The “Big Five” at Play within Salesforce
Over the course of two weeks I conducted three separate interviews with employees of Salesforce. I owe these interviews all to Richmond Alum Hope D’Orsi who put me in contact with her colleagues. While I tried to keep these interviews brief (as I know how crazy everyone’s days are throughout this time), I was able to get a decent understanding of the personalities of these employees. Although I did not ask any questions that directly addressed the “Big Five” personality trait theory, I was able to get a read of each womens personality through the way they answered my six questions.
The first person I interviewed was Hope D’Orsi. Hope and I are friends and have known each other for 6 years. While I am very familiar with Hope and her spunky personality, I had never had a professional conversation with her about her job. Hope is a very extroverted person and she thrives off of other people’s energy. This personality trait greatly benefits her in her work within Salesforce as her day- to-day job is highly dependent on interpersonal communication with her colleagues. If Hope was introverted, she would have a much more difficult time finding success within her position as a Business Development Representative. In addition to being extroverted, Hope is also a very open person. Having only been working in the office at Salesforce for one month (before the pandemic caused her to work from home), she is doing a tremendous job adjusting to both her new job and her new work from home lifestyle. Had Hope been stubborn and difficult, she would not have found so much success so quickly. Overall, I found Hopes two greatest personality traits to be her extraversion and openness, both of which lead Hope to a successful career at Salesforce.
Next I interviewed Kayla Schreibsten, who is also a Business Development Representative. Unlike the relationship I have with Hope, Kayla and I had never spoken before. That being said, Kayla was very outgoing and not at all hesitant to answer my questions. Right from the start I could tell that Kayla was very conscientious. She described her day-to-day work /life balance, emphasizing just how amazing Salesforce is at promoting a healthy balance between the two. Kayla is grateful for this work/life balance and makes sure to be as self-disciplined and deliberate as possible within her work environment. Similarly to Hope, Kayla also seemed to be very extroverted, a personality trait that suits her well within Salesforce.
Lastly, I interviewed Cassie Pecht, another Business Development Representative within Salesforce. The first thing I noticed about Cassie was her openness. I had never spoken to her before and was a little apprehensive about the interview as I did not want to come off as annoying or bothersome in any way. Cassie had absolutely no hesitation in answering the questions and even went above and beyond to explain her major path and how it relates to her current job. She was not afraid to provide me with an explanation for any of her answers and I greatly appreciated this. Her openness was especially evident when describing her major. Cassie majored in Evolutionary Anthropology with a focus in anatomy. When hearing this I was immediately interested in how she came to work at Salesforce and Cassie was able to brilliantly connect her experience within the field of Anthropology to her work at Salesforce. I also found Cassie to be very agreeable as she came off as very kind and positive about both her job before and during the pandemic.It is clear that she has a very positive mind set about her current work from home situation and is thankful that she is employed by Salesforce.
Overall, these three women each showed signs of different personality traits. What one lacks, the other exudes. It is no wonder that they work brilliantly together and that they have found such success at Salesforce.