By : Lona O'connor
To be young and inexperienced . . . with little work history, no professional contacts, and sketchy career goals. Jobseeking can be particularly difficult if you know little about the field you'd like to work in, or if there are few entry-level job openings. Even so, you have a valuable option available to you: the informational interview.
This versatile research technique can help you learn about various industries, companies, and even individual job openings. But you can get more than information out of the informational interview. Your secondary objective should be to affix your name and face in the mind of an influential person, someone who will remember you when a job arises. If the two of you get along, you may also gain a mentor, someone you can ask for advice along the way.
First, you must find a professional in your field of interest who is willing to spend about a half hour explaining the business to you. The more experienced and influential the individual, the better.
Sources for contacts can include family, like parents, aunts and uncles. You may also find contacts through mutual friends or colleagues, professional groups, sororities, fraternities, etc. Such organizations may even sponsor mentor programs.
Less personal sources, such as newspapers and trade journals, can also supply you with a name or two. There is nothing wrong with requesting an informational interview with a stranger.
The first step in arranging an interview is to call the professional and let him or her know you will be sending a letter - and to verify the spelling of the professional's name, job title, duties and responsibilities. Accuracy impresses.
Next, send a short letter (one page or less) requesting the interview. State your agenda: to increase your knowledge of the field, and to understand the requirements you must meet to land a specific job. Add a sentence or two about your interests and experience, and the name of a mutual friend, if possible. You may even include a written list of questions (see below).
Follow up your letter with a phone call and politely press for an appointment. Get precise directions to the location.
Be prepared. You will ask better questions and make a more favorable impression if you are knowledgeable. Go online or visit the library and read about your contact's company in newspapers, business publications and annual reports. As you prepare a list of questions, keep in mind your goals and interests.
Arrive early. While you're waiting, observe the surroundings. Do people act happy or grouchy? Stressed? Confident? Bored? Do you like the work atmosphere?
Focus the interview. If your host goes off on a tangent, you can reel him or her back into the conversation with a new question.
Ask for a tour. If there is time, this is a valuable way to orient yourself to the field or company. It makes abstract information much more concrete and useful. The tour may also give you other ideas for questions. And if you're lucky, your guide may introduce you to people along the way. (More contacts!)
Follow up. Call the next day to thank your contact for the interview. After that, call or email at regular intervals, when you have some accomplishments to share. You can also call to offer congratulations on his or her achievements that you learn about in newspapers or trade journals, or from professional networking meetings.
SIDEBAR: Questions Worth Asking
Informational interviews are an excellent way to supplement information you've learned about your field of interest. After some initial research, you can get more "insider" details about a career by posing some carefully thought-out questions to someone who knows the job first-hand.
For example:
* How did you get started in the business?
* What is your education in this field?
* Looking back, would you change how you prepared for this career?
* Would you have gotten more/less education, more/less practical experience?
* Would you have started earlier/later in life? Studied different subjects?
* How much advanced education do you think is useful/necessary to succeed in this job?
* What professional associations would you recommend joining?
* What's the hardest part of your job?
* What element of the work do you never get tired of?
* What personal qualities help you to be good at your job?
* How do you see this business changing in the next five years? 25 years?
* What's the best advice you can give someone new to this business?
* Why should someone get into this business rather than a related fie
Job Vacancy , Indonesia Job , Job Indonesia
To be young and inexperienced . . . with little work history, no professional contacts, and sketchy career goals. Jobseeking can be particularly difficult if you know little about the field you'd like to work in, or if there are few entry-level job openings. Even so, you have a valuable option available to you: the informational interview.
This versatile research technique can help you learn about various industries, companies, and even individual job openings. But you can get more than information out of the informational interview. Your secondary objective should be to affix your name and face in the mind of an influential person, someone who will remember you when a job arises. If the two of you get along, you may also gain a mentor, someone you can ask for advice along the way.
First, you must find a professional in your field of interest who is willing to spend about a half hour explaining the business to you. The more experienced and influential the individual, the better.
Sources for contacts can include family, like parents, aunts and uncles. You may also find contacts through mutual friends or colleagues, professional groups, sororities, fraternities, etc. Such organizations may even sponsor mentor programs.
Less personal sources, such as newspapers and trade journals, can also supply you with a name or two. There is nothing wrong with requesting an informational interview with a stranger.
The first step in arranging an interview is to call the professional and let him or her know you will be sending a letter - and to verify the spelling of the professional's name, job title, duties and responsibilities. Accuracy impresses.
Next, send a short letter (one page or less) requesting the interview. State your agenda: to increase your knowledge of the field, and to understand the requirements you must meet to land a specific job. Add a sentence or two about your interests and experience, and the name of a mutual friend, if possible. You may even include a written list of questions (see below).
Follow up your letter with a phone call and politely press for an appointment. Get precise directions to the location.
Be prepared. You will ask better questions and make a more favorable impression if you are knowledgeable. Go online or visit the library and read about your contact's company in newspapers, business publications and annual reports. As you prepare a list of questions, keep in mind your goals and interests.
Arrive early. While you're waiting, observe the surroundings. Do people act happy or grouchy? Stressed? Confident? Bored? Do you like the work atmosphere?
Focus the interview. If your host goes off on a tangent, you can reel him or her back into the conversation with a new question.
Ask for a tour. If there is time, this is a valuable way to orient yourself to the field or company. It makes abstract information much more concrete and useful. The tour may also give you other ideas for questions. And if you're lucky, your guide may introduce you to people along the way. (More contacts!)
Follow up. Call the next day to thank your contact for the interview. After that, call or email at regular intervals, when you have some accomplishments to share. You can also call to offer congratulations on his or her achievements that you learn about in newspapers or trade journals, or from professional networking meetings.
SIDEBAR: Questions Worth Asking
Informational interviews are an excellent way to supplement information you've learned about your field of interest. After some initial research, you can get more "insider" details about a career by posing some carefully thought-out questions to someone who knows the job first-hand.
For example:
* How did you get started in the business?
* What is your education in this field?
* Looking back, would you change how you prepared for this career?
* Would you have gotten more/less education, more/less practical experience?
* Would you have started earlier/later in life? Studied different subjects?
* How much advanced education do you think is useful/necessary to succeed in this job?
* What professional associations would you recommend joining?
* What's the hardest part of your job?
* What element of the work do you never get tired of?
* What personal qualities help you to be good at your job?
* How do you see this business changing in the next five years? 25 years?
* What's the best advice you can give someone new to this business?
* Why should someone get into this business rather than a related fie
Job Vacancy , Indonesia Job , Job Indonesia
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