I did my first informative interview today! I learned a lot! It was a breakthrough for me and I\’m very proud of myself.
An informational interview is usually a very casual conversation that takes about 30 minutes, at which time you can ask questions about the interviewee\’s career path or job position, or anything you want to learn from them.
I was super nervous, but it turned out that he was super nice and the conversation went well. I have a bigger picture and a clearer vision about my future plan as well as my focus of skill sets and my personal growth. It\’s like he has demonstrated me a way of getting somewhere that I would like to be, his past experience is like some reference that is supporting my future planning, which is so great. Through the conversation, I have modifyied my plans, and also spotted other possible options as well. It\’s very helpful.
Two things that I most impressed of.
A) In big companies, you should be able to make yourself visible.
You have to be able to let you senior manager or developer to know what you have done, and what you have done in important and crutial.
B) It\’s good to know something about the system design, to understan how things work together.
You might be handling some specific tasks in big companies, and you are going to be stuck there. It would be much better if you know what is happening in the business, what\’s the connection between your project and the whole industry and many other aspects. The deeper your insight is, the less confused you get when you are doing your job.