I Graduated, Now What?
Corporate Development and Learning in Industry
Every company has its own vernacular and acronyms, but most companies are focused on a similar goal: how can we do what we do better, faster, and for less? One of the primary vehicles to increasing efficiencies is to grow the people in the organization. Including internal courses, external certifications, and formal degrees, there are many ways for a company to develop its’ talent.
Leadership Development Programs (and why you should care)
When beginning to explore career opportunities after university, there is an overwhelming number of different jobs or career paths. I’d like to present one that has changed my career from the career I intended to follow after OU. While working as a Systems Integration & Test Engineer for Northrop Grumman in Oklahoma City and completing my Master’s in Industrial & Systems Engineering, I began exploring different industries and career opportunities. I knew that I wanted to explore more than the technical ladder and also wanted to experience different parts of the US. One career path kept catching my eye, the Leadership Development Program. Many of these programs offer rotations within the same company in different regions of the US and last for 2-3 years.
I joined Raytheon, in 2016, as a part of their Rotational Engineering Leadership Development Program (RELDP). The RELDP class consisted of 13 engineers from a variety of schools, disciplines, and locations. Additionally, the program consisted of 7 week-long trips to major sites for leadership training and opportunities to work with senior leadership.
During the RELDP, I rotated three times and spent 8 months in each rotation beginning in Dallas, TX before rotating to Boston, MA and finally landing in Tucson, AZ. Each rotation was in a different position. In Dallas, I was a Program Operations Manager where I was responsible for the daily execution of programs and worked with senior leaders to execute Raytheon’s (contractual) commitments. In Boston, I spent time on a manufacturing floor, working on one of our flagship products, as a Continuous Improvement Engineer (supplementing their Mechanical & Industrial Engineers). In Tucson, I leveraged my network and worked as a Strategy Associate for a major product line where I helped develop the 5 Year Strategy for an emerging market.
Each Leadership Development Program (LDP) is different, but the main takeaway is that these programs can offer many different types of experiences and often lead to faster promotions or additional opportunities for development. I’m not going to say that the Raytheon RELDP is the best LDP out there, but I wouldn’t be where I am today (in Tucson) without it.
Post-LDP, Now What?
Many of my peers that went through the RELDP are now feeling the itch to move jobs or locations again. This can be one of the “negative” effects of a rotational program. Without the opportunities for exposure to leadership or ability to work on enterprise-wide initiatives, many of my peers are restless for the next promotion, but when a company decides to invest in you as much as these companies do with the LDPs, they want you to add to your foundation of “breadth” with “depth.” While rotating across the country is fun (and it really is), it’s hard to gain the technical knowledge that only comes with experience. Often participants in the program miss the challenges of new work and fail to understand that “broadness” of skillset only goes so far. My mentor, in Tucson, has worked with me to define a Career Development Plan to help me achieve the “depth” while still leveraging my previous work (breadth). This brings me to one of my major points: Sometimes you have to learn in place. It may be frustrating seeing others get promoted or take on additional responsibility, but the best thing you can do for your career is to take the time to consider what your skillset is, find gaps, mitigate them, and figure out what motivates you. For me, I enjoy my time being my own, so the 9/80 schedule that Raytheon offers where you get every other Friday off, in conjunction with the flexibility offered on the Global Growth Strategy team, energizes me every week and allows me to stay engaged.
Learning in Place and What I’ve Done
I have peers across the company that are more knowledgeable than I am. Having only been with Raytheon for 2.5 years and in the workforce for 4.5 years, I still have a lot to learn when it comes to how this business works. Raytheon really focuses on learning and development of its employees. They offer Educational Assistance, which is up to 10k per year for additional degrees or certifications. The offer online courses through an internal learning platform and they offer internal courses for (name anything) almost anything you can think of. I’ve been taking advantage of these resources, and my career has benefited from it. Here are a few things I’ve done and even more you should consider.
