10 Steps to Making Connections - Information Interviewing

What do you want? What's your ideal job? If you can answer this question succinctly, most of your efforts will be the mechanics of the job search. If you are not so sure, then information interviewing will be more of an exploratory journey with a lot of learning along the way.
Read All About It First. Libraries are full of professional journals and magazines with current information about jobs and careers. If you are uncertain as to where to start, ask the reference librarian to help you. For example: Where can I find journals or magazines that tell me what it's like to be a electrician? Also take a look at The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature and The National Trade and Professional Organizations Directory (see back indexes).

Also use your contact with friends, acquaintance, and other people you know to get names of people you can connect with directly. Many people use this process, called networking, to make connections and build important relationships for their careers beyond the initial job search process.
Develop Your Questions Carefully
Develop questions about the job or career field, not the place of work. For example, some good questions are:
- What qualifications or training are good to have or necessary?
- What do you most like and dislike about this job or career?
- How difficult is it to get a job in this field?
- What is the competition like (qualifications)?
- I read recently that (?) is happening in this job field--do you agree?
- Where would you suggest I get this training?
- Where are the best places to get these types of jobs?
- What's the pay for jobs in this field?
- Would you ever accept volunteers or interns?
- Who else would you suggest that could I talk to?
Some poor questions are:
- When will there be a job open here?
- Where can a apply for a job here?
- How long would you or your co-workers plan on staying in your jobs?
- Would you take a look at my resume?
- How much is the pay here
Practice! A good warm-up and confidence builder is to do some interviews just for fun and your own personal information. Look in the yellow pages and in directories at the library for contact information. After you've done some for fun, start with the people and places that are not your top choices but might have great information for you. If you've done your homework and read about what you want to do, then go talk to people who are doing what you want (or might want ) to do. For example: What is it like to be a nurse, accountant, IT professional, admin assistant, researcher, adjunct faculty, horticulturalist, operating engineer, carpenter, event planner, chef, electrician...etc.?
Call up Call the personal contacts you have identified and carefully explain that:

You are gathering information (researching, playing detective) about the job/career field.
If you are exploring careers, explain that you are not ready to do job hunting for awhile. You don't have enough information yet to make up your mind about what type of job you want to look for. If you are preparing for a job search, say so. Also mention that you are not expecting to find a current job opening, although if you did, you may be interested. Express that the main purpose of the meeting is to understand the job market in the career field you've chosen.
You'd like to get 15 or more minutes of their time to talk with them about their career field. Try to meet them at their place of work so you can see what their workplace is like.

If they say no: If they don't have the time (or too many people have called them to ask for information interviews) ask who else you might call. Recognize that sometimes even this can seem like a burden for someone who is overloaded or behind on their core job tasks. Always be friendly and thank them for talking to you regardless of what they say. You never know when you might see them again--maybe in a group job interview.

Go Build the relationship. It is important that they understand that you are asking for advice. You must prove to them you are worthy of their trust when they provide you with job/career information.
End the appointment on time. Tell them when the time is up. They may let you stay a little longer. Make sure you have their address so you can send a thank-you note.
Evaluate How did it go? What did you learn? Write down what you learned so you don't forget.
Follow-up Always! Send a thank you note.
Get ready for your next information interview and meanwhile, something good may come your way!

Source: Deborah Nystrom, Human Resource Development