Second chapter of my TLP book

TLP brains @ work

We had a good dosage of TLP training last week. It was very interesting and kind of laid back. The content of the training was to help us hone our soft skills, how to ask the right questions, behavior analysis and team building activities. We were assigned into teams and had to come up with an initiative for the retail banking business. We drafted a business case for our project and gave a 10 min presentation to the trainers.

My team's In/Out of scope chart

Training was not all work and no play.. We had lots of fun too :)

We got our location assignments for the 3^rd and 4^th rotation and I was thrilled since I got what I wanted.. So Dallas here I Come!

First week in my ‘new’ rotation has been really good. I am working on two projects for the Consumer Lending Group, Production Assurance team. I have already started contributing in one of the projects. The team I work with really helped me to get up to speed. On the very first day, my manager told me what projects I will be working on and in what role. He had all the reading materials ready for me and helped me reach out to the project managers. This was a totally different experience from the first week of my previous rotation where I was in a discover session meeting with 60 other people!

Reunion

Last week being my final week of my first rotation was very hectic. I was trying to complete all my assigned tasks and the necessary transition work. It kind of felt like I was moving away from something that I have had for a while. I had my end-of-rotation appraisal on Friday evening and I was very glad to hear my manager’s comments. He gave me some valuable career advice which I am going to carry with me for a very long time. I have always thought that it was very difficult to be a friend/mentee with your manager.. But I was wrong. I know that my manager’s doors are always open for me to talk to him.

Picture source: dilbert.com

Today all the TLPs are arriving at Blue Ash for the training. We are going to be staying at the same Marriott hotel. Our training starts on Monday. It is going to be very interesting because we are here only for a week and we are working on something which is more of requirements gathering and design rather than application development. I am very excited to meet all my TLP friends!

Just one week of training and we start our second rotation on the 28^th. I am moving from the fourth floor to the fifth floor since I have moved over to the Consumer Lending Group. I am looking forward to working in this line of business and the role I am taking on is going to be very interesting since the project is one of key initiatives at the NAIT level for 2008.

Interview with Janice

I got to know Janice only during the middle of the Bootcamp, the main reason being we were in different teams and different training rooms majority of the time. She was the Individual Award winner for CLG-IT in December 07, her personal commitment being “I will be accountable, disciplined, and accept personal ownership in everything I do”. From what I know of her, she is very friendly, smart and a finance guru.

Tell us a little bit about your educational/professional background.

I graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in Accounting, but took a number of IT courses out of personal interest. With my major, I spent the past two summers doing internships in fields entirely unrelated to IT; one was spent as a Business Analyst for a non-profit company and the other as a Forensic Accounting intern for a Big 4 Accounting firm. I applied to TLP out of recommendation from another current TLP, Rosie DePaoli, knowing that I had an affinity for technology and wanted a leadership program with plenty of variety after graduation. The opportunity to do something different was exciting - So far, so good!

The rotations are almost coming to an end. So far how would you rate the learning and contribution factors in your current rotation and in the Consumer Lending Group?

My current rotation is as a Strategic Initiatives Project Manager in the Consumer Lending Group. I’m working with a Senior Leader in CLG and cannot say enough about the experience thus far. I have been given the opportunity to do significant project work on highly visible initiatives across CLG’s three lines of business – CitiFinancial Auto, Student Loan Corp (SLC), and Real Estate Lending (REL). It’s nice to know that I’m not just doing research or a “case-study,” but actually contributing to NAIT/CLG-sponsored projects. I’m in the process of closing out my rotation by leading the CLG NAIT Planview (Resource Management, Time-tracking Tool) implementation and it’s my project. I am the person accountable if anything goes wrong, and I enjoy the level of responsibility/ownership. My manager has been great about giving me opportunities to stretch myself and gain exposure across CLG.

What would you say is your biggest take away from being with Citigroup as an organization for the past 7 months?

Stating the obvious here, but Citi is a large, large corporation and as with any corporation this size, bureaucracy exists – often in large amounts. Initially, it was easy to become discouraged in dealing with the “red tape,” but I’ve found that with the right amount of prodding, eventually you’ll get what you need. Rules, processes, and even people will get in the way so if you want anything to get done, find a way to deal with those obstacles immediately. There’s always a workaround or alternate solution. Sucking it up and working a little bit harder helps.

Thanks a lot Janice!

It is time!

First of all I wish all the current and future TLPs a Very Happy New Year.

Today is THE day for the TLPs.. We are going to get our second rotation assignments. I am very excited about it. I have decided to move from Citi Cards to a different Line of Business (LOB). This is one of the best things about the program, you can not only experience different positions/roles but also work for different LOBs.

