Intern Turned Full Time Employee
Pros
I worked as an intern in the same department I am now hired for full-time. One of the big things that left an impression on me as an intern was Linde's willingness for me to have responsibility and for me to experience. Linde allowed me to travel to a site in Oklahoma to do a performance test on one of their carbon dioxide plants as an intern. I feel like at any other company I would have never been given as much opportunity to grow and learn. It is still the same now that I am a full-time employee. I am fully responsible for the projects given to me even though I have only been working full-time for a few months. I am a firm believer of learning by doing and my job as a Project Manager does just that. The culture here is also very nice. I find that Linde employees are more willing to help someone and they always put safety first. I don't feel "in competition" with anyone, as we are all working together to make Linde safer and better.
Cons
As with any engineering position, it is work intensive. Especially in my case, where I can go on stints of 30-50 12 hour days during a turnaround of a plant (though those projects come once every so often). As a new hire, I am also part of Linde's rotational program. With this rotational program, on top of the department I was hired into, one needs to be flexible and willing to travel, which can be difficult for some. Also, though most people in this company are willing to help, it doesn't necessarily mean the resources are there for that to happen. Sometimes people or other resources are stretched thin, and no two instances are ever completely identical, so how you make due with the resources given to you hones your leadership skills. I guess you can say that aspect is a gift and a curse - there are limited resources but because of that your leadership skills are tested and improved to make due with what you have.
