Vita Basarab

Instructor Judy Hopkins

UNIV 398

October 21, 2021

Informational Interview

The interviewee I chose was Jenn Arteaga. She is the west coast Regional Sales

Associate Group Manager at Fisher Investments. I decided to interview her because she is an

ambitious and hard-working woman in an investment firm who has reached a manager role with

her drive and strive for success. As a junior associate in Regional Sales, our team works

alongside Jenn Arteaga’s team. After graduation, most of my teammates apply and transition into

an RSA role and can potentially have Jenn Arteaga as their manager. My informational interview

with Jenn started by asking her what background she had before obtaining a manager position?

Jenn graduated from the University of Oregon in 2015 and gained a bachelor’s degree in

business. She initially thought she wanted to be in accounting but loved the management side of

things more; so, she switched to management. She started to intern with FritoLay and PepsiCo

and received an offer. The first three years out of college, she dedicated her time working for

PepsiCo as a manager, giving her the ability to manage people and work with distribution. After

some time, Jenn decided that she wanted a change; so, she applied at Fisher Investments. Fisher

Investments then hired her as a Regional Sales Associate. After about a year and a half, she got

promoted to Senior Regional Sales Associate. After only three months, she was promoted to west

coast Regional Sales Associate Group Manager. Her strive for professionalism, success, and

excellence led her to a manager position, and she has been the manager for almost two and a half

years.
 After discussing her background, this influenced me to ask about: what responsibilities

her position entails? As a manager, Jenn's position entails leading and developing. This means

that she needs to do coaching, conducting one-on-one meetings, administrative work, and

ensuring and focusing on the team's direction. She also supports the business and the salespeople

by improving the process and fixing issues if they arise. This answer led me to ask: how can a

manager ensure a positive organizational culture? The response I received from Jenn was

"treating people like people." This means providing a positive, safe but fun culture where people

feel like they can be themselves and be professional. By ensuring that everyone feels welcomed

and supported, Jenn treats people with respect and allows room for a diverse group to work

together. In addition, she sets the standard of how she wants her team to be. For example, she is

professional, and through her actions, she sets the tone, and her team is influenced by that and is

also professional.

Out of curiosity, I asked, what are some excellent manager qualities and what does a

good manager look like? According to Jenn, a good manager is responsive and has well-

developed communication skills. In addition, she believes a good manager should be authentic,

genuine, and care about developing the team and people. A good manager is someone who

embodies these qualities. As Jenn stated, “I would never ask someone to do something I

wouldn’t do myself.” Jenn is an excellent example of a superb manager; she embodies these

qualities, and one day I hope to be a manager like her. Now, my favorite question to ask Jenn

was how can a manager keep employees motivated? Her response was knowing what actually

motivates people. She needs to identify strengths and weaknesses, alter ways to encourage

people based on those strengths, and focus on what success looks like for an individual. This
discussion then influenced this question: should a manager help employees balance their work-

life? She stated yes and that bringing your best self is where it starts.

The following two questions were more for me because I wanted to understand how

different managers worked and viewed things. The following two questions were: do you

consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert, and what advice would you give me for pursuing

and exploring positions within Fisher? First, Jenn said she is an extrovert, but to my surprise, she

still needs at least 20 minutes to collect her thoughts and relax. She is naturally an outgoing

person, approachable, and comfortable to be around. The answer for this next question Jenn

suggested listing all things you love or don’t love, what you are doing now and what you want to

learn or know next. She also suggested coming prepared with specific questions about what you

are looking for when interviewing or shadowing. This way, you can discover if it is something

you can handle or not.

This informational interview taught me what a good manager should look like and that

you can have different experiences and backgrounds, but you can reach your goals through hard

work. One day I would love to be a manager, and hearing Jenn’s perspective gave me an insight

into how to be a good manager. Talking to her, I realized I am not much different from her, and

allowing yourself to have time for yourself is also essential for self-care. I am grateful to gain

this advice from Jenn because I could come into an interview fully prepared and ask questions

that interested me. Because of her guidance, I got an offer. Overall, she attracts people towards

her and motivates her team to be the best they can be, and that is a good manager in my books.
 Appendix

Questions used:

1. What background did you have before obtaining a TL position?

2. What responsibilities does your position entail?

3. How can a manager ensure a positive organizational culture?

4. What are some good manager qualities and what does a good manager look like?

5. How can a manager keep employees motivated?

6. Should a manager help employees balance their work-life?

7. Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?

8. What advice you would give me for pursuing and exploring the positions

Contact information:

Jenn Arteaga

Company: Fisher Investments

Position: Regional Sales Associate Group Manager

Email: j.arteaga@fi.com

Phone to Fisher Investments: (360) 335-3004