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Coast2Coast with NBC Universal IMLP: Stephanie Lee


Who am I?
Greetings from sunny California! My name is Stephanie Lee and I'm the 2007 past-president for the IT Student Organization, and a 2008 Marquette Alum. I'm currently working for NBC Universal in their Information Management Leadership Program (IMLP).

Before I get into what my job entails, I'd like to acknowledge the efforts of the IT faculty and Business School administration. They have made such a lasting impact on my life, which duly needs to be acknowledged. The IT faculty members at Marquette are stewards of the pillars of Marquette University: service, excellence, faith, and leadership. They are a support system to the student body, and innovators both inside and outside the classroom.

What is the Information Management Leadership Program (IMLP)?
This program is a set of four, six-month rotations throughout functional areas of IT within NBC Universal. IMLP is part of a larger corporate initiative through General Electric. As an IMLP, we have an opportunity to explore not only four very different areas of IT, but also get to experience living on both the east and west coasts. Currently I'm based on the west coast, working in Universal City right next to Universal Studios. The IMLP program within NBC is two years long, filled with a variety of job assignments and annual training. In fact, this past June, I went for a month-long "boot camp" training out in Danbury, CT. During this month we sharpened our presentation skills, learned how to give/receive feedback, prepared financial statements, developed project charters, and executed a mock business case by taking an erroneous paper-based system and digitalizing it in the form of an online shopping system to reduce defects and improve the end-to-end order efficiency.

There are a variety of IMLP rotations available, ranging from infrastructure to developing Facebook applications for TV shows like American Gladiator. During these rotations skills are developed in the following areas: technical, business, and leadership. IMLP's work on some of the most important projects that currently exist in the business. We are challenged to learn, grow and truly have an impact on the bottom line.

What do I do on a day-to-day basis?
My first rotation out on the West Coast is two-fold. First, I've been working on a B2B website re-design project for media outlets like the NY Times and USA Today. The current website is 10 years old, and I've been tasked with the responsibility of planning the data migration from the old website to the new website we plan to launch in January 2009. The purpose of this website is for media outlets to retrieve photos, electronic press kits, executive bios, and other press material that they include inside their own websites and papers.

Second, I will be supporting approximately 15 B2B applications, and standardizing the way our application owners interact with these applications, so valuable metrics can be retrieved. I get the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with the Vice President of Digital Content and Studio Systems, which is fairly uncommon for most entry-level jobs after college.

Perks of the job
- Bi-monthly employee movie screenings
- Getting a chance to work within a working movie studio lot, with a theme park in your backyard = constant action
- Travel once or twice per rotation to NYC for mid-rotation pitchouts to executives
- 3-week "senior boot camp" training in Shanghai, China
- Exciting rotations that truly make an impact business-wide

Contact information
If anyone would like any more information about NBC Universal, the IMLP program, career choices, or living on the west coast, please don't hesitate to contact me at: stephanie.lee@nbcuni.com

~ Stephanie Lee

Read more articles in ITSO..GOOD Vol. 2 No. 4

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