SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  The Lounge    Career advice requested for my son- AbInBev **UPDATE** going to Fort Collins, CO
Page 1 2 3 
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
Career advice requested for my son- AbInBev **UPDATE** going to Fort Collins, CO Login/Join 
Smarter than the
average bear
posted
My younger son accepted a job as a chemical engineer with AB/InBev, and he is currently in Jacksonville for training over the summer. They have breweries all over the States, and he's been asked to rank in order of preference where he'd like to go for his first assignment. One question I have is whether it would be an advantage or disadvantage to be in St Louis, which is their US headquarters. Easier or harder to get noticed doing a good job, or does it matter at all where he starts?

I didn't want him making a decision based only on geography if there are any potential career implications to the choice. What do y'all think?

***UPDATE*** Just to let y'all know, he got his first choice, and is moving to Fort Collins, CO.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: honestlou,
 
Posts: 3585 | Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Registered: June 20, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
SIGForum Official Hand Model
Picture of ThankGod4Sig
posted Hide Post
Come to Columbus, Ohio.

STL is becoming a bigger shiite hole everyday.

Columbus at least its fun.


"da evil Count Glockula."-Para
 
Posts: 7944 | Location: C-bus, Ohio | Registered: December 17, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The success of a solution usually depends upon your point of view
posted Hide Post
I believe that excellence can be displayed anywhere but if you are not happy in life you won't perform at your best level so my recommendation would be to pick locations where he would be happy living at and do the best job he can when he gets there.

This philosophy is why I live where I do. I have left a lot of money on the table because I was not willing to live where the job was.



“We truly live in a wondrous age of stupid.” - 83v45magna

"I think it's important that people understand free speech doesn't mean free from consequences societally or politically or culturally."
-Pranjit Kalita, founder and CIO of Birkoa Capital Management

 
Posts: 3991 | Location: Jacksonville, FL | Registered: September 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by SpinZone:
I believe that excellence can be displayed anywhere but if you are not happy in life you won't perform at your best level so my recommendation would be to pick locations where he would be happy living at and do the best job he can when he gets there.

This philosophy is why I live where I do. I have left a lot of money on the table because I was not willing to live where the job was.

This. If you're happy money won't matter.


____________________________________________________

The butcher with the sharpest knife has the warmest heart.
 
Posts: 13556 | Location: Bottom of Lake Washington | Registered: March 06, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Little ray
of sunshine
Picture of jhe888
posted Hide Post
I think you would have to ask someone with knowledge of AB's culture to know if being at the main location is an advantage. All we can do is guess and talk in generalities.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
 
Posts: 53499 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Columbus...

Damn near got a job there myself 15 years ago, but was beat out by someone with a lot more experience than me.


The "Boz"
 
Posts: 1565 | Location: Central Ohio, USA | Registered: May 29, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Jax was a decent town.
 
Posts: 7181 | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Hey! I like stuff
posted Hide Post
In my experience, if you want to move up the corporate ladder, you need to be at the mother ship. It might not be important in an entry level position, but being open to relocation closer to where the decisions are made would be a plus.



.
 
Posts: 2756 | Location: Sterling, VA | Registered: July 14, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
orareyougladtoseeme
Picture of isthatasiginyourpocket
posted Hide Post
Personally with the craft beer craze I'd try to find a place like Goose Island or one of the other AB craft breweries. Riding on the coat tails of the craft brew popularity seems like the best career opportunity to me.
 
Posts: 2549 | Location: MN | Registered: March 06, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nosce te ipsum
Picture of Woodman
posted Hide Post
Merrimack, New Hampshire would be my completely uneducated choice.

 
Posts: 8759 | Registered: March 24, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Leave the gun.
Take the cannoli.
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Woodman:
Merrimack, New Hampshire would be my completely uneducated choice.


OH YEAH!!

But I would also consider St Louis. He's an engineer and STL women are hot. It's not like he's going to be living in Ferguson.
 
Posts: 6634 | Location: New England | Registered: January 06, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by SigP239Hokie:
In my experience, if you want to move up the corporate ladder, you need to be at the mother ship. It might not be important in an entry level position, but being open to relocation closer to where the decisions are made would be a plus.
There have been multiple replies, and this is the only one that directly addresses the original question (I have a rant going on about non-answers to questions, in the appropriate complaint area).

My experience, working for a couple of companies, was that people in branch offices tended to be overlooked by HQ at promotion time. Probably not a 100% rule -- if you excel and rise to the top of the pile at a branch, that will be noticed.



