By Dmitri Vietze, Research Associate, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

SUMMER 1997 (archived information - please note the date of publication)

Who says your members can't serve themselves while serving the community? AmeriCorps members (and volunteers at any community agency) have a great opportunity to develop their next step--whether it is career, education, or continued service--while providing community service. And since most members and volunteers work with others involved in community efforts, there are ample "human resources" to tap.

One way to help your members tap into these resources is through informational interviews. An informational interview is an excellent tool for exploring new career, education, or service directions. It is useful when members are unsure of what they want to do, when they don't know who does what they want to do, or when they know what you want to do and want to figure out how to get there. An informational interview is a meeting with someone who can give them more information about their career or life journey. This is different from a job interview. At an informational interview, members try to find out how people first started doing the work they do, what they had to do to get the job, whether they like what they do and why, and what skills or qualities are necessary to be successful in their line of work.

Encourage your members to arrange informational interviews with people who do something they want to do some day, professors or students at a school they're interested in, someone who has started or coordinated a project in which they're interested, or people who are passionate about their work. Most people enjoy helping individuals engaged in community service.

Let your member know that if they go into an informational interview specifically to get a job, they will lose out on the opportunity to gain insightful information that may help on their life journey. If they ask, "But how do I get a job?" help them discover what their interests and skills are, with whom and under what circumstances they like to use those skills, and what organization could use their expertise or talents. Show them that becoming clear about what they want in the long-term will help them choose work now that will lead them in that direction. Encourage them to have faith in themselves; it's not necessary for them to accept the first job they are offered. They need to persist in job searching until finding something they really want to do.

Considerations and Tips for informational interviews to share with members

• Practice informational interviews by role-playing with a friend, and build up to an interview with an acquaintance about a mutual interest.
• Go to the interview prepared with questions to guide the conversation so you are able to gather the information you need.
• In the interview, ask for names and phone numbers of other people who might be able to help you continue the search for information needed to make an informed choice.
• Set up a three-ring binder for all your career ideas, interview notes, business cards, etc.
• Send a thank-you card after the interview shows you appreciate the person's time and also makes a favorable impression.
• Realize that your perfect job may not exist-you may have to create it. Informational interviews can help you figure out how to do this too.