Experience an Informational Interview!

You always hear about the necessity of having a lot of work experience and that it is all about who you know.  Informational interviews can help lead you to success in the field of your dreams.  Professionals I have talked to have stressed to me the importance of networking early on in college, and I have taken that advice seriously.

A few months ago, one of the coworkers at my previous internship gave me the contact information of one of her friends from high school who happens to be the creative director at a major advertising agency.  With a simple email, I scheduled a meeting with her to conduct an informational interview.  During the interview I was able to find out more about what her position entails and I learned a lot about what it takes to be in the advertising industry.  

Even if you don't know someone who knows someone, it is really easy to go online and search a company in which you are interested.  Once you find the people in the department you have an interest in, go ahead and contact them to schedule an interview.  If those individuals are not too busy, then usually they are more than willing to meet with you .  A short 15 minutes of asking an employer questions could make a big difference in your future.  It is so important to know what questions you are going to ask ahead of time.  That helped me because every time there started to be an awkward pause, I whipped out another question I had written on a sheet of paper.  

Some good questions to ask when conducting an informational interview include:

-What is the title of your position?

-What does a typical day on the job consist of?

-What do you like best and least about what you do?

-What qualifications and experience does someone need to have to get a job in this field?

-What is an entry level position in this field?

-What are the best places to look for jobs in this field?

-How did you get started?

-What are the different salary ranges?

A good site where I found many of these questions, some of which I used in my own informational interview is located at the following link: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/infointerviews/a/infointervquest.htm

Informational interviews are so important because they help you develop professional connections.  In addition, you can find out more about the job and industry your contacts are in and the highs and lows of their jobs, all without the stress of an actual job interview.