This paper presents an interview between me and an employee of a food and drinks company who holds a position of food marketer. The interview aims to find out the developmental process of acquisition of knowledge, skills, and experience as one ascent in employment ranks. It also aims at determining how the type of work, prospects and demographic factors such as marital status, ethnicity, age, and gender can influence this developmental process (King, 2014). I chose his field of marketing because I usually have a vested interest in it. I located the interviewee from the LinkedIn platform from the field of marketing, and then I sent him an email indicating who I was and the reasons for making an appointment with him. We arranged for the day and the venue of the interview.

Demographic Questions

The interviewee was a 35 years old Latin American man who is an employee of a Food and Drinks Company. He holds a degree in food and drinks marketing. He currently works as a food and drinks marketer (King, 2014). Before then, he was working as a client services administrator. He has also worked as an office administrator on contractual bases, but the company offered him a full-time position in the Client Services Department. He is also married.

Interview

Me: Hello Sir. I am a student of South University, and I am working on a class project which is aimed at gathering information about the developmental processes of acquiring knowledge and skills as one ascends in the employment ranks.

Him: Wow! That’s a great idea.

Me: I usually have an interest in the marketing field; that is why I have specifically chosen you.

Him: Very well. Feel free to ask your questions.

Me: Thank you. First of all, I would like to know about your demographic information as well as your skills and experience.

Him: Ok. My background is in foods and drinks marketing, and I was first introduced to this sector when I was joining the university. I wanted to gain a piece of knowledge about it so that I would be helpful in the performance of the practical task in the food and drinks industry. After my first degree, I got a job at a small dairy farm as a temporary office administrator. I became a full-time employee after six months, and I was promoted to client services administrator. After the other six months, I got another job at a Food and Drinks Company in London, and I have been there for one year now. I work there as a food marketer.

Me: That is helpful information. Please tell me the type of work were you doing in your previous company and how it is different from your current roles.

Him: In my previous role I was dealing with the management of milk supplies. In my current role, I coordinate all marketing and also engage in learning how best to market the Company’s products. I also handle my campaigns from start to end.

Me: Have you got any further education or training after college education?

Him: Oh yes! While I was working at the dairy farm, I took an initiate of professional development in learning Effective Marketing as a certification program. I am currently training under a program called Food Security Program. It is to gain more knowledge in the areas so that I can make myself more beneficial.

Me: What are your prospects?

Him: Well. I have a young company which deals with the massive storage of foods and drinks for a long time. I have plans of growing it even further and using it to run a campaign based on food security initiative. So I have a task of learning more about the industry, as well as developing my career further. I plan to engage in a wide range of training for instance, on managing performance and project management.

Summary of Responses to Questions

Skills and ExperienceWhile working as a food marketing assistant, he acquired leadership and coordination skills from his daily roles of coordinating the work within his team (Milligan & Littlejohn, 2014). He also earned interpersonal skills from working in a team and relating different information from different people to achieve effective results. On top of coordination skills, he learned about utilizing his independently thinking to solve problems.

Type of Work

There are considerations he made before leaving his first company. Primarily, he always wanted to work in a company that would give him an opportunity for career development.

Professional Development

He said that he has life goals to achieve and that’s why he is open to opportunities of professional development such as further education and training. According to him, this training is necessary since it gives a person a platform for developing knowledge and skills which would make one more marketable and expedient (King, 2014). Also, he considered the typical work involved which he said was more challenging than the first one with many decisions to make each day. The new role of a food marketing assistant gave him the motivation to take up the new job. The later company was more expansive compared to the first one. His salary was going to be higher as well as his responsibilities. He was enthusiastic about his new appointment.

Future Prospects

He said that he has a prospect of running a campaign on food security which will primarily sensitize people about preserving their food products so that they can minimize shortage in the times of drought (Milligan & Littlejohn, 2014). According to him, for the campaign to be successful, he will require extensive research on effective methods of food preservation, effects of demographic diversity on food supply, and the most strategic ways to run the campaign among other things.

Additional Information

The other relevant information he shared include the ability to work effectively in a team. Working in a team presents an opportunity to learn different things even outside your area that can be beneficial. It is through the teamwork he learns about the need for the campaign on food security. Various elements in a working environment need to be integrated for effective workflow and excellent performance.

Conclusion

This interview comprised of open-ended questions which were less structured. Several things are brought out from the responses of the interviewee. The position which the interviewee holds in the company is much demanding compared to the positions he held previously. Despite that the interviewee has a good job, he is still open to opportunities which can enhance his professional development. Use of the concept of constructivism is applicable in improving more knowledge and skills. This is an addition to the use of Piaget theory of cognitive development which involve assimilation and accommodation. Besides, He used a metacognitive approach in examining his thought process to align himself with his goals always.

References

King, F. (2014). Evaluating the impact of teacher professional development: An evidence-based framework. Professional development in education, 40(1), 89-111.

Milligan, C., & Littlejohn, A. (2014). Supporting professional learning in a massive open online course. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 15(5).