Conduct an informational interview with someone who is working in a field that interests you. You may choose to conduct these with Wesleyan alumni or other industry professionals. For tips on getting started, see the Gordon Career Center website or ask your career advisor. Include a reflection on your experience here.
Recently, I interviewed Beyza Sema Koc who is currently a senior at Wesleyan. My career advisor, Holly Robinson, advised me to talk to her because she is going into the marketing industry after graduation and has taken multiple marketing-focused internships over her college career. I got dinner with her and I found it really exciting because she is in Psi U and we share many different interests.
First, I asked her about her various internships and her post-graduate plans; she told me about this past summer where she helped work on the Barbie movie marketing which took the media by storm. I loved hearing how they managed to pull off such great publicity and learn more about her passion for marketing.
Beyza told me how she used LinkedIn to her advantage and I was very inspired by her method; she uses LinkedIn premium and sends out a bunch of inmail to people in an industry you are interested in and goes on many calls with alumni and people of interest to learn more. Because she did this so often, she has learnt so much about networking, asking questions and for help and building relationships with people who may be of help.
I also asked her a lot about networking and how to reach out to alumni and she gave me incredible advice and questions I could use to ask alumni; she gave me great base questions to ask such as asking about their transition from college to professional life, how they feel about the industry or company they’re working in and what traits helped them most for having a successful career in the industry they’re in. I thought these questions were incredibly helpful and I can easily apply this to my next call with someone.
Overall, I had a great conversation with her and she is now a figure in my life that I can go to for advice, whether it be career-related or personal.
