What Color Is Your Parachute? (13 page)

Talk with the youngest people you can find who are doing the jobs that interest you the most. Often, the people you will first be referred to are those considered successful in their field. They may be fifteen to twenty years older than you. They’ll have a lot of good information for you about their work, but you also need to find out how younger workers view this kind of job.

In the last several years there have been major changes in many industries and fields. Mid- and long-term workers in those fields may have had experiences very different from those of the newly hired. You need to know both perspectives to make a good decision about a possible career.

WHAT DO I SAY TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT?

Develop a “pitch.” Write a short script to introduce yourself to the person you’d like to interview. Here’s a sample:

Hi, my name is Megan. My father gave me your name because you own a mobile pet-care business. I like animals very much, and I’d like to learn more about businesses that involve pets. Could I make an appointment to talk with you about your work? I wouldn’t need more than fifteen minutes of your time.

People may want to know more about you, so be ready to add information about who you are and why you want to talk with them.

WHAT IF I FREEZE ON THE PHONE WHILE MAKING AN APPOINTMENT?

Have your script written out and in front of you when you call. If you experience a brain freeze, quickly refer to your script.

CAN I FIRST CONTACT SOMEONE WITH A NOTE?

If you don’t like the idea of calling someone you don’t know who doesn’t know you (in the sales field, this practice is known as “cold calling”), you can send them a note—through either the U.S. mail or email. Obviously, you will need to know their mailing or email address. The Internet and adults you know can help you learn this information. Mention in your email that you will follow up with a phone call to set up an appointment—and be sure to make that follow-up call. Here is a sample of a written request:

Dear Amanda Ruiz:

My name is Taneesha Jones. I am currently studying mechanical engineering and robotics at Tidewater Community College. My robotics teacher showed me an article on bionic limbs that you had written for LiveScience.com. My ultimate career goal is to assist in creating new medical equipment that will help people regain their mobility after spinal injuries. I would like to work for a year or two before transferring to a university.

I know you must be very busy, but I am hoping you can spare twenty minutes to talk with me about your career. I would also like your suggestions as to what entry-level jobs I might qualify for and what college major might best prepare me for future jobs.

If you would reply with some convenient times that I might phone you to set up an appointment, I would be very grateful.

Sincerely, Taneesha Jones

WILL SOMEONE ACTUALLY SEE ME?

Yes. Not everyone will say yes, of course, but if you speak courteously when requesting an appointment, communicate clearly what you want from them, and show gratitude for their time, about eight out of ten people will talk to you.

In general, people love to talk about themselves. Also, most of them remember being in high school and not having a clue about how to get a job. Many of those who do talk with you will be very impressed that you’re doing research to learn about jobs that will be a good fit for you. Those who are impressed will be very helpful.

And if they like what they do, you’ll probably have to work hard to keep the conversation on track so you can ask all your questions in just fifteen minutes! To keep your interviewees on track, tell them at the beginning of your interview that you have five or six questions. To keep your appointment within fifteen to twenty minutes, they’ll have just two minutes per question. If they want, they can invite you to stay a bit longer.

When you go for the interview, be sure to show up on time and be organized. Have your questions ready, and come prepared to take notes about their answers.

WHY WILL BUSY ADULTS AGREE TO MEET WITH ME?

As a student researching your career goals, you’ve got the Wow factor. Adults know that it may take working at several jobs before you find the best fit, and they will be impressed that you are doing this kind of research to find your first career path. Don’t be surprised if some of those you interview say things like, “Wow, I’m so impressed you are taking the time to find a good job fit” or “Wow, I wish I had done this kind of career investigation when I was your age.”

DO I HAVE TO GO ALONE?

No. You can have one of your parents, grandparents, or another adult go with you until you feel comfortable on your own. You can also take a friend with you. Be sure to choose one who knows how to behave in business situations and won’t embarrass you. If you want someone to go with you, though, it’s
good business etiquette to ask the person you’re interviewing whether that’s OK. Don’t just show up with another person.

WHAT SHOULD I ASK THE PERSON I’M INTERVIEWING?

You may have specific questions you want to ask, or questions may arise during the interview. That’s great, but be sure you ask the following five questions, which will give you a good sense of what the job is really like and how you can get a job like this:

  1. How did you get into your job? What kind of training or education did you have?

  2. What three to five tasks do you do most often? How often? What skills are necessary to do these tasks?

  3. What do you like about your job? What don’t you like about your job?

  4. What do you see happening in your field of work in the next five to ten years?

  5. Do you know someone else doing this (or similar) work with whom I could talk?

As you listen to the person’s answers, take notes. (You can do this when you read about jobs too.) Divide the information into the same categories as those on
My Parachute
. For example, if you’re interviewing Dr. Kelly, a veterinarian, you may start by asking her, “How did you get into your job?” She may answer, “Well, I’ve loved animals since I was a little kid. I always had cats, dogs, birds, horses, and all kinds of other pets. Whenever one of them got hurt, I’d calm them down, clean out the wound—if it wasn’t too serious—and help them heal. I always thought it would be great to be able to help animals all the time when I grew up, so I became a veterinarian.”

