I can’t run a blog on Lifestyle + Career and not share my prior job experiences. It’s funny because I used to hate the question “what do you do for work”? or “what is your job”?
One of the reason why I felt compelled to start blogging and sharing my career journey as well as life experiences, was to provide meaningful information from my perspective. Information one can resonate with or find helpful. This leads me to sharing pros + cons of a Rotational Development Program.
During the summer of my sophomore year, I obtained a summer internship and maintained one every summer leading up to senior year. An extensive internship experience was my strategy in ensuring I obtained a full-time job post graduation.
Diversifying my experience was also extremely important because my major was considerably broad in scope, Health Services Management.
When preparing for a job search senior year, I placed myself in environments to network and build relationships. During an Internal Advisory Board meeting for my department, College of Allied Health Services, I met an individual that graduated from my program and worked for Blue Cross. It was at this moment, I was introduced to the Rotational Development Program at Blue Cross NC.
What is a Rotational Development Program?
A program that allows one to immerse themselves within multiple areas of the business and earn cross functional knowledge. I participated in Blue Cross NC Rotational Development Program, a 2 year full time program that allowed me to work in 3 different areas of the business, Healthcare, IT and Sales. Each rotation lasts 7-8 months and you choose your areas of 2nd and 3 rotation based on your interest whereas, the first rotation is assigned to you based on your background.
My experience as a Rotational Development Associate.
I wrapped up college and started working 2 months post. My first rotation in Quality was partially a learning curve due to the nature of learning the business way of functioning and getting familiar with new language. Throughout the rotation I was given projects to help supports and small initiatives to lead.
There were times I completed things I considered to be task driven but in hindsight it was all part of being a well rounded team member. I attended meetings both onsite and offsite, participated in Quality related events and fostered a new set of relationships within the Healthcare division.
My second rotation is what I valued the most, to this day. All my rotations serve me well but I leveraged technical skills working in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, Salesforce. During my time there, I learned howe to work in Salesforce from the back end and as an end user.
I delivered a service cloud functionality to the Sales environment to help manage the way they received producer inquires. This rotation I consider to be less program drive and more focused on service delivery.
The final rotation was bittersweet and I wrapped up the program in Sales. In this rotation, I struggled some with learning the audience in which we served but I learned new skills such as knowledge management.
Pros
- 50k Salary (excluding bonus and annual salary increase)
- Full Time
- Cross Functional Learning
- Personal Development Events
- Networking Opportunities
- Coaching
- 2 Years
Cons
- Rotation Placement Process ( finding a next rotation can be difficult)
- Post Rotation Placement ( need more overhead and support in this process)
Thanks for stopping by.
Chelsea
