Info & advice on Insidery calls

How do Insidery calls work?

Insidery calls are a form of what is called informational interviewing: finding out specific information about a particular industry or role you're interested in from someone who's already established in that field.

Some of the benefits are:

• Get firsthand, relevant information about the realities of working within a particular field, industry or position.

• Find out about career paths you did not know existed.

• Get tips and insider knowledge about how to prepare for and land your first career position.

• Learn what it’s like to work at a specific organisation.

• Initiate a professional relationship and expand your network of contacts in a specific career field.

The Insiders may have significant projects happening, and may not be able to connect as quickly as you need. Provide a number of alternative times that the insider can be in touch with you so that they can work it into their schedules. If you’re still struggling to find appropriate meeting times please get in touch with us at careers@commscouncil.nz

How to prepare for your Insider call?

Here’s a quick checklist to help you get the most out of your Insidery call:

• Do some research: Look into the Insider’s profile on Insidery, and any links provided to their LinkedIn pages, company websites, or portfolios. This will give you some context, and help get some of the questions you might have about them out of the way.

• Prepare a list of specific open-ended questions: Before you’re connected with your Insider, we’ll ask you to prepare a short list of questions. This is so they can prepare ahead of time too. See more on the kinds of questions to ask below.

• Be your authentic self: Your Insiders are here to help you, and because this isn’t a job interview you don’t need to worry about coming across a certain way. Try to be relaxed and yourself, and you’ll both get more out of the session.

For the best informational interviews that help you get the most out of the call/meeting as you can, focus on questions that are:

• Specific: Try to get into the more insightful conversations that will help you figure out if your Insider’s job is right for you, or the pathway you could take to get into it. Avoid things that are too general and surface level, or could be answered with a Google search or looking at the Insider’s LinkedIn.

• Open-ended: Get your Insider talking and sharing their experiences, perspectives, and insights. Asking yes/no questions won’t give you a great depth of answers.

• Honest: Insiders have all agreed to give you their honest perspectives and help you truly figure out the best pathway for you. If you’re comfortable to, don’t be afraid to ask questions about the good and bad things in their job or industry (e.g., What’s the hardest part of your job? Or the part of your job that you would change?), or about specific parts of your/their experience (e.g., What is it like in your industry for people of my gender/ethnicity?).

Example questions:

About the job:

• Could you describe what you do on a day-to-day basis; what are your main tasks?

• What are the things you most like about your work?

• Which part of the job is most challenging for you? Why?

• What are the most important skills needed to do this work well?

• What personal attributes do you think are essential to succeed in your role?

• What experiences have you had that you think have been valuable to your learning?

• What was your career path to now?

• What drew you to your organisation?

• What training opportunities could I expect in an entry-level position?

• What is one piece of advice you would give to someone starting up?

• What is the hardest part of the job?

• How does an agency work as far as departments and who works with who?/ departmental hierarchy

• What is the typical client like? and what are common issues/challenges with clients?

• What is expected of you in your first year in the industry?