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Before leaving for winter break, I went in for an appointment with a career counselor. With the reality that my days at Cal as a student were numbered, the pressure to figure out my post-graduation plans increased dramatically.

Like many of you, I have an idea, although a foggy one, of what I want to do after I graduate. So, I figured informational interviews would be a good place to start since they would give me a better idea of what kind of opportunities are out there, what it might be like to work in various fields, and perhaps clear up the "foggy" vision I have of my career path. This motivated me to set up some informational interviews.

Now back to my appointment with a career counselor: when I told her how my goal during the break was to get in touch with some alumni on the east coast for some informational interviews, she gave me contact info for an alum in NYC. I flew back home, and as luck would have it, my older sister (who graduated from Boston University) had some contacts for me as well. So just to keep myself occupied, I sent an "exploratory" email out to these people asking whether the alums would be up for an informational interview and wondered whether they would reply back. They ended up getting back to me sooner than I thought, and I began setting up appointments to speak with them.

My first contact was with a Cal alum who moved to NYC after she graduated in 2003. It was somewhat intimidating at first to talk to her. I had never done an informational interview before. I didn't necessarily know what to ask, and it just seemed a bit awkward to get "advice" from a virtual stranger. However, the alum was super, super nice. Before setting up a time to talk on the phone, we exchanged a few emails. She wrote a very detailed email about herself, her experiences, and a little bit about what she was currently doing. This helped a lot since I was able to prepare a list of topics and questions based on what she told me. What also worked out well was sending my resume to her before we chatted. This allowed her to have an idea of some of the things I was involved in before we talked. The conversation on the phone was quite pleasant too. She not only gave some great advice, she also referred me to other great resources that helped her with the job search, including the @cal Career Network.

The @cal Career Network is one of the best kept secrets in Berkeley. This is a network of Cal alums, ranging from people who recently graduated with their bachelors to those who earned their PhD and/or have a lifetime worth of experiences. The best part is that alums who sign up for the Career Network are open and willing to take time out of their busy schedule to talk to people like you! This is not reverse psychology, where they say they want to help you when they actually don't. Based on my experience, they really want to help!

Going into my first @cal informational interview, I really didn't know what I should expect. During a conversation with an alum who got his masters at Cal, I got some great advice about informational interviews. As you may have read during your preparation for these kinds of interviews, one of the caveats behind the informational interview is that you should not ask for a job directly or even for help getting a job. Your goal, said the alum, is to come away with one piece of advice or one contact from the person and move on from there. His theory was that if you get connected with one person, that person can connect you with someone else, and then, hopefully, when all is said and done, you eventually are talking to someone who has a job opening that they can offer.

Even if you don't get another contact, getting something as simple as a referral to a resource or just an anecdote can help in many ways. Take for instance this example. One alum, who got her job via networking through the @cal Career Network (see how awesome it is?), gave me some advice that on all e-mails you send out for an informational interview that you write "Go Bears!" at the end of it. She theorized that by putting those words at the end of the e-mail, alums suddenly get nostalgic about Cal, remember the "good old days," and feel compelled to take that extra step to help you. And guess what? It does do that. During future e-mails requesting informational interviews, I included "Go Bears!" and I've gotten several replies from alums "wanting to help their fellow Golden Bears."

Some final suggestions on how to maximize your usage of the @cal Career Network:

1. Use it! It's linked right off the Career Center homepage.
2. While searching for alums, think broadly! Suppose you're an MCB major. Think about searching for people involved in life sciences rather than a specific enzyme. Not only will you get a larger list of alums this way, you'll also get multiple perspectives on a particular field from people who work in different parts of it. Don't be afraid to contact alums who graduated long ago or just did their masters or PhD here. We're all part of the same family!
3. Include "Go Bears!" in your e-mail (see above).
4. After establishing contact, you may want to forward your resume before you chat with the alum. This will give them some background information and creates the opportunity for them to forward it to other people in the future.
5. Do a little research on the company and general career field before you chat. This will maximize your time, make you sound intelligent, serious, and best of all, will impress an alum.
6. Try your best to schedule a face-to-face interview or a phone interview. Although e-mails are probably most convenient, the spontaneity of live conversation allows you to ask follow up questions right away and get more info.
7. Be yourself! Ask about what interests you! After asking a series of questions about the career field, I realized that one alum and I both worked as CalSO counselors. We ended up digressing a bit and talking about our experiences with the organization and about the mutual people that we knew.
8. Thank the alum! They have taken time out of their schedule to help you, so it's the least you can do.

Go Bears!