I recently completed an assignment for my Careers and Placement class where we conducted an Informational Interview. Essentially, we call up a pro in our industry and ask them for a few minutes of their time to talk about themselves, their career, and any other tidbits of information that young grass hoppers like ourselves could use as we enter the work force.
I stumbled upon Natasha Koiffman through a retweet on Twitter. After learning more about NKPR, I decided I wanted to interview someone on the inside, ideally Ms. Koiffman. I was just so impressed with the company’s work (not to mention the website is awesome). I figured it needed to get done at some point, so I logged out of Facebook, Twitter, and turned away from the crowd in student lounge to prevent myself from continuing to people-watch (So.Distracting).
I decided to go about doing this in the most efficient way possible; I went to NatashaKPR's About Us page, and resorted to calling every single extension on the list until someone picked up, or called back. I would have loved to speak with Natasha herself, but apparently so does everyone else so her number isn’t public. Understandable.
I managed to get Rebecca Kogon, an Executive Account Manager, on the phone. Her bio on the site describes her as a talented, outgoing multi-tasker with a background in PR. The interview was short and sweet, but I got a really good feel for the kind of person she is, and how she landed such a prestigious position being relatively new to the industry. The best advice I got from her interview was to volunteer- so I guess I’ll do a whole lot of that!
Did the assignment seem slightly awkward? Yes. Did I take anything away from it? Absolutely. Thanks for the assignment, Kathy.
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