my life could look like if we lived in the same city.

Pumpkin Ale at Boston Beer Works

That night it’s off to Boston Beer Works for their Octoberfest menu. I, of course, order the most sugary of beers: the Pumpkin Works Ale with a cinnamon sugar rim and to cleanse my palette before my dinner of Wienerschnitzel. 

I have Monday off for Columbus Day so after I see Nick off (he has a long drive back to Montreal) it’s back to work for me. I tidy up, grocery shop, do homework and prep for the week ahead.

*The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Northeastern University, GE Aviation, its employees, staff or affiliates.