Spring Break
Career Profiles
Brendan Whitworth
Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: Features
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Brendan Whitworth
Career Field Prior to HBS
United States Marine Corps;
United States Department of State
Summer Internship
PepsiCo, Leadership Development Program
(LDP), Dallas, Texas
What made leadership development stand out to you during interviews?
I have a very strong interest in a general management career track. Considering my background in the military and government, this choice plays well to my strengths and builds on my previous experiences. Rather than choose one functional area in which to specialize, I want a broader exposure in the early stages of my career to develop a more comprehensive skill set.
Why did you choose PepsiCo?
PepsiCo had the most impressive leadership development program of the companies I researched. The PepsiCo LDP includes only a small number of current participants spread throughout the company and is tightly managed by a dedicated HR director. The program has the complete support of PepsiCo senior management and is run out of the office of the CEO. This was most clearly evidence when I sat down with the CEO of Frito-Lay for the first interview of the second round. The company had flown in all of its senior executives to conduct the candidate interviews.
Although it is a rotational program, the individual experiences are deep. The program is approximately six years long and consists of three rotations- up to two years each.
Summarize your summer internship, the good and the bad and the overall.
I had a great experience this past summer working in operations at Frito-Lay in Dallas, TX. I was assigned a project to develop a comprehensive efficiency metric aimed at evaluating performance in Frito-Lay's warehousing facilities. Outside of TOM, I knew nothing about operations before showing up the first day. All projects selected for LDP interns are particularly challenging and selected specifically for the program by senior management of the company. I quickly found how helpful and supportive the employees of PepsiCo can be as I reached out for assistance in putting the project together.
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