Transcript Document

Informational Interviewing &
Digital Communication
Create and Foster your Network
Informational Interview & Digital Communication
Why?
 #1 Way to find an internship or full time position
 When you want a job in January of 2016, you want a
whole network of people to help you.
 You can learn about what they do before you even
start your career
 You can create a life time of a successful network.
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Informational Interviewing and Digital Communication
Who you gonna call?
 Scenario 1: You know
what you want to do
 Scenario 2: You have no
idea what you want to do
 Scenario 3: You have an
idea of the area you
want but not sure which
position is right for you
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Informational Interviewing and Digital Communication
How do you find them?
 Take your list of 50 companies – start
from there…search by title
 Call?
 Email?
 Connect on LinkedIn?
What do you think?
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
How do you start?
 The approach
Why would a stranger want to do you a favor without
even knowing you?
Goal of first call? – schedule an interview to get to know
them. You are creating your network…NOT asking for a
job or internship…..
1. Why are you calling?
2. Why are you calling this person in particular?
3. How do you ask?
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Now what do you ask?
 Be genuinely interested
If you’re not interested in me, why would I be in you?
And why would I help you?
Goal – Establish an ongoing business relationship or
even a friendship if it works out that way.
Create future reasons to communicate
You are relationship building – not looking for a job or
internship at this point.
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
What if you get voicemail?
 State succinctly why you’re calling.
 Speak SLOWLY and CLEARLY and ENUNCIATE
 Leave your phone number, slowly, twice during the
message.
 Leave your email once – slowly and clearly
 Thank them and state that you’re looking forward to
hearing from them and that you appreciate their busy
schedule or something nice to say
 I like to say, I appreciate your help and look forward to
connecting soon. Thank you.
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Script sample (do not read when calling – practice first)
Good morning,_______ My name is Cris Nigro(slowly and clearly) and
I’m a graduate student in Boston University’s Mathematical
Finance Graduate Program. My number is
617(pause)358(pause)05(pause)42.
I’m contacting you because I’m
interested in what it really means to be a Portfolio Manager
and I was hoping to ask you some questions about what you
do. I’d really appreciate your help and am looking for just a
few minutes of your time at your earliest convenience. Please
feel free to contact me any time at 617(pause)358(pause)05(pause)42 or if
email is easier, I can be reached at [email protected]. That’s
cm(as in Mary) n(as in Nancy) [email protected] Thank you so much. I look
forward to connecting with you and, again, I appreciate your
help. Thank you.
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Script sample (do not read when calling – practice first)
Second Voicemail (different day of the week, different time of day)
Good morning,_______ This is Cris Nigro(slowly and clearly) from BU’s
Mathematical Finance Graduate Program. I left you a
message a few days ago and was hoping to connect. I can be
reached at 617(pause)358(pause)05(pause)42. I was hoping to learn
more about what you do at JP Morgan to see if it’s something
I might like to do in the future as well. I’d really appreciate
your help and am looking for just a few minutes of your time at
your earliest convenience. Again, my number is
617(pause)358(pause)05(pause)42 and my email is [email protected].
That’s cm(as in Mary) n(as in Nancy) [email protected] Thank you so much. I
look forward to connecting with you and, again, I appreciate
your help. Thank you.
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Script sample (do not read when calling – practice first)
Third Voicemail (different day of the week, different time of day)
Good afternoon,_______ This is Cris Nigro(slowly and clearly) from
BU’s Mathematical Finance Graduate Program. I’ve left a
couple of voicemails and I don’t want to bother you. I will
send a message to connect via linked in. If you have a few
minutes, I’d love to hear from you. I can be reached at
617(pause)358(pause)05(pause)42. Thank you for your time. Again, my
number is 617(pause)358(pause)05(pause)42 and my email is
[email protected]. That’s cm(as in Mary) n(as in Nancy) [email protected]
I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you so much.
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Where is the love?
 I’ve left three voicemails, different times of the day, 3
business days apart…and no reply.
 Now what?
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Be ready
 If they say, great, I have a few minutes now – be ready
with questions (samples next slide).
 Closing the call
 How do you ask for a referral?
 Ask how they prefer to be contacted
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
How can I let them know tastefully I’m
looking for an internship?
 You can, during the conversation, state that you’re
trying to decide which positions to apply to for your
summer internship so you want to learn more about
various positions in the industry.
 You can also ask, if I want to be a ______(eg: Portfolio
Manager) in a few years, what would position me best
during a summer internship next year?
 If I wanted to do what you’re doing in the future, what
internship position would you look for? Any particular
companies that would be your top choice?
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Questions for Informational Interviewing
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How did you know you wanted to be a ______?
What other positions did you consider?
What was your career path before you doing this?
What were your priorities in life when you decided this is what you
wanted to do? IE: money, family, personal time, etc?
How long have you been going this?
Do you like it as much as when you first started?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
What do you see as your biggest obstacle in the next 6 mos – 1
year?
