Before your informational interview, you should research the: • The person you are talking to. • Their organization. • Their role. Research Worksheet: (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gMza4l2ZdEfbhbTDNYZUX2JUDMStAAiFdwFu2sSfLyA/copy)Use this to gather information before your informational interview. Research Guide: (javascript:void(0))This describes what you should research and the best resources to find that information.

• Remind yourself what you want to learn about from this person. • What are all the different types of careers where you get to counsel people? • What does a financial analyst do? • What is it really like to work at Google? • What are best practices to prepare for an interview for a researcher in a lab? • If you only could learn one thing from this conversation, what would it be? Some interviewees talk a lot. There have been alumni who only get to ask two questions in 30 minutes. This helps you prioritize what you really hope to accomplish to ensure you don’t run out of time for your most important questions. • Do you have any personal goals? • I hope I can be present and establish rapport. • I hope I can ask one question that I create on the spot instead of just reading off my list of questions.

Braindump questions that you have about the learning goals that you set. Do: • Think broadly about your questions. • Potential topics to think about: • Their role • Their journey • Their organization • The industry • How to get into the career • What would you need to learn to determine if you would like this career • If you are early on in your career exploration, here are some good go to questions: • What do you like most about your job? • What do you like least about your job? • What skills are really needed to do this job? If you look at people who are really successful in your job, what traits do they have? • How do you get into this job? What education do you need? What experience do you need? • What are typical tasks/projects that you perform? (If they respond that every day is different, ask them what yesterday looked look for them.) Don’t: • Ask questions that you can easily find the answer to on their company website. • Ask questions that you already know the answers to. Sometimes people have a set list of questions that they ask everyone. Once you start to hear the same answers, stop asking the question. If you are bored listening to their answer, they will feel that boredom. Your questions should evolve over time. • Ask about salary. You can find salary information on Glassdoor or My Next Move. • Ask anything that might make them feel defensive (e.g. How can you work for a company who cheated customers out of millions of dollars in X scandal last year?).

Remember that you asked for this informational interview, so they are expecting you to drive the conversation. Get organized beforehand so that you feel confident leading the conversation. • Write down your questions. • Organize the questions into a logical order, making sure that the most important ones are at the top. • Structure the conversation so you know how you want to open and close the meeting. • Be ready to just make it a conversation once you get into the meeting and throw your questions out the window. • Summarize your background in 30 seconds so that it leads to why you want to talk.

It is ok to write all of this down, even the transitions, to prepare for your meeting. Start with small talk. (javascript:void(0))Usually there is more small talk if you are meeting in person (5-10 minutes), but there might be a few minutes on a phone call too. Review the small talk page if you want a reminder of how to handle it with ease. Transition to the informational interview. When there is a natural pause, you should end the small talk and transition to set the tone for the conversation. For example: “Thank you so much for meeting with me today. Let me tell you a bit about myself and why I asked to meet with you.” Summarize your background. You should provide them with context of where you’ve been and how that has led you to be interested in what you will talk to them about in the meeting. • It should be 30 - 60 seconds in length. • Only include relevant information. Example: I became interested in athletic training and physical therapy when I tore my ACL in high school while playing soccer. I found myself asking my physical therapist so many questions about the rehabilitation process and it led me to major in kinesiology at my college. Last summer, I volunteered with a Physical Therapy office and while I liked the content, I was mostly working with elderly patients and found myself wondering about other careers related to Kinesiology. State your goals. After a bit of small talk, you should be the one to transition to why you reached out, a brief background (your 30 second pitch), and your goals that makes it clear why this meeting would be helpful. • It’s important to anchor them to what you hope to get out of the conversation. Otherwise, they will feel lost and might ramble on about things that aren’t relevant to you. • At the end of your background summary, state what you want to get out of the conversation. Example: That’s why I reached out to you. I’d love to hear about your experience as a physical therapist, the culture and clients in your practice, and any thoughts that you might have for me about other career options within kinesiology. Ask about their background. The first question for them should ALWAYS be asking them to describe their background, even if you researched their background on LinkedIn. • They will provide valuable information about WHY they made their choices in their summary. • You can get a sense of what they are really excited about/proud of in their background and where you might want to spend more time. • They might offer up other things that they are involved in that would surprise you because it’s not on their LinkedIn profile. Example: “I reviewed your profile on LinkedIn, but I’d love to hear from you about your background and your choices and what has led you to where you are today.” Ask your other questions. Remember that although you have questions already written out, you should also ask follow-up questions or on-the-fly questions, as appropriate. Wrap up with last questions. These are two of the most important questions to ask! Don’t forget! • Do you have any recommendations of resources for me to learn more? • Do you know anyone else that would be good for me to talk to? Thank them!

