Finding Your Passion: Informational Interviews 101.

 

You’re done. That piece of paper symbolizing years of caffeine overloads, too-many page papers and impressive procrastination skills is within your reach… or at least tucked under a bunch of other important documents. Maybe you’re right in the thick of it, a sophomore or junior in college debating if you should change your major again. You know the opportunities for your future are limitless, but you can’t figure out if you should pursue your personal interests or follow the typical career path for your major. Trust me, you are definitely not alone. There are tons of people trying to hone in on their career desires. Here’s a little secret from me to you: informational interviews can provide all the answers you need.

Informational interviews are unique opportunities to build relationships and gain insight from professionals in your desired career fields. Imagine networking, but only with people you choose to seek out. Maybe you can’t choose between becoming an engineer or a career as a tour manager for live events. Informational interviews allow you to reach out to a variety of people with differing perspectives to solidify your choice. The best part? You’re in control of the conversations. Asking industry insiders questions about their experiences means no pressure for you!

Before you brag to your colleagues about your newfound knowledge, it’s important to know how to seek out professionals and properly conduct an informational interview. Below are some tips to get you started on your journey towards Career Nirvana.

Find Your Passion and Remember Your Major

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Things To Remember During The Job Hunt.

 


Prior to, and during, the daunting adventure of searching for a full-time career, there are many pieces of advice given to us by family members, friends, mentors and peers. Sometimes, we get the hopeless thoughts of never finding a position stuck in our heads, placed there by the people who tell us, "The market is tough— it took me months after graduation to find a job. You’ll encounter the same." Other times, we find ourselves overwhelmed, because we are told, "Apply for every single job you find.”

As a recent graduate who successfully secured a couple of job offers prior to graduation, I want to share three pieces of advice that I personally want to give you that may contrast from what you’ve been hearing, along with my reasoning behind them.


1. Don’t spread yourself thin.

• I can’t tell you how often I heard advice along the lines of "Apply for everything," being given to students entering the job search phase of their career path. I cannot emphasize this enough to you: don’t do it. You’re only doing yourself a disadvantage of applying to every job that’s related to your industry. It’s important to select positions that are tailored to the skills and experience that you have. You’re also setting yourself up for a big letdown if you’re applying for a position that you’re not 100% sure you’re a good fit for.

2. It’s not hopeless.

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Overcoming the Job Search Blues.

I’m sure I’m not the only one whose felt burned out after applying to literally every job post available and not hearing back from anyone.

*begins to play harmonica*

Fortunately, I have a few tips that have helped me overcome those job searching blues.

• BE POSITIVE- I can not stress this enough, positivity is super important when job searching. Often times you can feel defeated because you’ve spent hours/day/weeks/months searching just to get your foot in the door and it seems like no one wants to take a chance on you. You keep telling yourself how great you are and don’t just say it, believe it! "Speak it into existence and it shall be done" (That’s the motto!)

• Don’t compare- Have you ever thought about applying to a job then start thinking about the tons of other applicants who are probably more qualified than you are? Yeah, well, stop that! You can’t worry about other people and what they have to offer or you’ll drive yourself crazy! All you can focus on is YOU. Believe that you are a boss, and that job was made for a boss like you! Besides, if you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect a future employer to believe in you?

• Humble yourself- While getting the dream job at your favorite company fresh out of college, with little to no experience, is nice to think about and all, remember that everyone has to start somewhere. You never know who you’ll meet while bagging groceries, or helping a customer decide which glue is best to use for their kid’s science project. Personality goes a long way, ya’ll.

• Pick up a hobby- LEAVE THE HOUSE!!! This is NOT a drill, people! As comfortable as it is, it’s okay to not be in your pajamas all day watching Netflix job searching. Go volunteer, start reading that book that’s been sitting on your desk for 6 months, start a blog, find an internship— even if it’s unpaid, the experience will look GREAT on your resume. What I’m trying to say is, just leave your house, bro.

I hope these tips help you get back on your job search with a new outlook. Please, please remember that every ‘no’ you get, you’re one step closer to a very awesome job. :)

Happy job searching!




(photo credit: Oregon State University)

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Why Does No One Care About LinkedIn?

I can’t count how many articles I’ve read over the last month discussing the importance of LinkedIn to job seekers. And yet, I know so many students who are not utilizing the site to its full advantage. As an aspiring PR professional, I definitely need to be more active on LinkedIn.

Although I try to stray away from using generalizations, I’m 99.9% sure that if you ask anyone to describe LinkedIn, you may get “it’s like a professional Facebook” kind of response. At least that’s what I thought when I heard about the site my sophomore year. You can add connections, share articles, and ‘like’ statuses and photos. A few of the most important (and obvious) features on LinkedIn are, the ability to job search within the site and to connect with the right people.

Through LinkedIn, How to Market to Me blogger Lindsey Kirchoff, was able to land her dream job at HubSpot. Check out her story below.



In a blog post for LinkedIn, Lindsey also provided some helpful tips that helped her land a job.

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