Durham Resident Raps in Interview; Lands Job

The below posting came from a press release from Joanna Perricone.

Glastonbury — When Joanna Perricone received an email from David Wood, President of Gateway Financial Partners asking her to write a rap about the company and perform it during a second interview, she was a little shocked. Uncertain if it was a joke or a challenge, she agreed. 

Prior to asking Perricone to come in for a first interview, the company’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Shannon Berube and Creative Director, Faith Zeller conducted a thorough Google search and discovered Perricone’s website (www.joannaperricone.com) dedicated to promoting her original hip hop music.  During her interview, Perricone responded, “I’m turning fifty shades of red right now,” when Berube asked her to elaborate on what she found online.

Just hours after performing her, “Gateway Rap”, which included lines such as, “Confidently, I know I could add to your successes” and “I just marketed myself, so I know I’m your candidate,” Joanna received a phone call and was offered the job.

Perricone’s unconventional interview demonstrates the great lengths that candidates, in the current economic climate will go to stand out.  With unemployment rates in Connecticut higher than the national average at 7.9% (State of Connecticut), job competition is fierce and an invitation to interview is a rarity. “It is a jungle out there. I had been job hunting for full time employment for a year and a half, so it was a big deal when Shannon emailed me. I knew the rap was a big risk, but it was one I was willing to take,” stated Perricone.    

Perricone joins Gateway Financial Partners as a Marketing Assistant from the SS&C SummerWind Performing Arts Center where she served as a Development Associate and Operations Manager. Prior to that position, she was Program Coordinator for Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater.  She is a magna cum laude graduate with a Master of Arts in Arts Administration and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre.

An amateur rapper from Durham, Connecticut, Perricone released, “Who is this Girl?”, her first mixtape under the independent music label, “Connecticut People Records” in May 2013 . She is currently working on an E.P. titled, “The Wave Series”, scheduled for release in January 2014.  [A video of her, “Gateway Rap” can be found on the company’s Facebook page.

About Gateway Financial Partners: Gateway Financial Partners is a growing independent financial services firm headquartered in Glastonbury, Connecticut, with over 50 advisors located nationally. Advisors specialize in financial planning, wealth accumulation, wealth distribution, wealth protection and employee benefits.  Gateway advisors get to know their clients and partner with their underlying financial goals the way Joanna’s passion for rap was intertwined in her interview.