Assignment

Overview

Make a networking contact from the industry (or similar industry) or function for the job description chosen at the beginning of the semester, and meet with him or her to conduct an informational interview.

Objective

This assignment is intended to allow you to practice an increasingly important networking tool and make a new connection in an industry or function that interests you. Through this interview, you will aim to learn more about the industry and type of job chosen, and determine whether this may or may not be a good fit for you.

Assignment Instructions

Find a contact in the industry (or similar industry) or function chosen in your job description assignment and meet with him or her for an informational interview.

You may use a variety of ways to find a person to interview. Consider cold calling, warm calling, meeting members of your classmates' networks and introducing them to yours, connecting with a coworker or supervisor from a previous internship or job to connect you with a new contact, contacting a family friend in the industry, contacting a panelist or industry representative from a club meeting, etc.

You may not conduct an informational interview with another student, your instructor, TA, course coordinator, family member. This assignment is designed to have you go outside your usual comfort zone to find a working professional in the industry/function that you have chosen.

Meet with your new contact in person. If you have special circumstances and cannot meet with your contact in person, you must first clear it with your instructor to conduct another type of interview. E-mail interviews are not acceptable for this assignment.

During the interview, ask your contact a series of questions that are important to you about the job or industry. Refer to the informational interview handout on Canvas (Modules>Networking and Relationship Building) for tips on how to prepare.

Be sure to write your new contact a thank you note after the interview. Writing a thank you note is an additional assignment for this class, so be sure to save a copy.

Write a two page minimum, typed, double spaced, 12 point font, 1-inch margin reflection paper about your informational interview. Note that your paper should be in narrative form, not in question and answer format. Include a citation that states your interviewee's name, title, company, e-mail address and phone number. In your paper, use your informational interview experience to answer the following questions:

Who, What, When, Where & How: Who did you interview? What are your interviewee's industry, job title and company? When did you meet your contact? Where did you meet with him/her? How did you get in touch?

What were your main concerns or questions about the industry and position? Were they answered sufficiently in your meeting? How were they answered?

Did you learn anything that made your industry of choice more favorable? Less favorable? If so, what?

Did you learn anything that surprised you about the industry or your interviewer? If so, what?

What have you learned about networking through this experience? How might you use informational interviewing as a tool in the future? What were the most difficult and rewarding parts of this assignment?

Thank You Letter

Overview

Write and send a thank you letter to your informational interview contact.

Objective

An essential part of the job search process is writing a good thank you letter after any meaningful interaction with an employer. It is expected in the interview process and an extra special touch after other types of meetings and interactions.

Assignment Instructions

Write a thank you letter for the person you interviewed for the informational interview assignment.

Send the thank you letter to your contact. Use the guidelines discussed for thank you letters from the Modules. You may send a formal thank you letter through the mail, a hand written card or note, or an email thank you. Regardless of which type of letter you send, it must be fully professional. An email or hand written thank you should still be formally and professionally written.