· Completed internal Certifications (Six Sigma, Program Management, Management Development Program)
· Taken internal classes (How Missiles Work, Python, Contracts Training, Finance, etc.)
· Completed external Certification using Educational Assistance (Business Strategy at Cornell)
· Continued to work on enterprise projects (international and domestic)
· Leveraged my network for experiential learning (I help manage the Q&MA hiring/pipeline)
Things you should consider:
Experience different functions; a well-rounded person goes further than a “one-trick pony”
o Even if you want to stay in Engineering, as you progress, you’ll have to understand how the money flows within a company and how it helps achieve technical
Don’t be afraid to take a lateral move
o Often you’ll gain experiences that will better position you for “the” job you want
Leverage your network
o I bonded with a Vice President because she came from Texas (and I from Oklahoma) because Raytheon hires, primarily, from the coasts and where it’s located. It can be hard but find common ground. Having the “soft skills” can affect your career as much as having technical skills
Understand your business
Consider moving companies
o I enjoy the fast-paced nature of Raytheon, but you need to do some introspection to find out what energizes you every day. Is it autonomy? Is it responsibility?
Understand Emotional Intelligence
o Clarify with others. Ask questions about what you said or what you heard. You’ll thank yourself later.
o If you want to manage people or be a technical leader, you will never get there if you cannot work with others or listen.
o Raytheon does not tolerate discrimination nor someone who disrupts team synergy. Do not be that person. Your work does not speak for itself, and if you’re not a team player, management does not want to promote you.
o Today’s workforce consists of different generations and skill levels. Approach each conversation differently. It’s a definite skill to understand who you are speaking to and how to deliver a presentation or to run a meeting.
Find problems and solve them
Matthew Stewart is part of the Global Growth Strategy team within the Quality & Mission Assurance functional organization at Raytheon Missile Systems, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. He joined Q&MA in July 2018 after graduating the Corporate Rotational Engineering Leadership Development Program at Raytheon. In this role he is responsible for Q&MA Global Growth Strategy development, leading global collaborations, and partnering cross-functionally to innovate enterprise methodologies. Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government, and cybersecurity solutions. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.Matthew graduated from OU with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master’s degree in Industrial & Systems Engineering in 2014 & 2016, respectively, and remains an avid football fan. If you have any questions about this article, learning in place, the RELDP, or Raytheon, please send all inquiries to Matthew.Stewart@Raytheon.comor connect with him on LinkedIn.
Every company has its own vernacular and acronyms, but most companies are focused on a similar goal: how can we do what we do better, faster, and for less? One of the primary vehicles to increasing efficiencies is to grow the people in the organization. Including internal courses, external certifications, and formal degrees, there are many ways for a company to develop its’ talent.
Leadership Development Programs (and why you should care)
When beginning to explore career opportunities after university, there is an overwhelming number of different jobs or career paths. I’d like to present one that has changed my career from the career I intended to follow after OU. While working as a Systems Integration & Test Engineer for Northrop Grumman in Oklahoma City and completing my Master’s in Industrial & Systems Engineering, I began exploring different industries and career opportunities. I knew that I wanted to explore more than the technical ladder and also wanted to experience different parts of the US. One career path kept catching my eye, the Leadership Development Program. Many of these programs offer rotations within the same company in different regions of the US and last for 2-3 years.
I joined Raytheon, in 2016, as a part of their Rotational Engineering Leadership Development Program (RELDP). The RELDP class consisted of 13 engineers from a variety of schools, disciplines, and locations. Additionally, the program consisted of 7 week-long trips to major sites for leadership training and opportunities to work with senior leadership.
During the RELDP, I rotated three times and spent 8 months in each rotation beginning in Dallas, TX before rotating to Boston, MA and finally landing in Tucson, AZ. Each rotation was in a different position. In Dallas, I was a Program Operations Manager where I was responsible for the daily execution of programs and worked with senior leaders to execute Raytheon’s (contractual) commitments. In Boston, I spent time on a manufacturing floor, working on one of our flagship products, as a Continuous Improvement Engineer (supplementing their Mechanical & Industrial Engineers). In Tucson, I leveraged my network and worked as a Strategy Associate for a major product line where I helped develop the 5 Year Strategy for an emerging market.
