In my opinion, don’t read this article! Instead, stand up and start networking. You are asking how? It is not that difficult. If you start efficiently, you’ll love it. In this article, I want to write about one type of networking called an informational interview. This type of interview is an informal meeting you can have with a person in your area of interest or in the industry you are considering working in.
Below are five steps for this way of networking!
- Identification
In this step, you need to find whom you want to talk to. There are various ways to find people in your areas of interest.
- LinkedIn
- All you need to do is login and go to the University of Rochester’s page and filter by alumni. Then use keywords to research the industries that you are interested in which your possible network may mention in their profile.
- Conferences/workshops/bootcamps
- In these events, there are a bunch of people with similar interests. All you need to do is just ask them your question and jump to the next steps of this article!
- Companies’ Websites
- If you know what companies you like, you can visit their website directly and find the person in the position you are interested in. You can also surf employer websites and find various positions you never knew about.
- Second-hand connections
- Ask! You can ask people who have lots of connections. These people can be your teacher, advisor, mentor, or friend. You can share your interests with them and brainstorm if they or their friends know anyone in the industry.
- Reaching out
At this step, you have to know that your goal is to expand your connections. Depending on the person, my expectations are different. If that person has a position who might be too busy, I only email them to show my interest in their career and ask them if they have time to answer me via email. Most of them offer to meet and discuss more at this stage. Usually, people are welcoming, and they all want to kindly help you design your career path and share their experiences. The only important point to remember is that you have to be respectful of their time and be appreciative no matter how much time they are putting into it. I must confess, I was not good at communicating at first, so I learned through practice; however, you can always check the contents of emails with your supervisors or friends to see if it is polite and professional. Making connections is like making friends, in my opinion. It takes time, and you cannot expect to get what you want by your first email.
- Preparation
This preparation has three Keys or, as I say, three Ks:
1- Knowing yourself
2- Knowing the person you are meeting
3- Knowing what to ask
The first and second aspects will help you to design your questions. When you meet them, you do not have much time, and you need to ask the most important questions you need to know and make a good impression. You need to know what you need to ask and what knowledge you lack that you can get from them. After knowing yourself, you can navigate their cv or website to see what they do. If you can gather information on their website, there is no need to ask those questions. You only need to ask the questions that cannot be found on there and are just based on their experience.
- Interview
I always try to invite the person to coffee, but informational interviews can also be a phone or video call. I start with a small chat and tell them about myself. Usually, the interviews are 30 minutes, so I do not have to share all my experiences; I just need to give them enough information to provide a more personalized background for when I ask my questions. The third part is prominent. If you google it, there are many ideas on what to ask, but I usually ask whatever I really want to know. If you’re passionate about their job, and have too many questions to ask- don’t worry! Sometimes you ask one question, and it starts a helpful conversation! I also suggest that you ask them if they can connect you to some people. Finally, in the end, it would be nice if you ask them what you can do for them and thank them for their time.
- Reconnecting
In the last step, you need to reconnect to them again and thank them for their help. If they ask you to share your additional questions and experiences, you can do so. You never know; they might come up as one of your mentors! My current mentor is a person I was only connecting to via Facebook, but I saw a post from them one day and realized this person could help me. I emailed her, and she responded nicely. Now, after a year, she is so kind that I can just send her a message with any questions, and she helps me navigate!
Now, the time has come! Please stop reading this article and start connecting!
