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 2nd 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.
