Senior Experience With Nortel LearniT

Although I’m not an intern anymore, I had an opportunity to interview Hassan. He wasn’t in the office because he was away on business during my three weeks with Nortel, but he had a whole other perspective that I hadn’t heard at Nortel before, so I had to interview him!

Hassan has worked with Nortel for three years. He works in enterprise solutions (sales/business development). Hassan was very enthusiastic and energetic about everything he talked about; his energy was very pleasant and fun! I bet he could sell me anything!

Part of Hassan’s job involves being the territory account manager. This means that he manages thirteen accounts and is responsible for everything that happens with Nortel and Nortel’s business partners. Hassan goes into a business and works annually to resolve the problems that the business is facing. Hassan also suggests things that could be improved in the business, such as Replacing, Enhancing or Upgrading the business’ current software). This ensures continuation of business/partnership for Nortel.

Pitching an idea to a strategic account is not an easy thing to do! Hassan works on selling the whole solution and not focus on minor details. He feels comfortable enough to meet with a client without a technician, even though he doesn’t know that much about technology (I think he knows more than he thinks!) and be able to deliver his pitch through using the idea of a big picture.

Before coming to Nortel, Hassan worked with two other IT companies. The first job Hassan had after graduating from college was selling computers and laptops. Then he moved to selling a mix of larger gadgets and solutions. Even though he has no background in telecommunications, he is perfect for his job! He is able to build relationships with people, he has a high view of the enterprise, and he is an all-around pleasant and personable man!

Ray is an attorney. He graduated from Duke University and went to work with the FCC (Federal Communications Committee). The FCC is the agency that is the expert on telecommunications. There he was involved in telecommunications law where he noticed that he had many responsibilities coming to him very quickly as a young lawyer. This is because government practices, as opposed to law firms, have many benefits and opportunities for young lawyers. FCC is where Ray learned about telecommunications and further developed his talents.

Ray also spent four years working on Capitol Hill on the communications council to the commerce committee. Somewhere in between, Ray found time to work with a cable company and a newspaper company.

For the past eighteen years, Ray has been working at Nortel. (In Ray’s words, Nortel is a solutions provider that looks out for the customer’s interest). At Nortel, Ray is an advocate in the sense of presenting views to the Hill and the FCC about Nortel’s position and technology. The purpose of this is to establish telecommunications that will be beneficial to Nortel and the customer. It is important for a company like Nortel to be involved in the evolution of technology and have an impact on what’s taking place/influencing the process so the product doesn’t go off track and out of the competitive reach of the company.

Ray is also in charge of keeping relations with the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration). He manages the government spectrum use.

When I asked what his favorite part of the job was, Ray told me he liked the challenge of the advocacy; attempting to understand the implication and advance of new technology. He also appreciates the ability to be able to call on technical people whenever he needs them because Nortel is a technology company.

Michael is the Chief Academic Officer for Nortel LearniT (which is a signature community relations program of Nortel). He is also my mentor!

Being a Chief Academic Officer requires Michael to work with teachers, users of programs, corporate partners, students, Nortel employees and the community. To Michael, this is the most fun position to have because he still gets to work with students and support teachers in working with students. (Before coming to Nortel, he used to work in Higher Education, first in the classroom, then with the administration.)

As well as keeping all initiatives moving forward with equal quality as well as enthusiasm for the people that are using the products, Michael is known around the office for his sense of humor! When I asked him what his favorite part of the job was, Michael replied, “I love the pretzels!”

As a pattern of all employees at Nortel, Michael loves his job! His least favorite time of day is when he needs to stop working. However, Michael applies his job in his every day life by helping out his wife and son with their projects through the use of Nortel LearniT tools and technology!

Mary Ellen is the Office Manager as well as Greg’s assistant. She has been with Nortel for eighteen years! Her job requires her to do and over see many things, such as keeping track of calendars (which on its own is a full time job), travel information for the office, papers, evaluations, reports, etc. However, more importantly than that, everyone in the office comes to Mary Ellen if they have a problem. She is nice, sophisticated, personable, and as she self-described herself, “nurturing”. Another way to describe Mary Ellen’s position in the office is to simply put, “She is the glue that holds the office together.”

Mary Ellen’s first job was working with the FBI! She then worked with GTE (Another Telecommunications Company) for eighteen years before working with Blue Cross, Blue Shield and then coming to Nortel. When she came to the company, on top of the duties she has now, Mary Ellen was also in charge of keeping track of the finances. (Today that position has been filled full time by Graziella). Mary Ellen told me a lot about Nortel’s history and the way things used to run. For instance, there used to be three admins and one receptionist. That isn’t the case anymore.

Mary Ellen self-taught herself about everything she needed to know to do her job when she first started working with Nortel. Her objective is to make sure everything in the office runs smoothly. If someone is having trouble with their garage pass, they come to her. If there are guests coming into the Nortel boardroom, Mary Ellen takes care of setting up (along with Graziella). She jokingly said that catering skills are required to have her job.

Although I learned a lot about Mary Ellen, it seemed that I learned even more about Greg and Nortel. (Greg is the boss yet he’s younger than everyone else at Nortel!) When interviewing Mary Ellen, I could really see that she enjoyed her job. She told me how comfortable she was coming into work and that this office is like a family! (The DC office is quite small, there are only 10 people, including myself working here). Even though I’ve only been at the office for two weeks, I also feel very comfortable because of the openness and warmth of all the people that are here!

Melanie is the Director of Government Relations Internationally. She is by far the busiest person I have interviewed so far (and have a feeling she will remain the busiest)!

Upon coming into Melanie’s office, I saw stacks of papers everywhere. During our interview the phone was constantly ringing and people were stopping by to ask her when they could arrange to meet with her. I’m really glad Melanie made time for me to interview her because I found what she does to be the most interesting/appealing career field.