Each Leadership Development Program (LDP) is different, but the main takeaway is that these programs can offer many different types of experiences and often lead to faster promotions or additional opportunities for development. I’m not going to say that the Raytheon RELDP is the best LDP out there, but I wouldn’t be where I am today (in Tucson) without it.
Post-LDP, Now What?
Many of my peers that went through the RELDP are now feeling the itch to move jobs or locations again. This can be one of the “negative” effects of a rotational program. Without the opportunities for exposure to leadership or ability to work on enterprise-wide initiatives, many of my peers are restless for the next promotion, but when a company decides to invest in you as much as these companies do with the LDPs, they want you to add to your foundation of “breadth” with “depth.” While rotating across the country is fun (and it really is), it’s hard to gain the technical knowledge that only comes with experience. Often participants in the program miss the challenges of new work and fail to understand that “broadness” of skillset only goes so far. My mentor, in Tucson, has worked with me to define a Career Development Plan to help me achieve the “depth” while still leveraging my previous work (breadth). This brings me to one of my major points: Sometimes you have to learn in place. It may be frustrating seeing others get promoted or take on additional responsibility, but the best thing you can do for your career is to take the time to consider what your skillset is, find gaps, mitigate them, and figure out what motivates you. For me, I enjoy my time being my own, so the 9/80 schedule that Raytheon offers where you get every other Friday off, in conjunction with the flexibility offered on the Global Growth Strategy team, energizes me every week and allows me to stay engaged.
Learning in Place and What I’ve Done
I have peers across the company that are more knowledgeable than I am. Having only been with Raytheon for 2.5 years and in the workforce for 4.5 years, I still have a lot to learn when it comes to how this business works. Raytheon really focuses on learning and development of its employees. They offer Educational Assistance, which is up to 10k per year for additional degrees or certifications. The offer online courses through an internal learning platform and they offer internal courses for (name anything) almost anything you can think of. I’ve been taking advantage of these resources, and my career has benefited from it. Here are a few things I’ve done and even more you should consider.
· Completed internal Certifications (Six Sigma, Program Management, Management Development Program)
· Taken internal classes (How Missiles Work, Python, Contracts Training, Finance, etc.)
· Completed external Certification using Educational Assistance (Business Strategy at Cornell)
· Continued to work on enterprise projects (international and domestic)
· Leveraged my network for experiential learning (I help manage the Q&MA hiring/pipeline)
Things you should consider:
Experience different functions; a well-rounded person goes further than a “one-trick pony”
o Even if you want to stay in Engineering, as you progress, you’ll have to understand how the money flows within a company and how it helps achieve technical
o Often you’ll gain experiences that will better position you for “the” job you want
o I bonded with a Vice President because she came from Texas (and I from Oklahoma) because Raytheon hires, primarily, from the coasts and where it’s located. It can be hard but find common ground. Having the “soft skills” can affect your career as much as having technical skills
Consider moving companies
o I enjoy the fast-paced nature of Raytheon, but you need to do some introspection to find out what energizes you every day. Is it autonomy? Is it responsibility?
Understand Emotional Intelligence
o Clarify with others. Ask questions about what you said or what you heard. You’ll thank yourself later.
o If you want to manage people or be a technical leader, you will never get there if you cannot work with others or listen.
o Raytheon does not tolerate discrimination nor someone who disrupts team synergy. Do not be that person. Your work does not speak for itself, and if you’re not a team player, management does not want to promote you.
o Today’s workforce consists of different generations and skill levels. Approach each conversation differently. It’s a definite skill to understand who you are speaking to and how to deliver a presentation or to run a meeting.
Find problems and solve them
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