My friend who graduated last semester would say, “This is the last time that I’m going to [blank]” every time she did something for the last time. The last time she wrote an essay, took a certain bus, or did a presentation, a smile would spread across her face and she would say in a fake sad voice that it was the last time she was doing that thing as an undergrad.
A few years ago, I signed up for a networking website called Ten Thousand Coffees, which is basically a platform that connects career-seekers with industry professionals just to have an in-person or online conversation about what it’s like in the field.
Truthfully, after my initial sign-up, Ten Thousand Coffees dropped off my radar. Now that I’m graduating, I’m starting to realize how nifty it would be to actually talk to people who are working the jobs I hope to work in the future.
About a week ago, I learned that there is a name for these conversations—information interviews! An information interview is basically a conversation with an industry professional where you’re able to ask questions about the job they have in the interest of possibly working in that field in the future. Think of it like job shadowing, only through a brief conversation.
Initiating an information interview is entirely up to you. You can break this down into tasks and focus on one thing at a time. From what I’ve gathered in my readings, visiting the Career Centre website, and asking some friends, here are some tips on how to go about doing this.
I’d like to tell you that when I clicked the “Request Graduation” button on ROSI, four years’ worth of memories flashed before my eyes and I had a great slow-motion, nostalgic moment.
I’d like to tell you that I shared a screenshot of my intention to graduate on Facebook and got ALL the likes, or that when I saw the screen of my computer say, “You indicated earlier that you intend to graduate with a Honours Bachelor of Arts at the June 2016 Convocation,” I smiled and told my parents.
But in reality, when I decided to request graduation on a snowless December day, I was reminded to go into ROSI and click the button by someone else’s Facebook screenshot, so on ROSI I went.