Speaking of rotation submissions, we had a relatively larger pool of positions this time. The TLPs at Sioux Falls presented to the Managers what sort of position descriptions and details we would like to have. Thanks to Nik, Brandon, Gil, Stacey and Erin for their effort!

Unlike last time, we were able to form a good network to exchange rotation information and share our experiences working for a particular team/LOB. This was very helpful to identify if you actually fit in a particular team work environment.

Interview with a 'Citi United' team member

Kevin Kim and I belonged to the same team during Bootcamp. This gave us an opportunity to get to know each other better. He is very hardworking, has a great aptitude to learn and a good friend.

We were in the same team during Bootcamp and learnt a lot. What were your personal experiences during training? Things that you liked a lot and things that you felt could be improved from a training perspective?

Firstly, it was great experience for me to spend 5 weeks together with very talented TLP members. We all worked hard during weekdays and spent fun time on weekends visiting city downtown, sharing personal stories and talking our dreams, etc. After five weeks of training, we knew each other better than college friends.

From team project, we understood each team member’s strong point and weak point and we encouraged each other to try new things and stretch our skills and knowledge. We exchanged a lot of feedback with respectful and friendly approach and based on the feedback, we were able to realize what we didn’t know before. It inspired us.

First month of my rotation after training was not easy because of several reasons. We had little knowledge of organizational structure and function of each team. In addition to that in production, we use 2^nd language which is Citi Acronyms – a number of abbreviations. If training incorporated these areas, it could have been easier to transition into “Real” world. However, I must say that Bootcamp’s case study and presentation were great methods to learn consumer financial business and its challenges in a relatively short time.

Overall, I regret many things that I could do better but after Bootcamp, I was able to find myself with improved knowledge and self confidence.

Tell us a little bit about your experiences working for the PMO group. What skills do you think comes in handy if one is considering a rotation in PMO?

My current role is an IT project manager in Cards Project Management (CPM) organization. As an ITPM, I own and manage several Citi Cards projects from the creation of TPR (Technology Project Request) to post implementation phase.

Just like every other rotation, ITPM is not an easy job as they assume huge roles and responsibilities. However, if you have a passion and effective leadership, you will be able to have a lot of fun while leading project teams with your color of leadership. Be highly available and responsive and respect your colleagues. Your project success depends on each team member and it’s your role to encourage them to do a better job.

Just one example how important you are – In a conference call, if your voice is gloomy, I bet that conference becomes gloomy.

Do you have any suggestion(s) in terms of pre-training preparation for the TLP Class of 2008?

First of all, congratulations! You will have several months before training starts. If I were you, I would spend more quality time with my friends, travel new cities and countries, read more books which are not related with my major, do more work-out, and keep in touch with TLP 2007 and 2006 members. :)

Welcome to TLP. You are all future leaders of the world’s best financial services company.

Sanketi's TLP experience

The two of us went to the University of Florida for MS in Computer Science. Even though we have known each other for over one and half years, it is during TLP Bootcamp that I got to know her personally and she is indeed a great friend to have. Here is what Sanketi has to say about her TLP experience:

How has your experience been so far working on your first rotation project and what are your day-to-day responsibilities?

It is one of those first few projects within Citi to adopt new methodology and everyone within and out of my project is committed for its success. I have chosen the PMO track where I assist in keeping track of Business process and use case schedule. Also, I play the role of a Business Analyst within one of the teams and work with our Business partners to capture Generation specific requirements.

You have a pretty heavy technical background and I noticed that you have chosen the CTO track. What kinds of position are you looking for your second rotation?

I wanted to target improving my non-technical skills and hence, chose my first rotation to be PMO. Next rotation onwards I plan to focus on strong technical projects in different areas- Design and Development, Architecture, Testing - that will provide me significant exposure and expand my technical know-how.

What is your advice/tips for the potential TLPs?

I would ask potential TLPs to feel free to demonstrate their creativity, understand the reason and need for a great program like TLP and understand how its success can benefit both – the candidates and the organization.

Sanketi, thanks a lot for your time :)

Second Round Interviews - Class of 2008

Picture source: cartoonstock.com

Second round interviews for the TLP candidates for the incoming class of 2008, was held on Nov 9^th at the Omni Hotel, downtown of Jacksonville Florida. A dinner was arranged the night before, giving the candidates a chance to meet current TLPs and some senior level management within Citi. Among the senior management in attendance was Andrew Cawood, CIO of the Consumer Lending Group, who was also the guest speaker.

Dinner guests arrived around 6:30pm and had some time to socialize before dinner commenced. Dinner was kicked off around 7pm with the introduction of current Citi employees including TLPs. Andrew Cawood was then called on to speak during which he emphasized the importance of technology and Citi’s invested interest in the TLP program. He reaffirmed Citi’s goal to stay on course in its investment in technology despite the recent change in leadership.