The range of her job description is massive! Melanie goes from planning promotional conferences that are sponsored by Nortel (such as the Americas Competitiveness Forum) to working with sales teams in 150 countries. She works with people on the issues that they face in their country and helps them out in any way she can (usually by making calls and setting up meetings with US officials or the US Embassy in a foreign country). She also can arrange for the US government to support projects and tries to get marketing people to speak to Embassies.

Melanie handles the legal side of trade agreements. She makes phone calls and makes sure that whatever happens/is signed is in the company’s best interest. For instance, when the Columbian government violated a trade agreement with Nortel, the US government would not renew their contract to bring cheaper imports into the US until the Columbian company paid Nortel the money they owed. Basically, what Melanie looks for in the different agreements is different provisions that Nortel may care about and not want to sign. These provisions can be anything from the way companies have to invest in projects to the government dictating things that require the use of one technology over another. Companies don’t like this because Governments tend to favor their technology to make a profit and the company that doesn’t have any of that technology installed can not be competitive.

Melanie had an interesting story of how she got her start with Nortel. She didn’t major in Communications or Politics or Public Relations. Melanie majored in Spanish and was a High School Spanish teacher for several years before deciding that career wasn’t for her. She then worked at a Law firm in the government relations section. The law firm had a large communications practice where Melanie was introduced to Nortel.

When Melanie came to work for Nortel, the company did not have an International position. She communicated internally with people and started up an International network that has spread to 150 countries!

Susan is the Director of Global Government Relations. She works along with Mary, on being a representative of the company on Capitol Hill. Susan handles all government related issues that could affect the company. Because there are 530 members and various committees, Susan and Mary split up their work into a Democratic and Republican side. Susan handles the Republican end.

Part of the job includes managing political committees and handling packs. (Money raised to be used in supporting a running candidate) As Susan described, she is in charge of policy, packs and politics (which often branch out into party committees). When choosing a valid candidate or lobbyist to support, Susan looks for top ethical standing, a well respected individual and somebody with the right experience and connections. Ethics are extremely important at Nortel!

Susan has been working with Nortel for ten years. She started out working on the hill for a member of Congress. She had always worked with a family business and wanted to find employment in a large company. After receiving her master’s degree from Oxford University, Susan worked for a Lobbying firm (She assisted in distributing Kellogg’s’ Cereal and sunscreen products!)

Susan and Mary both are tremendous assets to Nortel. They make sure that everything the company does and everyone the company supports is not breaking any violations/regulations.

Greg is the man that puts it all together. He isn’t an expert on the specialty sections of the company yet he is the one that everyone needs to go to if they need something approved. We spoke about his start and escalation to the position he holds today and about International travel.

Greg told me that when he got his job, the timing was right and it just happened, it all came together. Nortel was looking for a former high ranking employee that had had previous experience (Some of the positions Greg has held include Chief of Staff, Commerce Secretary and working with the Clinton Administration). Greg had worked with Nortel for a long time and knew many of his colleagues (that are currently working in the office). The job Greg has evolved over the past six years. About four year ago, along with International responsibility, public speaking and taking care of internal Nortel stuff, Greg was asked to be in charge of Community Relations.

When undertaking Community Relations, Greg noticed that what Nortel does (working with volunteer-based programs such as Habitat for Humanity) didn’t necessarily distinguish Nortel from other companies. So, Greg and colleague Julie had a “vision” to turn Nortel into a unique company that does more than expected!

Greg mentioned that he was very passionate about International traveling and enjoyed it. He told me that his favorite places to travel to include China, Latin America, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Brazil. He told me that he went to Iraq and Canada last year.

Greg is a great leader and an awesome boss to have!

Mary is the Vice President of the Global Government Relations. She is partnered along with Susan who also works in the office. Mary was kind enough to speak with me about her tasks and what she actually does. We spoke about Congress, Policy issues, the high tech industry and the importance of Nortel’s competitiveness.

Mary’s job involves all things concerning Congress. It is her responsibility to deal with both sides of Policy issues that are agreeable or disagreeable. She gave me an example of a Policy issue that needed to be reinforced; the debatable issue of taxes. What makes taxes a competitive issue for Nortel is when other countries offer tax credits to customers. Nortel has contacts in 150 countries and the company constantly needs to work on updating their trade environment to avoid further trade issues.

Mary also explained that Nortel is not a regulated company (which I didn’t know before). All of Nortel’s customers are regulated companies (such as phone companies because they provide a service for people and the people need protection) but not Nortel. However, all of the concerns that Nortel’s partners have, Nortel has as well because Nortel is trying to provide a better service.

We got on the topic of Congress and how it has an impact on companies like Nortel. Mary and Susan aren’t experts on every policy/bill that is passed so they bring in experts that know everything about the topic. These experts help Mary and her colleagues decide whether they should care about the issue or not. Research is very important in any high tech industry, especially Nortel. That is why as much research as possible is needed to be conducted when the company decides which Congressional candidates they will support. (Technical research also needs to be conducted because Nortel is a technology company).

Another part of dealing with Congress is having many fundraisers. Fundraisers are important because they ultimately bring in pack money (money allowed to the use for the support of Congressional candidates). Mary has a list of hundreds of technical people to invite to the fundraisers (which are in the form of breakfasts/lunches and are usually hosted in the Nortel conference room) with a hope of getting ten to twenty people to come. The fundraisers are also important to the running candidate because they get an opportunity to meet people in the technical industry. (Nortel usually invites companies that conduct similar jobs such as Verizon and Motorola). If a guest hasn’t met a candidate before, the fundraisers are an excellent place to meet and get a potential supporter.

Another fundraiser is going to be held in a couple of weeks for a Democratic Senator from Louisiana.