Business Managers Work in Varied Fields From

Business managers work in varied fields from security companies to tech startups, to managing the careers of celebrities and sports starts. In essence, it is a person who has the ability and desire to drive and motivate the work of others to effectively and efficiently run a major business that will lead to the company generating a large profit and promoting a successful company brand and image. Searching for a proper candidate for interview was difficult. I need someone who was experienced in their field and also managed a company. I searched profiles in Linkedin because I felt I would easily be able to communicate with the person via email or message.

When searching for the appropriate person for this interview, I searched for someone who is a specialist in her area. She herself, is a specialist in electrical & mechanical BAU & MAC services. Furthermore, the company she works for specializes in unplanned shutdowns and how to fix or re-install software to limit future unplanned shutdowns. She utilizes and is a part of an effective management system for electrical preventative work and is responsible for the work of several highly skilled technicians. She has a background in Health and Psychology, receiving a BSC in 1990. She is also certified as a TEGG Business Manager, and received additional certification in Electrical TEGG Service, and is a Certified TEGG Development Representative (C.T.R.)

In terms of setting up the interview, I was able to contact her via email. She has a profile on Linkedin and I had the opportunity to add her and communicate with her online. She was more than willing to answer my interview questions and provided a lot of information on not just herself, but also the company she works for. In fact, she did an excellent job of highlighting the company's strengths and assets and she stated what she did for a living and her job duties. That is what business managers should do. They should highlight company strengths to outsiders and continually promote a positive company image.

When discussing with her, her answers for the interview, I asked what it felt like to manage in a business that handles technical work. She told me that her job takes on a life of its own in a sense that she sometimes shares in the duties of the company, in order to build strong business relationships within the company and also build a strong rapport. She noted, effective and successful business managers are people who are often trusted to get the work done. The only way to do that, she noted, is to take on responsibilities of the owner, or in this case the company, and ensure their success through profitable and fruitful actions.

She also stated during additional communications, that management does not always entail being active. Sometimes the best managers are those who can loosen the reins and step down from a responsibility or activity to let someone better suited for that particular situation to handle it. Managers ultimately are there to motivate and better the employees in a businesses as well as promote and enhance the business as a whole. She continues, "a manager's job is not about how many hours he/she can work, but rather, how effective he/she is during the time he/she works."

I noticed a lot of things when interviewing Ms. Prentice. She is a very professional individual. She is polite and direct, clear and informative. When I received the last email thanking me for taking out the time to talk to her, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was she willing to do an interview with me, but she also was grateful I took out the time to learn about her and her company.

Interviewing Ms. Prentice and observing her replies and demeanor throughout was very enlightening to say the least. She was positive and seemed driven. Those are excellent traits to have when managing a business, especially employees within that business. As mentioned earlier, building a level of trust within the company is important for a manager to develop efficient implementation methods and ultimately succeed in the company. After the interview with Ms. Prentice, I was able to build a degree of trust with her. I trust her knowledge of the company she works for and her ability to perform her job duties.

All in all, I learned a lot from this interview. She is a very intelligent and driven individual and I was able to understand so much more about business management. My preconceived notions of this field were greatly altered. Business management is not about working continuously or always being at the forefront of matters.

Being a manager is mainly about projecting a positive image to outsiders of the company and knowing when to perform job duties or delegate to others who might be more capable for a specific task. Most importantly, it is about building trust and rapport with others because ultimately, a business needs cooperation and strong relationships from within to succeed. Employees as well as customers need to trust the person that manages. Being the face of a company is hard work, but with people like Ms. Prentice, it looks easy.

Kerry Prentice, Business Manager for Efmd TEGG Services

1) How did she get her job?

Ms. Prentice landed her job through successful networking. She found out from a former colleague of a job opening in her present company and decided to take a chance and apply. After a lengthy interview process, and additional certification, she was hired.

2) What does he like and/or dislike about the career area?

Ms. Prentice stated she does not enjoy the sometimes long hours she has to work. If a particular contract is difficult to land or there are problems while employees are working on a contract, she has to step in and make sure things go smoothly.

3) Is she satisfied with her career choices?

She replied yes because she gets to be a part of a company she knows is a leader and innovator in their field. She also stated, thanks to her involvement with her job at Efmd TEGG Services, she has received valued experience and certification that will help her in the future.