How To Get Certified by GE?

M

Thread Starter

melabd

Hello,

I'm trying to get certified by GE as a technical field advisor for their excitation system (EX2100e), because every time i apply for such a role my application gets rejected, because I'm not GE trained or certified. Even though i posses hands on experience on this equipment with a very advanced level.

The nearest GE training center to me is in Saudi Arabia, which is very very far away, and I have to take a training course which is hell of expensive.

So i have to pay GE to become a GE employee???

I want to get certified by i don't know how.

Any suggestions?
Thank you.
 
Hello,

Your CV/resume should clearly state the skills and abilities you have developed and put to use so as to demonstrate your current knowledge level and expertise. If you're just saying you have EX2100e experience, well, anyone can say that in a CV/resume.

Can you commission an EX2100e?

What kind of troubleshooting have you done? Be specific--have you repaired a non-working EX2100e so that it was successfully returned to service? Have you just performed house-keeping, cleaning printed circuit boards? Have you changed filters (air and cooling water)?

What kinds of EX2100e's have you worked on? Brushless? What rating (current; voltage; generator MVA)?

Have you put this kind of information on your CV/resume? If not, it might be best to include this information. As well as the length of time you've been working on EX2100e.

GE are rather selective about their field service personnel these days; in fact, they don't do a lot of training of even their own personnel, seemingly preferring to hire people with some kind of on-the-job experience and hoping they can handle the stress and travel requirements (which can be much greater than the technical requirements). About the only training they are giving some people is safety training.

Many private companies are reluctant to send their employees to GE training, because once they get one of those training certificates the employees are straight away moving to other employers who will pay even a small pittance more for the certificate. So, their investment is quickly lost. So, employers either hope their employees can pick up something from GE or contractor personnel, or they just bring in GE or contractor personnel as needed.

It's a different world out there than it was even 10 years ago. There is very little loyalty between employers and employees.

If you're applying to GE and being rejected because you don't have GE training or a certificate, then you're either applying for the position without proper qualifications, or you're simply not communicating your experience in your correspondence very well. Some employers (more all the time, actually) are using software to scan CVs/resumes for key words applicable to the job description. In a technical application, there can be very many key words--but project experience and initiative and self-starter and motivated are good key words to use (hopefully they're all true). And, if you can quantify in any way what your experience has meant to your employer (you saved nnnnnn thousands of USD (US Dollars) by quickly resolving an issue, or issues (more is always better)) that's even better. Hours, days, dollars saved is a way to quantify your contribution--which speaks to experience and knowledge.

Because, experience and knowledge is what is implied with a certificate or training (heavy emphasis on 'implied'). And, with today's emphasis on spreadsheets and time and money--if you can quantify your experience and knowledge, that's always more helpful.

Hope this helps! Having the proper qualifications is important (unless, of course, you know someone--in which case it's usually not what you know but who you know, unfortunately). But being able to explain your knowledge and experience will take you far when you have the right qualifications. Very far.

Lastly, working for GE as a field service person can be very stressful. New unit start-ups are better than emergency service calls and maintenance outages, but Customer expectations these days (what with the amount per hour that GE is charging for their field service people!) are beyond reasonable, and schedules are always slipping and getting behind and causing problems for other jobs. You will be traveling a LOT--getting a lot of experience, but not all experience is good, and the job is really only about 30% technical and 70% interpersonal. So, just being technically competent isn't the only requirement--not by any means. Because of the money involved, you are expected to be on call 24 hours per day, ready to hurry up and wait at a moment's notice, and always--always--needed at the next job, usually before they are ready, but often when they've been waiting for days. Which is another level of stress. The pay isn't bad, but I hear it's not what it used to be, either (meaning it's not as good as it used to be) but for that money you are expected to perform miracles, not only by your Customer but also by management.

Best of luck! There's an old saying, "Be careful what you wish for."
 
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