My First Informational Interview Was a Disaster
During my undergraduate years, I had my first (and worst) informational interview.
Informational interviews are a widely recommended tool for career exploration, but that wasn’t always the case for me during my undergraduate years. Early on in my career, I knew little about the power of using informational interviews for networking and career exploration.
Around 2018–2019, I had a strong interest in film production. I arranged an in-person informational interview at a film studio in Las Colinas, Texas.
During the interview, I sat down in the office with someone in charge of the studio.
I was grilled with a number of questions about film production terminology, including “What is an apple box?” (That one stuck with me for some reason.)
I remember the experience feeling overwhelmingly negative. I left embarrassed and felt like I knew nothing about the field.
As an anxious and shy undergraduate, I felt completely defeated. I vowed to avoid doing any more informational interviews to spare myself further embarrassment, and instead just “follow my passions,” and wanted to prove them wrong.
In hindsight, I wish I had continued doing informational interviews with people not just in the film industry, but also in related fields like marketing, advertising, and beyond.
What I’ve come to realize is that insular thinking - focusing too narrowly on a single career path - caused me to overlook other valuable opportunities.
Asking questions and staying curious are central to career exploration.
When you're convinced you have it all figured out, or you're trying to prove something to others, it can distort the way you approach networking. The fear of being rejected or doing a path that was different from what I knew was too much at the time.
I kept myself confined to a small circle of film school friends, so it's no surprise I ended up pursuing a master’s degree in film studies.
To help transitioning academics and anyone else looking to pivot their career, I created a resource about informational interviews. This has been shared before, but it's time for some updates - specifically expanding the content to be more inclusive of anyone exploring new career paths, not just those with PhDs.
This resource offers practical tips, personal insights, and a growing list of tools to help you confidently reach out, ask better questions, and build a network that supports your transition beyond academia.
See the latest update of the informational interview here.
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Alt-Ac Career Coach Needs More Survey Respondents
I’m doing a survey of people’s perceptions of career coaches. I have only 8 responses so far, I’d love to have more responses in order to share the results. All anonymous.
Please see the purpose of the survey here: The goal of this anonymous survey is to better understand perceptions of online alt-ac career coaches. Many individuals seek paid coaching services to help accelerate their job search, and I want to gain insight into how the broader community views career coaches and their role in this transition, since opinions seem to differ.
Looking For a New Job?
If you’re currently looking for a new role outside academia, please reach out Ryan Collins PhD on LinkedIn or email afteryourphd@gmail.com. I’ll gladly include a free help wanted posting in the After Your PhD newsletter to help get your name out there!
Ways To Support After Your PhD
After Your PhD was founded in 2021 as a way to help other academics transition into new career paths. This isn’t my full-time job, but I do appreciate any help in supporting my efforts.
Try out paid membership from one of my trusted partners, HigherEd+ if you are interested in upskilling or exploring new career paths.
To obtain $20 OFF any HigherEd+ Unlimited Membership (gaining access to this program and all 200+ courses), use the coupon code: AFTERPHD20
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