In 2011 I applied for a position in a prestigious corporate rotation program which was designed as a way to move people from engineering, manufacturing or other back end departments up to front end, customer-facing jobs likes Sales and Product Management.  The application process culminated in a multi-hour panel interview with cross-functional management, gauging your interest, your career goals and ability to mesh with people from a broad walks of life.  I’m happy to say that at the end of that process, I was picked to join that year’s crop of five rotational candidates and immediately began my rotation with Harris’  Growth/M&A Group.

While I was in Growth, I worked with the team to evaluate a potential acquisition–an exciting process–and also helped out with some market-sizing efforts.  Market Research is notoriously difficult with government sales, especially with foreign governments.  While the US tends to publish their every wish and desire via the FedBizOps website, foreign governments are not always so transparent.  That leaves you with the option of funding and conducing primary research on particular countries, or depending on third parties for data.  Anyway, an interesting challenge.

After Growth I went through, everything from Contracts to Manufacturing, including a two month stint at our facility in Lynchburg,  VA, which is a beautiful place to be in the Spring.  While there I worked with our International Programs group on multiple proposals, two of which resulted on multi-million dollar contracts–it was time well-spent.

All in all, the program was an excellent opportunity, and a great way to meet people in every function in the business.  AT the end of the year, I was offered a position as a Product Line Manager with our International Systems organization, and it has turned out to be an incredible opportunity.