#informationalinterview

[biglisbonnews]

Try this simple way to onboard new employees and build team cohesion One of the things that set my best internships apart is something that most of my jobs since then have failed to do. And considering it’s an exercise that costs zero dollars, relatively little time, and has the potential to radically improve the way that organizations do onboarding, that’s a real shame.Read more... https://qz.com/how-interviews-can-onboard-employees-and-teams-1850078747

[aninternexperience-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3bmOlhlSAQ)

[text100roc]

The Importance of Informational Interviews

We’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” When you’re looking to break into the PR industry, it’s so important to build relationships with many different people. Informational interviews can be a great way to meet people established in the industry and learn about different companies and types of positions. 

When reaching out to set up an informational interview, don’t forget the following tips:

- Be flexible: The PR professional you’re reaching out to is likely very busy with client work and other responsibilities. Most people will be happy to help and set up time to meet with you, but you want to make sure you respect their time. If someone doesn’t have time to set up a meeting in-person, they might be able to speak with you over the phone or answer questions via email.

- Be enthusiastic: Show you’re really interested in the company and a career in PR.

- Be professional: Even though this isn’t a formal interview, you should still dress up and conduct yourself professionally.

- Be prepared: Come with copies of your resume and a list of questions to ask about the company and the PR industry.

- Follow up: Send a thank you note to the PR pro you met with to thank them for their time. Stay in touch with the person by updating them on your career and continuing to thank them for their help.

Here at Text100 Rochester, we love meeting with aspiring PR pros. If you’re interested in learning more about us, don’t hesitate to get in touch! Reach out to Emily Bird at [email protected].

[worldtraveler221b]

Informational Interview- Imperial College London

Before departing for London, my first challenging assignment was to find an informational interview for my visit. I wish to have a career in Student Affairs that would allow me to either work aboard or travel abroad often; perhaps Study Abroad, International Programs, Recruitment, Admission, etc., so I wanted to speak with individuals in Student Affairs in the UK. I thought it would be easy to find someone, email them, and set up a meeting time, but that was definitely not the case. I emailed four different universities and colleges in London and at least two Student Services departments at each institution. After getting two rejection emails from two different places saying that their institution just didn’t do meetings like that, I finally received a yes from Imperial College London to meet with the Director of Careers Services, Elspeth F.

Imperial College London was founded in 1907 and is a competitive STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) institution that also included a medical facility and a business school. They have around 16,000 total students, and students from 126 countries, much like the University of Kansas. The Career Services Department is settled in South Kensington, and in my short time on the campus, outwardly very similar to an American college campus. There were students hanging out in the dining area with books, computers, phones and friends and there were classes going on in this building as well. As far as comparisons, it felt like a union or a central student locale.  The Career Services office even had a student worker at the front desk and several students working or milling about the area.

In true international careers fashion, not everything went as planned for my interview. As I arrived at the Careers Services office, the receptionist said they had no record of my appointment. However, within moments, the Information Assistant who made my appointment, Michelle Swallow, came over to say the something must have come up and that she would find me a new person. She outdid herself and ultimately found me two gentlemen to speak with: Jason Y., Deputy Director of Career Services and Richard M., Information Manager of Career Services. Both men had been at Imperial for several years, and gave me great insight to UK Student Services compared to US Student Affairs.

One of the first things that I learned was that Career Services doesn’t really fall into the “Student Affairs” umbrella it does in the United States. It is usually included in the education side of things, while admissions and exams fall under the “Registry”. However, in true Student Services/ Affairs style, both men had an interesting and round about way of entering the field. Jason worked as a health care agent, counselor for local youth, and the link was to Imperial was through being a counselor or advisor to youth on careers, school, and life. He self described his journey as a “Cinderella story.” Richard was previously a librarian, which is why he is now the Information Specialist; he deals with scheduling, logging, digitizing, and essentially anything with data or information.

My prepared list of questions was geared towards understanding the culture and practices of higher education/ student services in the UK. They, in no particular order due to conversation flow, were:

How did you get into Student Services/Career Services/?

What is unique about working in this field?

What are some of the noticeable differences in Career Services/Higher Education in the UK versus the US?

What are advancement opportunities like?

Student Services is a broad field; do students/employees typically jump around?

Would it be difficult for an American to work in the UK for Imperial (or any university)?

What are some experiences/ skills looked for to join this field?

Are graduate students working in the Career Services office? Is that for a degree, apprenticeship, job?

My main discoveries from these questions were that Career Services are a little bit different in the UK than the US, but fundamentally, they are very similar. Jason told me tons about a program Imperial hosts where students can take seminars on certain life skills and development, since there are no social sciences at Imperial. They also do workshops, career advising, resume building, intern placements, and graduate school advice. This sounded very, very similar to my own Career Services Center at KU.

