Building upon his previous experience as an intern with Time Value Investments, UW geography major Tanner Heslop is now Marketing Director and is involved with investment management at this firm that specializes in public funds investing. Here, Tanner considers how his current role and future plans may have unexpected connections to the major.
A “day-in-the-life”: My primary duty at Time Value Investments surrounds the production of proposals that are submitted to public entities, like cities, counties, and colleges, in order to convince them to use our investment management services. While this role does not leverage my academic experience within geography, it requires that I evaluate the particular needs of each prospective client and tailor proposals specifically to fit those needs. "Place" plays a major role in determining the particular requirements of each individual proposal as different states have different standards regarding the quality of investments as well as varying degrees of regulation.
Application process: I found the job through HuskyJobs before the UW switched to Handshake. I began as an intern at Time Value Investments so the hiring process was straightforward with just one phone interview and two in-person interviews.
Advice for others: I did not apply for a Marketing Director role, but rather made my experience at Time Value Investments my own. My advice to other geography students would be to leverage the experience and knowledge you have gained after writing all those essays. While professional applications of geography may be somewhat limited in the corporate space, the skills you have developed at the University of Washington are extremely valuable and displaying those skills in a professional setting can turn an internship into a career.
What's next? My experience with Time Value Investments has taught me that despite a lack of experience in a particular expertise, this is not a reason to neglect pursuing any new opportunity. Applying to jobs can be extremely arduous but if I find something that seems like a good opportunity and aligns with my interests I almost always submit an application. This has led me to opportunities in management consulting, staffing and risk management, among other things. As I progress further into my career I have come to realize that there is no perfect role. Even if I am not enjoying a role at a firm, that is still an opportunity to learn what I want to avoid at future positions.