Date: February 25th, 2020

To: Dr. Haslam

From: Baylor Rich
Subject: Career Interview Results

For my project, I was lucky to interview Mike Sivulich, who is a business developer for
Jacobson Construction. The purpose of my interview with him was to understand what it means
to be a business developer, what kind of background experience is required, and what the work
environment is like. We met in his office right after his lunch break which made it very
convenient to conduct this interview. He was very generous and happy to help. I felt very
welcomed into his office. At the conclusion of the interview I grew a deeper appreciation for
business development and felt more determination to take a path into the business world because
it offers great relationships and human interactions.

General information about Business Development

Business Development is all about communicating with other professionals, clients, and
marketers to help create relationships and identify business opportunities. Mr. Sivulich stated
that his favorite part of his job was being able to create relationships with other people and
helping others in their daily lives. It gives him great fulfillment in knowing he helped people by
being able to successfully communicate with them and create a lasting relationship.

A major part of what Mr. Sivulich does is reaching out to other large corporations who are
looking for a contractor to build large scale commercial buildings. He then puts together
proposals and presentations to give Jacobsen construction the best representation possible.
Through this process Jacobsen Construction gains more clients and future business and
construction opportunities.

One of the best ways to get into business development jobs is to be able to have other people
with certain connections to help get to where you want to be. Previous experience, past jobs and
relationships with others all play a part into this. Mr. Sivulich found his current job through a
friend who let him know about the job opening.

Background Experience/Education

One of the great things about business development is that your background experience can
come from a wide variety of different training. Whether its school, work, or church related
training, being able to communicate, network and develop relationships is a lifelong skill that is
constantly being developed. Some people are better at it than others. In Mr. Sivulich’s case, he
gained a Double Major from Weber State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish
and Business Management. Using his degree in Business Management he landed a couple jobs
early on business world and was able to further his experience and training through his work.
Overtime he gained valuable skills that helped him enter the career he is currently in.

Work Environment

One of the great things about a career in Business Development is that companies will usually
produce a very friendly work environment and schedule to help hire the best people they can.
One of my interviewee’s favorite parts of his job is that this company has given him the ability to
balance work life and family life very well. His schedule can sometimes take lots of extra hours
but also allows for lots of time off to spend with the ones he loves.

Starting off in a large corporation like Jacobsen means that you will probably start in a small
position and move to a bigger position in the future. You may start off with a small team
working on small projects and eventually be able to move to bigger teams and larger projects.
This was the case for Mr. Sivulich and for him it worked out great and he thought he gained just
the right experience and confidence to be where he is at now.

Closing

Overall this interview was a fantastic opportunity for me not only to get to know someone better
and their career, but to help look into my own future and help decide what I want it to look like. I
feel like this is definitely a career I can see myself going into. After interviewing Mr. Sivulich I
gained a much deeper appreciation for gaining experience through different jobs and being able
to communicate and network with others. Previously I thought right after you graduate college,
you should go into one job with one career and finding that job was the hard part. After speaking
to Mr. Sivulich I realized that just as important as your education is your experience through
people. One of the most important principles he taught me was to treat every opportunity as a
networking opportunity. Always present your best self because you never know what kind of
opportunities you will find later down the road with the people you meet.

I have had previous experience doing interviews before and I would say that I felt this was
different from other interviews I have done in the past. What noticed is that the interviewee
loved it. Mr. Sivulich sounded like he could talk for hours, because he loves what he does. Thus,
most of the interview was him speaking and myself listening. I thought I did fairly well being
able to listen and understand what he was describing. One thing I noticed that I could improve in
is not repeating statements. During the interview, there were lots of times I responded to his
answers with the same phrase, “that is great, I like that” it had too much of a robotic feel to it and
I sensed that maybe he thought I didn’t understand or I was just repeating that to get to the next
question. If I could restate what they said to show that I understand I feel it would help to show
that I am sincerely listening.