Third Information Interview

For my third information interview, I interviewed Kevin Gaillard, the Managing Director of The PrivateBank in Chicago, Illinois. I developed this contact by connecting with him on LinkedIn. I found his profile interesting because he has a vast variety of experiences that are quite impressive. I learned a lot from my conversation with him and I am so fortunate to have gained this knowledge prior to starting my extensive job search process.
Kevin Gaillard began his career in banking in an entry-level position where some of his tasks involved: sorting mail, receiving and delivering checks from banks, and direct deposit. He told me that the typical day or work week for him involves a lot of problem-solving whether it be internal or external. While this job/field did not necessarily interest me, I knew that there would be important information I could receive from learning more about this profession and field. The skills he told me that he used the most happened to be a few transferable
Gaillard that I was leading towards marketing and advertising as my career and he told me that I should consider digital marketing. He also told me that I should not cut out companies like PepsiCo and Reynolds from my options because it is important to look at what you can provide for the company and what you can learn from them. With that said, he then went on to provide me with a contact for a former employee at Coca-Cola who has now started their own consulting firm. I thought it was very generous of him to extend his network to me without my asking or any form of prompting
I think my most important takeaways from this interview was to: be advantageous, resourceful, and diligent. I also left the conversation with the desire to always be sure to give back whether it be through charitable efforts or through helping students, I felt as if it was very important to be sure to give back to your community and those that precede and succeed