As many of you know, the ELITE program is a formal, two-year program which aims to create a strong cohort within our IT new hire group, build valuable knowledge through various training and experiences, and provide the resources to expand professional and personal networks…all focused on accelerating successful career skills!
Caitlin James, an analyst in Elanco MQ IT, is our first graduate from the program. Caitlin began her career at Elanco as an intern in May 2014. She then joined our Elanco MQ team, with a focus on integration, in Jan 2105. Caitlin joined the ELITE program as part of W4, which kicked off in September of 2015.
Congratulations Caitlin!
Here is what Caitlin had to say about her ELITE experience:
“As a new hire into Elanco, ELITE gave me a group of peers to go through the first few years together. Being in ELITE gave us all a sounding board to discuss anything that came to our minds or challenged us as we transitioned from college into a full time job. My ELITE wave had new hires from all over Lilly IT, which allowed us to continue to learn about the different IT areas and how they are all interconnected.
Through the ELITE program, we would go through different experiences together to give us that base tool set to apply to our first roles. From ITIL Foundations course to basic project management and financial management classes, it gave us an understanding on how to apply these courses to our current positions. As a cohort, we also took introspective courses such as Insights, Belbin and Discover Your Strengths. Taking these early on into entering our first roles gave us all a better understanding on how we work within a team and our strengths within those teams.”