Saturday, October 10, 2009

Developing Your Job Search Playbook
Topic: Job Search Strategy

This is part 2 of Developing Your Job Search Play Book. I want to give you a little bit more information about Informational Interviews.  An Informational Interview is about connecting with people - professionals. Before you consider setting up an Informational Interview, take some time and evaluate your purpose for meeting with a professional. What do you want to walk away with after the interview? It is critical that you have a clear purpose before you set up the meeting. Why? Because more professionals are busy. They don't have a lot of time to spend talking to you when they could be working. So, if someone agrees to meet with you, you want to make sure that they feel like the time spent with you was valuable for them too.

Once you identify your purpose for the meeting. Write down or type up a list of questions you will ask in the Informational Interview. You want to have at least 10-15 questions. You may not get most of your questions in, however you want to have them available just in case.

Be prepared to take notes. Listen! Ask follow-up questions and take good notes. Everything you learn from the meeting should be included in your Job Search Playbook.

It is very important that you thank the person you meet with. Send a thank you note, handwritten is best, however email notes work as well. Use the information to assist you in your job search. After the meeting, take some time to digest the information you learned. Did you accomplish your purpose? Go back and check your intended purposes. Did you walk away with the information you needed? Did you learn more than you thought?

Last thing - Pay it forward! If you took the time to meet with a professional about what you are looking for, it is your turn to find someone you can assist. Make yourself available to others who need what you have - who need your expertise. Don't just take while you are in a job search. Look for ways to pay if forward. Give back and you will find that people are more willing to assist you! 

Posted by Darlene McDaniel at 4:19 PM EDT | Post Comment | Permalink
Updated: Saturday, October 10, 2009 4:37 PM EDT

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