 I also learned that there are many American students there studying as undergraduates, and postgraduate. As I later learned during my time in London, this is vital to begin the process of being about to work and live in the UK. Jason and Richard both emphasized the internationality of Imperial and how competitive it is in the world as a STEM institution. Which was good news, personally, because when I asked if people tend to move around in the field, like they seem to in the US, they said it can be done, as long as the person has the skills and qualifications needed. I thoroughly enjoyed my first informational interview, gained two contacts in the UK, and learned a great deal about Higher Education and Career Services in the UK.

[slothdreamer]

My Informational Interview with Patrick O'Marr

                        USAID, or the United States Agency for International Development, and OFDA, the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, are agencies funded by the United States government and United States citizens’ tax dollars to provide relief for many people in foreign countries who become affected by natural disasters.  They assist with providing short-term aid after these disasters have struck for people who may have lost little or people who lost everything they own.  There are USAID and OFDA locations in every continent, but we visited the offices for Latin America and the Caribbean (or LAC) located in San Jose, near the United States Embassy.  Tim Callaghan is the Senior Regional Advisor and manages the offices for the LAC.  He showed us many incredible pictures of hurricanes, floods, volcanic eruption and ash, fires, earthquakes, and more, proving that USAID is an important element for many people in the LAC area.  My interview was with Patrick O’Marr, who works at USAID and is the regional administrative management specialist.  Patrick started his journey in the Peace Corps when he landed in Costa Rica.  He met his wife in Costa Rica and decided to stay and worked with a couple of non-government organizations. He is currently on a five-year contract with OFDA and has not decided if he is going to be continuing on after the five years are finished.  He did say he is happy with what he is doing to help, but wants to be more involved with people rather than doing the behind the scenes office work.  Patrick has also learned lots of Spanish while he has been in Costa Rica.  He said he never saw himself working for the US government, but he is glad he took the opportunity to work at OFDA.  I am very interested in working for the government or any other organization, especially internationally.  For my whole life, I have always volunteered with local churches and charities because I like helping people who need it and I enjoy giving back to my community.  I think working with United States government-funded agencies or non-government organizations in a foreign country would be very interesting and a great fit for me, because I am very outgoing and I work well with others.  I have experience volunteering with homeless and I have also worked with children.  I think I could help a lot of people, and that is what I want to do, whether I work with the government or continue to volunteer.  I also have great problem-solving skills, so I think I could handle the many tough situations that may arise.  I asked Patrick:  How did you get into the USAID field?  What made you interested in the Peace Corps?  How do you feel about hiring someone who was not in the Peace Corps?  What do you think about NGOs?  Is there anything you wish you could change about your job?  What is one thing or piece of advice you wish you knew before entering the “real world”?  Patrick was asked to join OFDA because of his experience in Peace Corps and his background in Forestry studies.  He decided to work on a five-year contract with the United States government at OFDA.  He was interested in Peace Corps because he wanted to experience life and culture in other parts of the world.  He believes that Peace Corps would be beneficial for anyone looking to get involved or work with the United States government.  Peace Corps can give you valuable experiences that you will not find many other places (other than the army maybe).  Although we both jokingly agreed that I am probably not the ideal candidate for the Peace Corps.  But Patrick also said you could also get considerable experience working with non-government organizations.  I would love to work with Save the Children or Save the Animals (both are NGOs) because I work well with children and I know how to relate with them.  I also have a lot of compassion towards all animals, and I care for them with lots of love as if they were my own.  I also asked Patrick what is his favorite thing about his job and he said it was being in Costa Rica and being able to help other people.  His least favorite (or what he wishes he could change) is that he would like to be out in the field more often.  He spends most of his time doing office work rather than traveling to other countries and working on site with the rescue teams.  I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with Patrick (and Tim also).  They gave me some great advice about how to apply for a government job and told me to not give up.  Tim said he applied for a job many, MANY times, and that sometimes it takes time before you will find the right job.  It opened my eyes to the things that government agencies can do for people, and I want to help with that.  The United States government takes a certain about of money from their budget to be used as aid, and I think it should be well spent.  I hope I can go back down to Costa Rica sometime in the future and revisit USAID and also see the US Embassy.  I am also considering becoming a Foreign Service Officer or working with the US State Department as well.  This was a great experience and a wonderful opportunity for me to explore the idea of working internationally, or even working with international employees.  I am still not sure where I will end up in the future, but I am hopeful that it will be somewhere that is beneficial not only to my own conscience but also to other people’s lives.  I am trying to find what I like to call “the invisible road to change” – or the place where I will feel like I am making a difference with my life.

[acingmyinterview-blog]

How to Schedule and Conduct an InformationalInterview http://ow.ly/aMM6s