Similar to last year’s 2^nd round dinner, the TLP candidates got the opportunity to show off their creativity and presentation skills. A competition was put up for each table to come up with some creative product, using different shaped plastics, and then attempt to pitch the product. All kinds of products where pitched from a Citi space station to an automated beer toy vehicle. Current TLPs were elected as judges and the winning pitch was a mobile ATM on wheels. That segment of the night gave for a good laugh and night was rounded off with instructions to the candidates on details of next day’s interview process.

Different schools were represented including University of Florida, University of Texas, Notre Dame and South Dakota State to name a few. In all about 42 candidates were scheduled to be in attendance and the dinner provided a great opportunity for the candidates to get a first taste of Citi and for us (TLPs) a first hand view of the incoming class.

Author: Fola (TLP Class of 2007)

Mentoring Program for TLPs

We had a mentor kick-off meeting this week. Although most of us already had one or two meetings with our respective mentors prior to this kick-off session, we learnt some valuable information on what to expect from the mentor-mentee relationship. It takes the two of them to keep the relationship alive. The mentee definitely has the responsibility to make sure that he/she asks for advice and suggestions. One can learn a lot about how the organization functions and what steps to take to quickly move up the ladder from the mentor. Having career goals is very important and having a guide to help you take the path towards attaining your goal is a gift! It is only wise to make the best use of this relationship :)

Picture source: pwcs.edu

I had a meeting with my mentor today and it went pretty well. We spoke about my current rotation responsibilities, manager change and my transition and about my next rotation possibilities. It was great talking about possible project management positions to my mentor who has been in a managerial position for 15 or so years.

Tim's experiences as a TLP

Tim in his cubicle

It is great to have a fellow TLP sit right next to you. Tim O'Neil and I have conversations over the cubicle walls and have some good laughs. Here is what Tim has to say:

Tim, tell me a little about your background - educational and professional

Education: Bachelor and Master of Music – Violin Performance and Music Composition; Master of Science – Information Systems. All degrees were completed at the University of Cincinnati

Professional: 1 year as a hardware technician/desktop support/web developer, 2 years as a “1-man IT Department” in a small company (functioning primarily as a System/LAN Administrator and Web Developer), 5 years teaching/mentoring music students of all ages

Like a few other TLPs, you worked for Citigroup as an intern for 6 months. Do you find any difference(s) between being an intern and a full-time employee in terms of roles and things you learn/have learnt?

The roles are completely different, although the scope of work within the internship was certainly of rotation-caliber. The internship helped most by allowing me to start building my network and becoming familiar with the corporate and site-specific environments at Citi (as well as the NAIT org structure). Now, in my current role, I can focus almost solely on working up my areas for opportunity and filling my skill/experience gaps.

You are working in a Governance role for Citi Infrastructure. How do you find it so far? Do you feel you have been given enough responsibilities?

I enjoy having a higher-level view of the entire NAIT Infrastructure organization from a service-oriented perspective. The biggest challenge is being able to work primarily at the tactical level and knowing when to dive into the operational level to address issues. It is also an interesting dynamic to solicit Manager- and Director-level folks on deliverables for strategic initiatives rather than interfacing with individual contributors on a project. I feel my level of responsibility/ownership/accountability is extremely high – for example, there have been occasions where I have received a call directly from our EVP/CIO.

Tell us about your recruiting experience for the TLP program at the University of Cincinnati?

I – along with several other Blue Ash-based TLPs – was involved with nearly every phase of the process (except actual interviewing). Being that we are “subject matter experts currently living the TLP experience,” our feedback was constantly solicited and we were considered valuable members to the team. Our Blue Ash site leaders (who served as the University Captains) are extremely knowledgeable, personable, and engaging. I believe that our great site culture serves as a testament to their outstanding qualities, and that they function as excellent representatives towards the TLP recruiting efforts.

Your thoughts on the TLP program and any advice or suggestions for the incoming/potential TLPs?

The TLP program is young and there is a lot of genuine enthusiasm both from within the group and from the surrounding NAIT organization. Our class is in a unique position as to be able to heavily influence the program’s direction and success through our suggestions and actions. My advice to incoming TLPs is this: first, be open to change and growth; second, remember to keep your head up and understand where your role and projects fit into the bigger picture; and third, realize that personal development and achievement is a two-way street – success benefits both yourself and the program as a whole.

Thanks a lot Tim!

Employee Giving

Citigroup believes in giving back to the communities. There was a United Way Campaign where the different sites were raising money to help for the betterment of our society. The Blue Ash site had targeted to raise $30,000 but we raised $40,800.

At lunch

Entertaining Duncan :)

Yesterday we had lunch and then our site president gave away raffle prizes to 5 people. As a part of the fund raising campaign, we entertained a pig - Duncan!