Things to confirm • Meeting time • Meeting location • If virtually connecting, who's calling who, how you’ll connect (e.g. Skype, Facetime, Google Hangouts, etc.) Example of confirmation email for an in-person meeting: Dear Lucious, I’m looking forward to talking to you tomorrow at 1pm at The Leaky Cauldron. To make it easier to find me, I have medium length curly brown hair and will be wearing a burgundy sweater. If you don’t see me, please call my cell phone at (555) 123-4567. Thank you, Hermione Example of confirmation email for a phone call: Dear Lucious, I’m looking forward to talking to you tomorrow! Just to confirm, I will call you at 222-333-4444 at 2:30pm. Thank you, Hermione

Do: • Be present. As much as possible, be present, listen, and ask follow-up questions (even if they are unscripted). • Ask clarifying questions. If they use a term or talk about something that you don’t understand, ask them to clarify! They will love that you are curious to learn more. • Take notes. They believe that they are giving you great advice, so you make them feel good about themselves by taking notes. Also, you’ll want to remember some of the points for yourself! • Maintain eye contact. Especially if you are taking notes, make sure to look up when you are listening. If you feel uncomfortable maintaining eye contact a trick is to look at their lower eyelid, but practice making eye contact to improve that skill. Don't: • Act like a robot. As much as possible, try to listen and make it a conversation. • Only read off your question list. Make it a conversation. Ask questions that pop up into your head.

Keep an eye on the time. Since you are driving the meeting, you need to manage the time. • With 5 minutes left, say, “I want to be respectful of your time, and we have 5 minutes left.” Half of the time, they will offer to talk to you longer, especially if you asked for a 20 minute conversation. Most adults block their calendar in 30 minute chunks, so they probably have a few extra minutes. However, t’s not good to assume. Last questions These are two of the most important questions to ask! Don’t forget! • Do you have any recommendations of resources for me to learn more? • Do you know anyone else that would be good for me to talk to? Wrap up like a pro. Once the end allotted time is approaching and they’ve finished answering the most recent question, it’s time to wrap up the conversation. Transition to ending the meeting. • Smile and pause to signal the transition. • Tell them how helpful the conversation has been. • Thank them for their time. • Ask if it would be ok to ask them follow up questions in the future.

Meeting at a coffee shop • Arrive early. Scout out a place for you two to sit that is relatively quiet. • Be on the lookout for them. • Start with a strong handshake. When you see them, shake their hand with a firm handshake, look them in the eye, smile and say something like, “Hi, I’m Cedric! Thank you so much for coming.” • Offer to buy them coffee because you are the one asking for a favor. Oftentimes, if you are a student, the adult will offer instead. If they decline and say that they want to buy you coffee, accept and say, “Thank you.” Don’t fight them over the check. • Bring notebook and pens to take notes! Bringing your questions with you is acceptable and encouraged. • Act interested! Your body language conveys your interest and will make them feel engaged even more than the questions you ask. • Lean forward. • Smile when appropriate. • Relax into facial expressions that show your interest in what they are saying • Sit up straight, but relax your shoulders and feel free to move your hands and body when you talk. You don’t have to be as formal as in an interview, but don’t slouch or lean back on your chair. • End with a strong handshake. Stand up, thank them, and shake their hand. Reinforce that it was helpful to talk to them.