Informational Interview for Career Exploration- Terrapins Connect

What can I learn from an Informational Interview?

• Gain career information and advice about fields of interest or a particular organization.
• Learn how their organizations prefer to fill positions and implement that strategy.
• Learn about new trends in the field from professionals who are doing the things you want to do!
• Gain industry specific feedback on your application materials and the skills required.

Prepare for the assignment

Review the Terrapins Connect FAQs to become familiar with how to maneuver Terrapins Connect. Plan ahead. It may take up to a week to register for your Terrapins Connect account. 

• Prepare questions ahead of time to ask the alum (sample list) to ensure the conversation is robust. You will only have 30 minutes with the alum, so make the most of it.
• Be prepared to share some information about yourself. The alumni don’t have the benefit of seeing your LinkedIn profile, so they may be curious about your major, career interests, or past experiences.
• Be available during the agreed upon time.
• Express thanks for their time. Remember the alumni are volunteering their time!

Keep these points in mind:

• It is strongly recommended to contact only ONE alum at a time. This will help you make the scheduled meetings and manage your connections.
• This is primarily an informational gathering network. As such, direct questions like "do you have a job for me" or "how can I get hired with your organization" will not be appropriate.
• Respond to all emails promptly, even if it is to say that you will not know your schedule for a week.

Instructions

1. Sign in - Visit https://terrapinsconnect.umd.edu and click the “Join Your Community” button to get started. Select how you would like to sign up – via email, LinkedIn or single sign on through UMD. 
2. Search – Click “Community” on the top left side of the page. Then use the search box (located on the top of the page) to type in an organization you are interested in working for or a field of interest (e.g., community service, legal, intelligence, advocate) to locate an alum who matches your interests. You can also filter the alumni by major, industry, degree type, etc.
3. Select - Pick an alum in your field of interest and click “Message.” Terrapins Connect will create a template message for you. Be sure to fill in the blanks and customize your content!
4. Connect - Terrapins Connect will notify you when the person responds, or you can log into Terrapins Connect and check your messages. (Have a back-up alum in mind in case your advisor doesn’t respond - occasionally an advisor is on extended travel when a student first reaches out.) Note: You will see a "schedule meeting" button in your Terrapins Connect inbox, but we recommend you wait to hear back from the alum before initiating an appointment request. If you do use that feature, the system will create a conference call line for you both to use. Otherwise, you both may correspond through Terrapins Connect to find a mutual time and exchange other contact details such as a Zoom link, etc.
5. Develop ten questions (and have at least five more in reserve) to ask during the interview.
6. Call the phone number or log into Zoom/video platform link a couple of minutes before your scheduled time and choose a quiet location for the meeting.
7. During the meeting: listen attentively, ask a couple of your questions, take notes on their feedback.  

Evaluation

• Complete this Quiz AFTER the meeting to receive complete points.
• The assignment will be graded on the thought you put into the questions, timeliness and completeness.

For more information and additional resources, visit: careers.umd.edu