The many ground rules of becoming a PE:
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PE positions mostly come for product architecture teams
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PE nomination process is managed by select senior PEs and Fellows in each group
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Rarely seen people who do not report to a senior PE or fellow become a PE.
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While merit is critical component of new PE awards, new PE positions are allotted only when group revenue as a whole grows.
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PE track, as a they say, is a marathon process. You must be fully engaged in it over a 4-5 year course. It is not purely a recognition of merit on your part, it is negotiated through active engagement with your managers, PEs and senior PEs.
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PE recommendations must come from senior PEs in your org unit and across Intel and some times external participants. If your line of work does not help you network with this class of people, it will be unlikely that you will get into the PE nomination process.
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A judicious combination of merit, politics and proximity to the powerful is what earns PE in most cases. While being an extreme achiever in one of these co-ordinates also gets PE in some very rare cases.
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PE to senior PE is usually a process of vegetative loyalty. If you stay and support your management for long enough, your management will promote you to be a PE at some point when the revenue uptick s happen in the group to justify a new Sr PE.
Typical PE nominations have a score of publications, patents and some critical product releases on resume. Without political patronage, these alone will not get you a PE. So lobbying and networking are other important accomplishments.