Lisa Capps

Professional Interview

July 6, 2000

It’s Fun to Work at the YMCA!

What does it take to handle the finances/bookkeeping of a business? Well, first it takes a college or accounting/business degree, a good attitude, potential, and the ability to grow. When I look back and think about what I wanted to be when I "grew-up," it wasto be a lawyer, so I could be rich. Now, 10 years later, I am in school for an accounting degree and work at the YMCA, which I would not change for the world. I am the Finance Director’s assistant. My responsibilities are payroll, entering accounts payable in quicken, and inputting daily income into Y-Ware for nine branches.

I can see myself working in the "office environment" in the future because I enjoy meeting and working with other people. When I think of the job I want, I see myself handling the financial duties of a business. I talked to Sandra Young, who is the Director of Finance at the Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA, located in Hampton. Her job contains payroll, reconciliation of the bank accounts, finance committee issues, and campaigning for contributions. When first talking to Sandy, I asked her what qualifications were needed for her position at the Y. She said that a college degree or a business/finance accounting degree look good, but the main thing is attitude and good problem solving abilities.

Further along in the interview, I asked her if good communication skills were important. It is more like a necessity for Sandy’s job because there are meetings that she has to present information to many people. Some informal meetings are meeting with employees that have Human Relations (HR) issues, and she has to explain and feel comfortable with talking to people and answering many questions. Sandy also has to have meetings with Danny Carroll, who is the Executive Director/CEO for the nine branches located throughout the Peninsula and Lower Northern Neck areas. She stated that when she goes to these meetings, she has to have her thoughts well thought out and have the facts ready. Another example of an oral communication is the formal meetings such as the Finance Committee meetings, which Sandy has to present both written and oral reports to representatives of all the branches. She presents these reports in a clear logical style.

Next, we talked about how listening skills take part in her job. She said that she has to listen to the employees and members. There is not much contact between Sandy and the members, but the employees that do, come to her to ask her opinion. A good example of needing good listening skills is when the YMCA has an audit. This is when the state comes to the office and looks at previous years checks and invoices, payroll, taxes and bank/financial statements to make sure we are paying them and not frivolous with our money. Listening falls in here because Sandy has to go through motions and make the changes that the auditors found or listen carefully to what they want and why, so she can have a better understanding.

When asked how important writings skills were, she gave me a very confused look. Then she aid that writing skills are important for all jobs because you need to be able to document and convey your professional growth to the quarterly financial reports.

I know for a fact at the YMCA, computers are very much needed and used. It holds payroll and accounts payable to membership information and newsletters that go out monthly. E-mail is also needed because Sandy receives payroll from the Newport News Branch and attachments via e-mail. She can also send meeting notices and basic memos.

Sandy also uses the Internet to communicate with distant branches and outside businesses. She also said that if you go to the YMCA web page, they are linked with information of schedules, on-line registration and contributions. She can also get information from the National YMCA and hyper links to the e-mail addresses for the National HR or the Legal Counsel in Chicago, where the National YMCA is located.

Something that Sandy mentioned was very interesting and I still think it is very neat. Meetings at the YMCA are common and at these meetings more than likely there will be a presentation of some sort. For example, with the new YMCA coming in York County, we used a PowerPoint presentation that was a virtual tour of what the YMCA was going to look like and presented it to the York County Council. Also, Sandy stated that some PowerPoint software that she has allowed her to input video clips into the PowerPoint presentation.

Overall, all types of skills are needed and used often. Some more than others, but they are all needed. I feel that I got a lot of valuable information from Sandy, and appreciate her taking the time to explain and give examples to the questions that I asked.

Works Cited

Young, Sandra. Personal Interview. 5 July 2000