Interview Transcript

Interviewer: Hannah Altmann

Narrator: Rana Kandil
Date: 15. Mar. 2014
Place: Interviewers home
22 Wadi El Nil Str.
Mohandessin, Cairo, Egypt

University: The American University in Cairo
Prof.: Kim Fox
Date completed: 16. Mar. 2014











Hannah Altmann Rana Kandil Interview 1


Hannah: Hello, Im Hannah Altmann and with me is Rana Kandil. Hello Rana, Could
you briefly introduce yourself?
Rana: Hi Im Rana, uhh, Im 23 years old and I work as a senior PR associate at
Azza Fahmy Jewelry.
Hannah: Okay, umm when did you graduate?
Rana: I graduated in uhh 2011.
Hannah: And uhh what did you study at AUC?
Rana: I specialized in marketing, uhh, with a bachelor degree in business
administration.
Hannah: Is that, uhh, is that a field you wanted to work in once you graduated; in
marketing?
Rana: Initially yes, but then I came to uhh find out more about PR, which I uhh, was
more drawn to than marketing.
Hannah: And did being an AUC graduate help you when uhh, help you when uhh you
were applying for jobs?
Rana: Not necessarily, what I found out is that employers dont really umm, uhh
fixate on which university you graduated from, as much as they are more
interested in the character and uhh how the interview process goes and your
achievements and skills and so.
Hannah: Umm, is your work now at Azza Fahmy, uhh, related to what you initially
majored in?
Rana: Not directly, uhh, however I worked, I wo- as a PR I work uhh very closely
with marketing, uhh and it helped, uhh, helped be me more well rounded
about my job.
Hannah Altmann Rana Kandil Interview 2
Hannah: What are the skills you gained from studying marketing, that umm.. that you
apply when doing PR work?
Rana: I think the.. the great thing about marketing is uhh its very uhh general and
you can apply it to many different fields. Uhh umm, things like, umm
positioning, branding, uhh brand personality, uhh communication. A lot of PR
is about communication and which is exactly what marketing is also about, so
we can see a lot of similarities between the two fields. Uhh things also like
uhh customer relationship, management, uhh personal interaction with the
clients, uhh all of that is related to both.
Hannah: Okay, and what uhh, generally what are the qualities you gained as an AUC
student?
Rana: As an AUC student uhh we always learn to be very creative and think outside
the box. Uhh umm research a lot, umm I think the main thing would be
research.. is something that I gained as an AUC student.
Hannah: And what did you realize upon graduating that you didnt uhh think or know
of, while you were still a student?
Rana: As a student in AUC, we always used to study about multinationals and how
great they are, and it was one of my main ambitions to uhh join one of the big
multinationals as a marketer when I.. when I graduate. However what I, what I
came to find out is that it doesnt matter if youre joining a big uhh, company
or a small one. Uhh I think actually joining a small firm is.. is much better
than joining multinational, in my opinion because you learn how to become an
entrepreneur within the company and you develop very umm, you develop a
bigger role within a smaller company than you would in a multinational and
Hannah Altmann Rana Kandil Interview 3
you always learn to be creative and think outside the box, especially when you
have limited resources to work with.
Hannah: And uhh what did you learn at uhh Azza Fahmy that you didnt, uhh, or what
qualities did you gain, whe-. What knowledge and qualities did you gain umm
while working at Azza Fahmy Jewelry?
Rana: Ahh, over the past three years Ive learned a lot with Azza Fahmy Jewelry.
Umm first of all I learned abou- a lot about communications and uhh
knowing.. how to know your audience and uhh how to listen to your audience
and know what to deliver to them. Ahh I learned a lot about branding and how
its very important to maintain a brand image and its positioning no matter how
exciting or tempting an opportunity may be on the short term. You always
have to think about on the long term. I also learned a few things about
budgeting and finance, which I didnt know of uhh because as.. as a marketing
student, you.. you take them in a very general uhh approach but uhh working
hand-in hands on in the business with all these things in mind uhh it helped me
become a well rounded uhh person.
Hannah: What would you recommend to students who are currently enrolled at AUC?
Rana: I would definitely recommend to them to always uhh umm learn about new
things because uhh you never know where you will end up, or what position
you will end up acquiring because its never really directly related to what you
have studied. Its always about what youre interested in and what youre
passionate about and thats something that I came to find out about when I
graduated.. is that I was drawn to something that I was more passionate about
and thats why Im very good at it. Because umm being interested about
something helps you really become umm excel in it. So I would advise
Hannah Altmann Rana Kandil Interview 4
(giggle) them to.. to really seek or learn more about something that is of
interest to them.
Hannah: Okay thank you very much Rana for your information. Umm and this is it.