Teresa Hoffman, BS '82
Job Title: SVP Executive Recruiting Manager, City National Bank
Major: Human Physiology

After finishing her degree at the University of Oregon, Teresa Hoffman moved back home to sunny Southern California to further her career as a consultant with various executive firms such as KPMG and Heidrick & Struggles. She soon found an opportunity with Disney, becoming the Manager of Corporate Staffing before finally making her way to City National Bank in Los Angeles. As the Senior Vice President Executive Recruiting Manager, Teresa relies on teamwork, collaboration and relationship building to ensure her colleagues are well-versed and comfortable in their roles. Teresa also serves on the board of directors for the UO Alumni Association.

How does relationship building affect team collaborative effort?

Building a relationship is the key to anything that you do — whether it’s your personal life or your career. You have to build relationships with people in order to learn about them. It’s important to learn about their backgrounds, experiences and the things they are good at doing. Then you can truly understand what their strengths are. Once you have built that relationship, it provides you with trust. If you tell your co-worker you need help with something like a project, and they say the same to you, then you end up becoming collaborative in your efforts and in your team.

How do you participate in and promote cooperation and joint effort?

You have your goals every year. Your company has its goals, and you want to be able to support that based on your functionality. When you understand where your company wants concentrated growth, you can gather your team together to decide who wants to take on what. You collaborate and say, “We’ve got these different projects and initiatives. Does anybody want to do one? Does anybody want to take it on?” You want to give your colleagues the opportunities that are there for the taking. It gives people the chance to feel like they can put their best foot forward and contribute to the greater goal. And if they need help, you guide them.

How did you go about developing teamwork and collaboration skills during your time at UO?
 
I was able to develop these skills by getting involved in a lot of different activities. I was the Rush Chairman in my sorority, and it was a huge responsibility. You had to get things organized, and there were a lot of moving parts. I had to collaborate and work with multiple people. It was almost like running a business. I developed skills through my coursework as well. When I participated in group projects, my group and I would assign ourselves the tasks that we were most skilled in. We would then give feedback and brainstorm together, almost like a management team. We all had the same goal, and we knew what needed to be done. We organized and coordinated everything — together.
 
Do you have any advice you’d like to share with current students and recent graduates?
 
The biggest thing students or new alums need to do, especially if they are going after the career they want, is to meet people. It is impossible to meet too many people. Your network can never be too big. You can never learn too much. It can be daunting at first, but once you start doing it, it gets easier. Also, consider getting involved with groups like the UO Student Alumni Association or other affinity groups. These are networks you can get involved in right off the bat, and they are a great and easy place to start.