1ST INTERVIEW
Rene Parrales.
Branch Manager/ Assistance vice president at Chase Bank
JP Morgan Chase
Date of interview: 02/21/2022
1. As far as education I have an AA in Accounting. Now when it comes to training or experience I started my banking career as a teller and slowly through hard work and mentoring I have been able to move via the hierarchy.
2. My current duties and responsibilities are to lead my team to perform at a high level in customer service and also make sure that we grow the business in every all the different aspect. Loans, accounts, convenience products such as direct deposit, mobile access.
3. With our ever changing environment we have less people and at times the same amount of clients and still are expected to do the same amount of production and keep the same quality service.
4. As stated earlier my banking career started as a teller for two years, banker for one year and an assistant manager for seven years. I have been a manager for the last eight years.
5. The economy is affecting our business in several ways. One of them being inflation, the prices of goods and services are going up while our income stays the same. People are having more of a hard time because they do not have the means to be able to keep accounts open because they do not have income to sustain them.
8.Helping people with financial advice and being able to educate them and make.it easier for them to bank. Dissatisfying is when I can only do so much for clients because of some of our policies and procedures.
7.One of the toughest part of my job if not the toughest is when I have to terminate employees or when I cannot help a client out and I see how impactful that is for them
6. Normally about 40 hours, no overtime because I am salary and weekends at times when I am needed
9. Being a people person and being honest and upfront with both employees and customers.
10. As far as work life balance I feel that i.have a pretty good one. I try to work as close to 40 as possible because I am also and employee of the firm.
Interview #2
Alejandro Duke
president of Warner Music Iberia
Warner Music
Date of Interview: 03/05/2022
1. I studied music business and am a musician myself, so i know the business well and am able to have a certain degree of credibility when talking about music.
2. I oversee our business in Latin America which includes both the local exploitation of international roster (example Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, etc) as well as our label direct signings focused in latin music, such as Myke Towers, Mana, Paulo Londra, Justin Quiles, Anitta, among others.
3. Data is more important than ever. Spotting trends early and being able to build on them is key. This didnt use to happen.
4. I started as head of digital in Colombia, then continued focused in commercial partnerships as i moved to Argentina and then to Miami. 6 years ago i became managing director of a latin label achieving large success with songs such as Mi Gente, Despacito, Con Calma, and Tusa. This prepared me for my current job.
5. The economy affects the live business significantly, but it doesnt impact the digital consumption (streaming) business.
6. 24/7 – seriously
7. It’s always tough when you believe in an artist but despite all efforts they dont take off… it’s common and dissapointing.
8. Breaking a new artist, having a hit, it never gets old.
9. Very challenging, nearly impossible, but i try hard to make it happen.
Interview #3
Juan Jose Quintanilla
Senior Manager
The Kraft Heinz Company
Date of the interview: 03/07/2022
General questions about your interviewee’s career field:
1-What education and/or training was required or beneficial to your career?
Mentors
MBA with a diverse/global network
Courses/Seminars:
Dale Carnegie Program Certification (and The Golden Rules)
Entrepreneurship Seminars
Tableau (Business Intelligent)
Soft skills:
Emotional Intelligence
Career Fitness (one per week during the mba)
2-What are the duties and responsibilities of your job
Market and Business Analysis
Negotiations
B2B
Relationship Management
Strategic Planning
3-In what ways is your occupation changing
Tech is a now a big part of day to day (i.e. Business Intelligence Tools as Tableau to make smarter decisions with big data)
Being aware of new trends (constantly reading and subscribed to magazines/blogs)
4-What was your career path to arrive at your current position?
I started as an Innovation and Continue Improvement Manager. I oversaw the relationship with Toyota Motor Corporation (TPS, JIT, KAIZEN, Japanese Culture).
Then I was promoted to Innovation Chief. Managing incremental and radical innovation in a multisector business group.
I volunteer in different renown NGOs as Habitat for Humanity, Enactus, Un techo, and others.
I participated in International Business Plan Competition.
After 7 years I did my master in a top ranked business school (Former employer sponsored a big part of my MBA)
Then I moved to US and started working in Food Service Industry ( The Kraft Heinz Company). I currently handling some key accounts as Burger King, Papa Johns, Sysco IFG and the channel for Caribbean and Central America.
Building a reputation and a career is not something from one day to another. Perseverance and resilience are the two qualities to succeed in any endeavor.
5-How is the economy affecting this industry?
We are facing supply issues in almost all industries. Volatility is more tangible than ever, so to navigate the future agility and flexibility is part of any given day. Building a strong committed team has been key to our growth as well as being closer to the customer than ever before.
US is a hot market for new talent, so I spend a big part of my time developing and mentoring my team so they engage with our vision and plans.
