Interviews

Interview # 1

Contact Information

Jennifer Grammar

Fundraiser

Political Consultant

Texas Association of Broadcasters

592 e 11th street

Austin, TX, 78701

512-461-4964

1.) What college did you attend and what was your major? I attended the University of Texas at Austin and majored in Business.

2.) What was your first job out of college? Fundraising for governor perry

3.) How long have you been at your current job? I have been a fundraiser for 5 years and had my own political consultant company for 2 years.

4.) What motivated you to start in politics? A bad economy and job opening on the Rick Perry campaign for governor.

6.) How did you get your current job as a political consultant? I was in an internship at Rick Perry's office when I was hired by his campaign. I was refereed to the internship by a friend of mine at UT.

7.) As apolitical consultant, do you ever have to advocate for causes you don't believe in? Not really because I work a different part of the campaign. As a political consultant I fundraise and don't deal with the policy side of it.

8.) What activities would you recommend to me to enter politics? Internships at campaigns and meeting the right people

9.) How important were the connections you made in college? A friend of mine got a job with the Coryn campaign, and she talked to the the perry campaign and set me up for an interview.

10.) How long do you plan to stay in the career and what is you next step? Indefinitely, although i have been a political consultant company for 5 years every year has been different. My resume looks like i have hopped all around even though I have been at the same company.

11.) What do you look for in a resume? Previous work experience, quantifiable goals, I raised x amount of money, grew a team from here to here, I started here and ended up here.

12.) What is the greatest challenge of your job? Planning your time and prioritizing, changing schedules, dealing with upset donors

13.) Are y'all on watch for a Ted Cruz upset? Yes that is something we are on lookout for. You dont want to take anything for granted. There are rumors that medina will start a campaign that would take votes from our campaign, and she would be completely funded by the democrats.

14.) What do you do as a lobbyist? Fundraising

15.) What was it like when rick perry forgot the 3rd department of government he would eliminate? We put our heads in our hands and started

packing our things.

Reflection:

This interview was informative and insightful in many ways. It gave me a much deeper look into a side of the political world I have never seen; the campaign side. I learned from jennifer about the peculiarities of running successful political campaigns. She shared with me a route very different from the one I was planning. Jennifer informed me that her major in business has helped her in more ways than one. She told me it has given her a distinct

Interview # 2

1.) What college did you attend and what was your major? I attended the University of Texas at Austin and majored in Corporate Communications.

2.) What was your first job out of college? I was a recruiter for an accounting & finance firm. (Corporate Search Partners)

3.) How long have you been at your current job? I started working for Congressman McCaul in 2009. I started on the campaign side as his fundraiser, then became his district scheduler in the congressional office, and now I am a constituent liaison.

4.) What motivated you to start in politics? In college I interned for the Texas legislative council and then for a political fundraiser. After that experience, I knew that I wanted to be in politics at some capacity. I worked for several years in the private sector and then moved in to the public sector.

5.) When did you know you wanted to be in politics? Not until college. And I was interested in the campaign side at first. Not the policy side.

6.) How did you hear about and get your job as a constituent liaison? When the position opened up, I decided to take a chance as a constituent liaison since it was something I hadn't done in politics. Also, this position is more structured then most positions working for an official, which is what I needed since I have two young boys.

7.) Do you plan on staying in this career for a long time? I hope so, but when you work for a congressman you never know how long he or she will be in office. They go up for re-election every 2 years.

8.) What activities would you recommend to me to enter politics? I would get involved in the young republican's club (or democratic club) in college. And also get involved in student government. Possibly run for some sort of office. Many politicians got their start and experience by getting involved in student government in college. If you attend UT, then you can also do internships at the State Capitol which I highly recommend.

9.) What skills do you need to succeed as a constituent liaison? Customer Service is key! If I treat a constituent poorly, then that reflects poorly on Congressman McCaul and the individual thinks negatively of him. But if I do a good job and treat the constituent favorably, then that reflects favorably on Congressman McCaul and the constituent thinks positively of him.

10.) What is it like working for Congressman McCaul? It is great! I don't interact with him as much as I used to when I was his scheduler, but I love working for him and getting to help people in my current position.

11.) What do you look for in a resume? For interns, I don't expect to see a lot of past experience. But I can tell you that I don't want to see grammatical mistakes. And most companies feel the same way. Some of my past employers have thrown out resumes when they saw grammatical mistakes.

12.) What is the greatest challenge of your job? Getting too involved in cases. You want to be able to help everyone, but sometimes you just can't. I worked several cases for constituents trying to get their relatives out of Syria, and there was nothing our office could do to assist them. Grown men were crying to me, begging that we help them. It was really heartbreaking.

Reflection: The interview was informative in many ways. I was able to gain a greater understanding of what it is like to work in a Congressman's office. I also gained insight as to what career I should persue to further my goals.

Interview #3

Contact Information

Oscar Zyambrano 

Translator

Former Bush Speech Writer

Philadelphia Civil Court

297 Hall Street

‪Philadelphia, PA 19147

646-831-5863

1.) What college did you attend and what was your major? I attended the University of Pennsylvania  

2.) What was your first job out of college? Working at a convenience store called Wawa

3.) How long have you been at your current job? I have been a translator for 3 years.

4.) What motivated you to start in politics? A bad economy and an opening at my local court

6.) How did you get your current job as a translator? A former colleague from the Bush Administration referred me

7.) Do you ever come across arguments you don’t agree with and don’t want to translate? Yes, however it is my job to let their voice be heard in Court and I do it willingly

8.) What activities would you recommend to me to enter into law and politics? Internships at courts and meeting the right people

9.) How important were the connections you made in college? They were crucial for me finding my job on the Bush Campaign

10.) How long do you plan to stay in the career and what is you next step? Indefinitely, although i have been a translator for 3 years every year has been different.

11.) What do you look for in a resume? Experience in your field of study

12.) What is the greatest challenge of your job? Making the most of my time given and managing my different priorities

14.) What did you do for the Bush Campaign? I wrote a speech for him that was to be delivered to a Hispanic audience

15.) Were you nervous when writing the speech? Yes I was very stressed in the process but confident I could articulate his beliefs

Reflection:

This interview was informative and insightful in many ways. It gave me a much deeper look into a side of the legal world I have never seen. I learned from Oscar about the peculiarities of work with the U.S. Judicial system. He shared with me a route very different from the one I was planning. I find writing speech’s to be particularly enjoyable and I hope to someday gain experience in this field. Also, work with the courts, either as a translator, speechwriter, or lawyer, is a common stepping-stone into politics.