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CAMP 3 – Informational Interview

Informational interviews are effective ways of learning about jobs and careers you may be interested in pursuing. An informational interview consists of meeting with a professional working in a career you are interested in and asking questions to learn about the career and what it is like to work in such a position.

Before scheduling an informational interview, do some research to determine which careers in psychology you are interested in pursuing. You can start with the information about careers in psychology that you have learned from the previous career activities in this course. Once you have an idea of which careers you would like to interview someone about, look up names and contact information for individual psychologists currently working in such careers. Search online or ask GSU Psychology faculty members for suggestions. You can conduct your interview with a GSU faculty member if he or she works in an area you are interested in, but you are encouraged to seek out psychologists outside of GSU – doing this will provide an opportunity to learn from someone other than your GSU professors and so you may learn something that you would otherwise miss. Note: You may NOT use the instructor for this course.

Approach the interview as you would an actual job interview. Do some more online research to learn about the position and specific organization or work setting that psychologist you would like to interview works in. Contact the individual you would like to interview, say that you are a student conducting informational interviews about careers in psychology, and ask if the person would be able to meet with you briefly (15 to 30 minutes) to answer some questions about the job and what it is like.

Think about and prepare the questions you will want to ask.

Here is a list of possible questions to ask:

1. What is the job/work like?

What do you do on a typical day?

What are the tasks and duties of the position and the time spent on each?

2. What do you find most challenging and rewarding about the work?

3. What are the lifestyle implications of this kind of work (salary, benefits, job security,

flexibility and autonomy, family life and life-work balance)?

4. What are the skills, training, experience, and credentials needed for such a position? How did you prepare yourself for this job and profession?

5. What kinds of classes or projects would help prepare me for this career?

6. What advice would you give to someone thinking about entering this career?

What do you think the job outlook is like in this area?

7. What would you suggest I can do to learn more about this type of career?

Is there another person working in this field who would be good for me to talk to

as well?

After conducting the interview, be sure to send a thank you note to the person you interviewed.

To complete this assignment, type an essay that addresses the following:

1. List the name, contact information of the person you interviewed, as well as the organization or setting where the person works.

2. Describe the research (such as searching online) and preparation you did before conducting the interview. (be sure to identify the sources used)

3. List the questions you asked and thoroughly present the responses you received from the person you interviewed. (this should be in question/answer format)

4. Now that you have learned more about the career you are interested in by doing an informational interview, describe some additional steps you can take to get further information about this career.

5. Conclusion and Summary: write a summary of what you have learned by doing this interview about the psychology career you are interested. Also, discuss how this new information has affected your thoughts about this career and your interest in pursuing it. Is there anything that you should consider doing while you are working on your degree (research, volunteer or paid work, other courses, preparation for different types of exams, so on)?

This paper should be typed in 12-point font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins.

The length of the paper should be at least two pages.