I’m not messing around with the title this week, because this is a serious post. I’m writing this blog because I want to help all my readers in their respective internship searches. I promise it’s not all as scary as it seems. Take informational interviews for example. You may be stressing: How do I find someone to talk to? What do I ask? What should I do with that information? What IS an informational interview?

Well, for those of you who don’t know, it’s “a meeting in which a job seeker asks for advice rather than employment.” (Thanks, Wikipedia!) They’re useful for finding out about a specific job, field, company, or individual. For example, if you know you want to get into health care but you’re not sure which direction you want to go, you might set up information interviews with people who work in fields: dermatology, surgeons, pediatrics, nursing, pharmaceuticals, etc.

So how do you get started? Let me tell you what I’ve been up to in the last week.

I mentioned that I contacted a number of alumnae through life connections. Within two days, three had got back to me. As if that was overwhelmingly awesome enough, I set up two informational interviews for the weekend and the third didn’t have time to talk on the phone but told me to e-mail her any questions I have and she would get back to me. In case I ever forget, this is why I love Scripps.

Before I go on, a quick plug: CP&R’s website has an amazing section called “networking” that talks a good deal about informational interviews including how to set one up, what to ask, etc. Please do check it out; it really helped me.

My first information interview was with a 2004 grad who also majored in International Relations. She worked on the Hill in DC until recently; she is now in New York but still working in politics. Although DC life was not for her, she had some good advice for me about finding a summer internship on the Hill and calmed my fears of not finding anything. She told me about some of the specific day-to-day tasks of her old job and what she liked better about her new one. We had different interests, so her Hill career sounded amazing to me.

My second interview was with a 2005 grad who, until recently, was a lobbyist and is now a project manager at a company that works with nonprofits. She told me how badly she wished she had the power to hire interns, but she did help me in a big way. She passed on my resume and information (along with amazing praise – just from a half-hour phone conversation!) to some other alums who might be able to help me. One of those alums got her current job through an older Scripps alumna in Washington DC. I’m thinking: pass it on!

I’m following the advice of both of these women and starting to contact Hill staffers. I’m now following Gabrielle Giffords (a Scripps alum and Arizona congresswoman) on Twitter and desperately trying to get in contact with her – even to just schedule another informational interview.

These sorts of interviews aren’t the kind to get you a job. They are, on the other hand, great if you need another push, some direction, or just help figuring out what to do next. As for me, I’ve got some phone calls to make. With so much Scripps support, how could DC not happen for me at this point?