Interview Assessment #1 

Student: ​Maansi Chodavarapu 

Name of Person Interviewed:​ Ms. L 

Profession:​ Financial Advisor 

Date of Interview:​ Thursday, October 4, 2018 

Time:​ 3:30 p.m. 

Analysis: 

Being my first interview, I was anxious and really excited to meet Ms. P. I made 

sure to read her bio on the company website prior to the interview, and was thrilled to 

know that she had a variety of experiences in the Finance field - she worked for both 

large corporate firms and small family-oriented firms. In addition, the Finance 

industry is male-dominated, making the female perspective very realistic in terms of 

gender discrimination in the workplace. When I entered the firm, the receptionist 

ushered me in and talked to me about how her son was also in the ISM program, which 

significantly reduced my anxiety before the interview. The interview was highly 

informative and Ms. P really emphasized the job description of a Financial Planner, 

differences in corporate versus small firms, and personality traits needed to be 

successful. 

Although Ms. P is a Financial Planner, my topic of study is Finance with a focus 

in Investment Banking. My background and prior research led me to believe that 

Finance, in general, had intense work loads and only worked with numbers. However, 
Ms. P explained to me that a Financial Planner acts like a Doctor, in that she builds a 

proper retirement plan based on her “diagnosis” of the client’s portfolio. To her, 

Accounting is focused on the current financial state of the portfolio for taxes and 

statements versus Finance which looks at the financial state in terms of the 

investments. Because she works on a plan for the client’s retirement, she spends a 

significant portion of her time getting to know her client and spending time with them. 

This more leisure Finance job really opened my eyes to the diversity in the market, and 

even caused me to research the market in detail.  

Besides discussing her current job duties, I inquired about her background in 

Finance. Ms. P has over 19 years of experience in Financial Planning and worked for 

major brokerage firms like Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab, which gave me 

insight into the corporate stereotypes that exist. She despised the corporate 

environment, because she was handed projects upon projects, was expected to travel 

around the world to meet clients, and was required to work long hours. She justifies 

this work ethic as essential in a large global company like Fidelity Investments. 

However, she switched to a more local and family-oriented firm to focus on client 

interactions and to better balance her work and life. Her diverse experience in Finance 

proved the stereotype of long-hours, but described exceptions to the rule. 

According to Ms. P, having the persistence to push through and learn new 

lessons is the key to success in the Finance field. She describes her passion for 

numbers and human interaction driving her to work in the corporate firms for over 

fifteen years, even if she hated the environment. She says that everyone has good days, 
where you make a deal or your client is satisfied. But she states that perseverance 

through bad days really distinguishes a dedicated individual from the others. To her, 

“bad days are moments of wisdom”, which mimics my mom’s favorite saying, “failure 

is the stepping stone to success”. Namely, Ms. P went through a lot of discrimination in 

her workplace, which caused her to almost give up her career. She said that everyone 

from her bosses to her peers treated her lower than what she deserved based on her 

merit. Her account of discrimination revealed the harsh reality for a female of color 

wishing to pursue a field dominated by Caucasian men. But she clearly emphasized 

that perseverance and dedication eventually outshined gender and skin color, which 

gave me hope.  

This was a very rewarding first interview that delved me into the professional 

environment. Although Financial Planning is not an area of interest, Ms. P gave 

valuable advice about job duties, work environments, and perseverance that gave me 

insight into the work ethic and mindset required for the general Finance field. Out of 

this interview, the most shocking information was the gender discrimination. I thought 

that discrimination was just a stereotype, given the prevalence of men in the field. But 

Ms. P’s experiences proved that I, as a female of color, have extra hurdles to pass, in 

order to pursue a career in Finance, which I am prepared to do.