In her answer, Dr. Kelly told you about her interest in animals and the skills she had working with them. So in Dr. Kelly’s parachute, under
My Favorite Interests
, you would write “caring for animals” and under
My Best Transferable Skills
, you’d write “calming animals and cleaning their wounds.”

Later in your interview, Dr. Kelly may mention that it’s important for her to work with people who are compassionate and who love animals (
My Favorite Types of People
). She may also say that she chose to become a large-animal veterinarian, working mainly with horses, cattle, and sheep, because she loves
to work outside (
My Ideal Work Environment
) and live in a rural area where people—ranchers, cowhands, farmers—work with animals for a living (
My Ideal Community
).

Having the information in the same categories as your own parachute will make it easier for you to compare the interviewee’s parachute with yours. This way of organizing the information you get about various jobs allows you to see where your parachute and theirs are the same and where they’re different.

One of the most important questions you can ask the people you interview is the last one: “Do you know someone else doing this (or similar) work with whom I could talk?” Dr. Kelly, for instance, might give you the name of a small-animal veterinarian, a zoo or racetrack veterinarian, and a veterinary technician. By asking for names of other people to talk with, you create additional contacts. If you get two or three names from each person you talk to, you’ll soon have a huge resource for learning about jobs you might like. You’ll also be making contacts that may be useful later on in your job search.

Of course, it makes no sense to follow up and interview additional people when it’s clear that you really aren’t interested in what they do. For example, you might decide, after interviewing Dr. Kelly and another veterinarian, that you really don’t want to have to go through all the years of school and all those science classes to work with animals. But the idea of being a veterinary technician is very appealing, so you could then interview two or three more vet techs.

Once you know that a particular career or type of work doesn’t match your parachute, or overlaps only a little bit, how do you find people whose work may suit you better? The
Job Meter can help you formulate questions that will lead you to jobs that better match your parachute.

Using the Job Meter

The Job Meter, which is the creation of
Marty Nemko, PhD, helps you find people whose work is closer to what you want to do. (You can find more of Dr. Nemko’s brilliant ideas at
www.martynemko.com
.) Here’s how to use the Job Meter:

  1. As you think about a job or listen to someone describe theirs, give the job a
rating on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = awful; 10 = perfect).

  2. If you rate the job less than 9, ask yourself, “What would have to be different about this job in order for it to be a 10?”

  
3. If you’re in an information interview, describe how the job of your dreams differs from the job of the person you’re talking with. Try to do so without sounding rude; for example, don’t say, “Your job sounds really awful!” Ask if the interviewee knows someone whose job is more like what you’re looking for.

A SAMPLE JOB METER

Eric is seventeen. Last week he did an information interview with Steve, a stockbroker. Eric gave that job a rank of 3 on his Job Meter. It did involve math, analysis of information, and using numbers as a reasoning tool—some of Eric’s best skills. But Steve worked in a high-rise building downtown, the work environment was very formal, and his colleagues—who looked stressed-out—worked in little offices. None of this appealed to Eric.

Today Eric is meeting with his mom’s cousin Leah. She’s barely thirty and has her own small business as a certified public accountant (CPA). She works in an old house that’s been converted into office suites. The surrounding neighborhood has big, leafy trees and a couple of outdoor cafés. Leah’s workplace feels much more comfortable to Eric than the stockbroker’s office. After listening to Leah describe what she does, Eric decides to tell her about the Job Meter, an idea a teacher had explained in a career-planning class. He asks Leah what rating she’d give her job.

“A 9.9,” she flashed back at him. “What do you think of it?”

Eric hesitated, then answered, “Maybe a 5 or 6. My teacher said that a job needs to be at least an 8 to be a good career target.”

Luckily Leah wasn’t insulted. She smiled and asked, “What would have to be different about the job for it to be a 9 or 10 for you?”

“I’m not sure I want to have my own business or lots of people as clients. I think I’d like to use my math to gather information and write reports that would go to a boss or one client. And both you and Steve, the stockbroker I interviewed last week, spend a lot of time meeting new people. I guess that’s to expand your business?”

“Yes. I belong to a service club, a community business group, and a women’s professional organization. I review the annual taxes for the preschool my son goes to, and I’ve volunteered to be the treasurer for the co-op kindergarten he’ll attend next year. I’d like to think I’m more subtle than wearing a button that says, ‘I’m a CPA and I need your business,’ but I’m constantly looking for ways to meet people who may need my services.”