Here’s some common advice for folks considering going to graduate school, especially PhD programs: “Talk to the professor’s current and former students.” I suspect you know the rationale behind this advice. It’s so you know what it’s really like to work with an advisor before you enroll.
After all, there’s only so much you can glean from faculty webpages, lab websites, social media, and publications. Talking to a real live person with direct experience working with someone can only help you make a more informed decision about what to do with the next few years of your life.
Now, think about informational interviews and networking. “Conduct a few informational interviews” is also common advice, this time for PhD job seekers. And, again, I think we can all understand why. It’s hard to really know how well a particular type of job might suit you based only on online research. Actually speaking with someone in the field is invaluable.
I shared this advice for prospective grad students analogy with a client today; it helped her better understand the value of doing informational interviews before launching into a full-blown job search. You don’t have to do them in order to get a job, but they make everything (hopefully!) go much smoother.
Success on the job
And the value of these conversations persists beyond just the job search. Consider how important it can be to talk to more experienced graduate students when you’re early in your PhD. They help you learn about the “hidden curriculum” of grad school and the unwritten norms of academic life more generally.
So too with informational interviews.
Being in active, regular conversation with folks working in a field helps you both enter and succeed in that field.
You’ll craft more compelling application materials, tell more meaningful stories in interviews, and better navigate your first weeks and months on the job. You’ll go in more knowledgeable and prepared than if you hadn’t done any of this valuable research ahead of time.