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 31930 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Agree on the Corporate HQ as the best first site. If he does well he will be noticed and likely moved to another of the facilities to round him out. If he does well in the satellite job he will probably go through several moves to other outlying plants and ultimately return to the HQ. He will need experience in areas other than his college major to move up in the big companies. I worked for a major packaged food concern for 38 years as a maintenance mechanic so had no desire to rise within the corporate organization but did witness the development of the hierarchy. The folks that started at our local plant and moved up were in my opinion often better talent than the people that were sent down from above. But in order for them to rise they had to be involved in something extraordinary to be noticed. The ones with rockets in their pockets from above did not need to be nearly as outstanding to get the upward moves as they were already known in the stratosphere and had a familiar name that was recognized at corporate.
Just a little guy looking on but sometimes those of us at the base of the pyramid have a better view and cannot fall near as far when things go wrong.



The “POLICE"
Their job Is To Save Your Ass,
Not Kiss It

The muzzle end of a .45 pretty much says "go away" in any language - Clint Smith
 
Posts: 3014 | Location: See der Rabbits, Iowa | Registered: June 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of jbcummings
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
quote:
Originally posted by SigP239Hokie:
In my experience, if you want to move up the corporate ladder, you need to be at the mother ship. It might not be important in an entry level position, but being open to relocation closer to where the decisions are made would be a plus.
There have been multiple replies, and this is the only one that directly addresses the original question (I have a rant going on about non-answers to questions, in the appropriate complaint area).

My experience, working for a couple of companies, was that people in branch offices tended to be overlooked by HQ at promotion time. Probably not a 100% rule -- if you excel and rise to the top of the pile at a branch, that will be noticed.


I would add to this, in my experience, there are several factors and beginning location could be the least of them. If you excel, you will get noticed and then the likelihood of moving to the 'mothership' starts to factor in. To excel, you have to display talent and a willingness to take on challenge. Then there's just plain luck to some degree. Should you get stuck in a bad situation, you have to be willing to move on to something else. Get lucky and become part of something significant and your talent will get noticed faster. As I said there's a bit of a roll of the dice there, but even a bad situation can be salvaged with the right attitude and talent.


———-
Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for thou art crunchy and taste good with catsup.
 
Posts: 4310 | Location: DFW | Registered: May 21, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Smarter than the
average bear
posted Hide Post
To clarify, he's been hired as a chemical engineer and area manager (I think). He will start at a brewery, but they have breweries all over, including in St. Louis. It's not that he would start at HQ.

I was just looking for opinions if being closer to HQ would be a good thing. Hey, it's Sigforum, so I wouldn't have been surprised to have some AB folks on here. But if nobody knows about AB specifically, I was wondering about corporate culture in general. His starting position will be the same regardless of which brewery he starts at.

The only thing I know about big corporate culture is that you have to be willing to relocate when they want you to. Thanks for the replies.
 
Posts: 3585 | Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Registered: June 20, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His Royal Hiney
Picture of Rey HRH
posted Hide Post
If he is new to the company and will be working his way up, I think it's a slight advantage to start in HQ. As a newbie, he'll receive more hand-holding and introductions. Introductions in HQ will be more valuable. Get to know those people develop mentor relationships, etc.

As he moves around the different fields, maintain those connections at HQ. They will invariably be helpful in terms of his own career or getting some help from HQ to help a local issue.

Starting at HQ also gets him to learn how HQ views the divisions. Knowing how HQ views the divisions is more helpful than knowing how one particular division views HQ.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
 
Posts: 20440 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Gracie Allen is my
personal savior!
posted Hide Post
One other possibility to is to have him look at production by volume and relative markets. If he can get in somewhere where they're trying something new or spinning up to meet a growing market demand of some kind, then he may get some neat opportunities to strut his stuff.
 
Posts: 27322 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Big Stack
posted Hide Post
For career development, he should go to St Louis. You always want to be in the center of the action, and for AB, that's it.

At this stage of his career, lifestyle issues should take a back seat.
 
Posts: 21240 | Registered: November 05, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of mikeyspizza
posted Hide Post
I would rank them in order of where I would want to go and not worry about corporate right away. These appear to be the choices:
  • St. Louis, Missouri (opened 1852)
  • Newark, New Jersey (opened 1951)
  • Van Nuys, California (opened 1954)
  • Houston, Texas (opened 1966)
  • Columbus, Ohio (opened 1968)
  • Jacksonville, Florida (opened 1969)
  • Merrimack, New Hampshire (opened 1970)
  • Williamsburg, Virginia (opened 1972)
  • Fairfield, California (opened 1976)
  • Baldwinsville, New York (opened 1983)
  • Fort Collins, Colorado (opened 1988)
  • Cartersville, Georgia (opened 1993)
 
Posts: 4098 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: August 16, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Williamsburg is a GORGEOUS area. Very clean and nice. 30-45 minutes from the beach, tons of amazing history, 45 minutes to Richmond which is a great city.

While I agree that home office is the best place for advancement, in my experience, as long as he is WILLING to move and go to HQ eventually, he'll be fine.
 
Posts: 3468 | Registered: January 27, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata Page 1 2 3  
 

SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  The Lounge    Career advice requested for my son- AbInBev **UPDATE** going to Fort Collins, CO

© SIGforum 2025