Day 2

Sept. 3.
What a first day. It all started when I showed up with the other Fellow Chen at our International office. We were put into Mike’s office, who is the Director of International HR. We chatted for a bit, and I began my whirlwind trip of introductions. I met the International Recruiter, office staff, other staff. Wow. At 9:00 we met with Mike the IT guy. He gave us our temporary laptops until the brand new ones they ordered us get here. He got us set up on the internet and with all of our accounts. It was a little easier for me, as I was still in the system. At 10:00 we headed to HR to meet the Director of HR (all of HR) whom I had a phone interview with many months ago. She was the one that I sent a picture of me to so she could see who I was while we were talking. She loved that. This was the first time I met her in person. I stopped to visit a friend on the Qatar project during my break and then headed to the office for lunch with Mike the HR guy at 12:00 we went to the buffet and talked more about what was expected and what the plan was for our company and us in the next 3-5 years. VERY EXCITING! After lunch we had a short meeting with John, who deals with Transaction Services. He gave us a brief overview of what he and his team does, and we headed on our way. I will be working with him in the next year extensively, so we didn’t need to spend a lot of time with him. After John, we drove to Shadyside and met with Mark, who is the VP of Operations of that hospital. He is a very sharp, high energy guy. Very helpful, and very hopeful of what we are planning to do. I think he is going to be a great mentor and a great resource.
Now, the best part of my day. We headed downtown to the steel building. The offices for my company are on the top 12 floors. I had a meeting with our division CEO, whose office happens to be on the top floor. WOW…and WOW again. First of all it is like the Ritz when you get off the elevator. The receptionist takes care of us and shows us to a waiting area. A while later someone else comes to get us and takes us to my division CEO’s office. What an office. His office, as everything else up there has one wall of floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city. So impressive. He took me and showed me the whole company’s CEO’s office as well as the board room. Probably one of the most impressive I have seen. About 40+ people at one table with windows on 2 sides overlooking the city. So amazing. We had a nice chat and he told us that he expects us to excel and hold senior level administrative positions in the next 3-5 years. That is awesome. What a great and exciting program for us.
Traffic getting home was a little heavy, but it is not hostile like Doha. I will continue to get used to everything related to this position…see you later!