6-What kind of hours do you normally work? Any overtime? Weekends?
I am very organized with my personal/professional life. I work roughly 45 hours per week.
On Saturdays, I usually don’t work unless I have to read and/or study, or review something my team need me to check (i.e. Top Management routines deck)
I enjoy my free time and I started my weekend with some exercise, calling my family abroad, reading something interesting. I take advantage of the weekend and try to find an activity to recharge. I am usually packed of social events, those social interactions help me to clear my mind.
7-Describe some of the toughest situations you’ve faced in this job.
Lack of empathy in some of previous team. Jealousy and lack of accountability from others.
I consider myself very lucky since most the teams/organizations I have work with are quite empathic and we have created a trust environment.
8- What aspect of your job has been most satisfying? Dissatisfying?
The most satisfying aspect is current job is being recognized within the organization with new projects and new challenges. Having mentors and being able to present to a Global VP in monthly routines has giving me the confident to establish even higher goals.
I am customer obsessed so when customers show appreciation is a motivation to keep raising the bar.
In general, the most dissatisfying is when there are jealousy and negative attitude withing the team (previous expererience).
9-What challenges do you face in balancing your work and your personal life?
I highly recommend having a safety net (family support, financial stability, good health) to take risks. Having a stable personal life help me to focus and optimize my time.
Share my life with my best friend (my wife) is what makes my meaningful 8
Focus on mid/long term goals instead of instant reward.
Enjoy what you do.
Don’t be a copycat!!!! (Everyone is unique and defines happiness and success differently)
10-How is the economy affecting this industry?
Same as Question # 5
Interview #4
Miguel A. Parrales
Vice president Branch Manager
Regions Bank
Date of Interview: 03/14/2022
1-What education and/or training was required or beneficial to your career?
· Continuous leadership development in order to deliver an effective communication to the team been managed.
2-What are the duties and responsibilities of your job
Leads a small to moderate sized team of branch associates responsible for impacting new revenue generation through identifying customer needs and providing appropriate guidance and perspective about Regions solutions
Conducts outside sales efforts commensurate with market opportunity to generate new business clients while also maintaining and expanding existing consumer and business banking relationships
Educates associates, customers, and surrounding community about best practices to achieve and maintain financial wellness in addition to emerging bank technology and digital solutions such as mobile, online and ATM offerings, all designed to make banking easier
Coaches and develops branch associates through execution of iConnect – the Region’s Sales, Service and Coaching process, with some guidance from assigned mentor, senior level managers and internal support partners
Provides consistent and timely coaching and guidance to associates to assist with strengthening their product knowledge and identifying customer needs
Educates and advises customers on Regions Consumer and Business products and services, including all loan and deposit types in addition to assisting with annuities and life insurance
Ensures a consistent optimal customer experience, including handling customer’s transactional needs as needed. This may include sharing responsibility for greeting customers and processing transactions to ensure customers bank when, where, and how they want
Resolves escalated customer and associate issues and provides counseling to associates as needed with some guidance and direction from senior leadership and Human Resources
Manages recruiting and selection process for assigned branch
Maintains relationships with Line of Business partners and refers customers to an internal team of experts when additional complex financial goals and needs are recognized
Oversees all business transactions and practices within span of control, ensuring compliance with all regulations, bank policies, procedures, and internal audit requirements
3-In what ways is your occupation changing
· Consumers are always looking for ways of banking; for example, they demand to bank from anywhere they are, they want to bank either online or in branches and finally use financial tools that will help them achieve their financial goals. Financial literacy is an avenue that opens many doors, specially to individuals who are new and eager to reach financial wellness.
4-What was your career path to arrive at your current position?
· I have been in the industry for the past 12 years enjoying all the consumer banking roles (teller, lead teller, Personal banker, Assistant manager, and Manager)
5-How is the economy affecting this industry?
· Currently we can say there are two direct factors affecting the financial world at the moment: Covid and Russia-Ukraine war. Inflation and the battle of the fed to beat it with continuous hikes of rate, are representing uncertainty in how consumers predict the future leading to consumers not borrowing or investing.
6-What kind of hours do you normally work? Any overtime? Weekends?
· Between 40-50 hrs per week Mondays – Fridays
7-Describe some of the toughest situations you’ve faced in this job.
·
8- What aspect of your job has been most satisfying? Dissatisfying?
· Satisfying: Help other on their growth and see them get promoted
· Dissatisfying: Not been able to help client achieve their goals for factors outside of banking
9-What challenges do you face in balancing your work and your personal life?
Interview #5
Peter Aguirre
General Sales Manager
BMW South Florida
Date of interview: 03/18/2022
I need to have the same questions answered as previous candidates. Unfortunately he never answered back.