What could be your biggest success if you accomplished it in the
next year?
continued……
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Questions for Informational Interviewing
 What advice do you have for someone with the academic
background and a little experience entering this field?
 What would you put on your reading list?
 What kind of project(s) would help me to best prepare for my career?
 What are the personal attributes you think someone needs to be
successful in a position like yours? What about at your company?
 Have you seen many changes in the field over the past few years?
 What do you see being the most desired skills and talents in the
industry to continue to contribute to it in the future?
 Is there anything you could have done differently that if possible,
you’d go back and change it?
 What has been your biggest success thus far?
continued……
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Questions for Informational Interviewing
 Did you have any failures(or difficult challenges) along the way?
Which ended up helping you the most?
 Who do you know that I could talk to that might also be
beneficial to learn more about this type of career?
 Would it be ok to stay in touch?
 Do you prefer phone or email? (if they say phone, ask: Is
there a best day and/or time of day to contact you?)
 I really appreciate your time, willingness to help, and expertise.
I look forward to staying in touch!
Be sure to show appreciation to the person
Taking time out of their life to help you!!!!!
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Stay organized
 I prefer software to track my network connections, like
ACT! but you can track your conversations and keep
notes in your contacts in Outlook or Excel.
 I tend to forget unless I have a tool that reminds me
it’s time to connect with someone.
 Immediately schedule follow up on your calendar and
be disciplined or if you use ACT!, then set up a follow
up activity in ACT!
 Make notes of your conversation and how you can
keep the conversation going.
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Digital Communication Goals
 Appropriate
 Correct level of “politeness”
 Elicit a response
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Greetings – First Communication
 Dear Sir/Madam --- Correct?
 Dear Nigro: Appropriate if you write to me?
Greetings – Follow up Communication
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How did the person respond?
Did they sign,
“Sincerely, Ms. Nigro” ????
Then don’t follow up, “Dear Ms. Nigro”
If I responded and signed off as “Cris”, then your next
email should be, “Dear Cris”
 Full name v. shorter name? ie: Michael v. Mike ?
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Closing and Signatures
 Kind regards
 Sincerely
 Very sincerely  Respectfully
 Most sincerely  Respectfully yours
 Warm regards
 Warmly,
Name at Bottom (email signatures)
 Initial Contact: First and Last name with full signature
of how to get in touch with you.
 Follow Up Contact: If you are addressing them by their
first name, then sign off with your first name only as well.
Match their formality. Maintain a full signature with your
full first and last name below that and full contact
information. It makes life easier for them so they don’t
have to look you up each time.
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Pitfalls
 Overly aggressive
 Turns off the reader
 Never order someone to do something…ask politely
 Never assume the person can respond right away –
ask to schedule something or what their timeframe for
response might be unless discussed prior
 Avoid the word “you” as it can sound like an attack
 Don’t demand, start sentences with “I would like”
 Do your best to sound neutral rather than
confrontational.
 Show you care and are interested in them
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Pitfalls
 Overly polite (who would think that would be a problem!?)
 Dead give away that you’re not comfortable or
understand work culture in the US – makes someone not
want to hire you.
 Keep your tone and manners in appropriate proportion to
tone sent to you. If you’re apologizing for something.
Say you’re sorry, and move on. No need to go into detail
about how you may have inconvenienced someone or
created something awful when all you did was respond
late to an email. (this is only for those who are
overpolite!...not the aggressives! )
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Do’s and Dont’s
 Use positive words, not negative words
 Examples of Negative words to avoid:
 Cannot
 Not
 Impossible  Unfortunately
 Damage  Problem  Little value  Unable to
 Do not
 Refuse  Loss
 Fail
 Error
 Stop
 Mistake
 Examples of Positive words to use:
 Benefit
 It is best to
 Matter
 Progress
 Success
 Valuable
 Issue
 Use “active voice” instead of “passive”
 Active: Employees need to wear safety glasses
 Passive: Safety goggles need to be worn by all employees
 Active: The department increased sales
 Passive: Sales were increased by the department
 Be Humble….amazing how far that can go
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Please respond to my email!
 Why you chose them
 Mention a sentence or two that shows why you are contacting them,
specifically.
 Show you did your homework
 If you’re asking for help, mention what you’ve done already. People tend
to help those that do their best to help themselves with more vigor.
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Please respond to my email! …cont’d.
 Uncommon commonalities
 Going to the same school, program, same hobbies, similar history of
some kind.
 Keep your request specific, short, and sweet
 Do not write a book. Keep it brief for all emails. People do not have
huge amounts of time to spend reading these days. Make it easy for
them to help you and respond to you.
 Express gratitude
 Studies have been done on the difference in actually receiving help by
expressing sincere gratitude. In this example the student solicited help
in two ways. The second solicitation included, “Thank you so much! I am
really grateful” – response rate went from 32% to 66%
 A little thanks goes a LONG way.
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Informational Interviewing & Digital Communication
Questions?
Help?
 What do you do if you get into a jam or need
help? Schedule an appointment with me!
[email protected] or 617-358-0542
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