Informational Interview - Reflection Paper PDF

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Paper reflecting on interview completed with someone in the same field of study as the author who graduated from the same school and is now in a career related to the field of study....

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November 15, 2017 UNIV 291 – Pearles Informational Interview - Reflection Paper I interviewed Cat Anthony, who is the executive director at the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, for this assignment. Ms. Anthony graduated from VCU in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and religious studies and went on to hold numerous careers related to outdoor activities in the nonprofit and fundraising industry. When I was struggling to locate an alumnus to interview, Ms. Anthony was referred to me because of her experience serving as a panelist last fall for the Psychology Alumni Career panel event. After some difficultly with contacting her due to the fact that she no longer worked at the company she was with when she served on the panel last year, I was able to set up an interview by phone. Although I did know what her career was prior to the interview, I did not know exactly what Ms. Anthony did as executive director at the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation (VCTF). She informed me that at VCTF, which is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the enhancement, management, and advocation for the continued development of the Virginia Capital Trail, a 52-mile trail that connects Richmond and Williamsburg, she is responsible for organizing the nonprofit and fundraising portion of the company. However, she only recently started her job there, as began in October of this year. One of the key points I took away from my interview with Ms. Anthony was that often what you major in does not directly correlate with the career you end up pursuing. Instead of entering the psychology industry after graduation, Ms. Anthony chose to use her knowledge of the subject to work in an industry that relies on communication and, in her own words, “dealing with people.” Given this, I am still confident in my choice of psychology as my major, but now I know that there are a wide variety of options set in front of me, rather than a narrow list. While I had heard this notion before, learning about a specific experience has emphasized it in my mind.

Hearing from Ms. Anthony has more than excited me for my future. She genuinely enjoys what she does and was glad to share her experience with me. One of the questions I asked her was “What is the most satisfying part of your job?”, to which she replied that she loved receiving good reviews from people who had used the trail for recreational purposes like walking, hiking, biking, etc. and from the business owners whose stores were receiving more attention from the trail’s visitors. She even mentioned that one business had sales go up 700% due to the trail attracting so many. Because her job relies so much on communication with others, this is huge praise and a nod towards the effect of her psychology degree. While this interview did not make me scared or worried for life after graduation, in fact it was actually the opposite, Ms. Anthony did express some concerns about her current work. She stated that with the recent presidential election, which brought on hesitation and uncertainty towards the future of the United States economy, it has been challenging to find ways to receive consistent fundraising for VCTF. However, this is not something that greatly impacts my possible career choices, as I am not sure exactly what I want to do with a degree in psychology and it is likely that President Trump will not be president when I am looking for a job and therefore, perhaps people will feel more inclined to donate to organizations. Nonprofit work has always interested me and I have volunteered much of my time to several different causes, but I had never learned about its prospects as a career. When Ms. Anthony described her job in the industry and the work she does to me, I firmly believe that my career path was impacted and I am seriously considering entering the nonprofit industry as a possible future for me. Overall, I believe this assignment was a great way to force me into learning about the one of the possibilities a degree in psychology will allow, as the research I had done prior to the

interview was minimal. It was satisfying being able to talk to someone who has gone through what I am about to do. Speaking with Cat Anthony and hearing about her career path was enlightening and surprisingly, it brought together three things that I was interested in: psychology, nonprofit work, and outdoor activities. Additionally, Ms. Anthony was able to show me a prime example of how you can make your degree work for you, as she used elements of her degree to pursue a career related to hobbies she enjoyed. This assignment, and I had not considered this before, also functioned as a way to build my network, which is something I am struggling with, but am now able to see that is rewarding and not something to be afraid of....