As a student finishing her last lap of college, the fear of finding a job is beginning to set in. I am quickly realizing that even though I am eager to get a job, employers will not be able to help much knowing that I can not start working for them for another six months. So, in the meantime, I am learning the art of social networking. I began this endeavor by creating a list of companies that struck my fancy. All I wanted to do was pick some professionals brains; I wanted to know more of what it would be like to step in their shoes.

I quickly learned that what I was doing was something called informational interviews. Now, these are different from a professional, job-seeking career interview, because the professional will not be hiring you, and to be honest you are mainly running the show. That is why you have to come prepared and with an aim in mind. I have found this to be one of the most valuable resources to honing in on what professional path you want to take, as well as, expanding your web of contacts for the future.

Do some digging.

I like to call this stage the Contact Us page. What does this mean? Ensue the stalking. Jump on a company's website and sift through their pages. You are going to be looking for anything like the About Us, Contact Us, or Involvement page. These sorts of tabs will lead you to the people you will want to get in contact with about your questions.

Send the email.

Before you click send -- make sure you know who you are talking to. It is important to know a little bit about the company and the person to which you are speaking. Tip: if you are setting up multiple informational interviews, make the email to this employee professional and personalized. Read it out loud, and be detailed in the fact that you know what you are talking about, now merely copying and pasting each email to the next.

Be proactive.

Once you have hit send, this does not mean the ball is out of your court. Now be patient. You may have to wait for a few days- but that just means you have more time to do your research. After 8 days have gone by and you still have not heard anything... it is appropriate to send a follow-up e-mail to reach out again.

Be prepared.

At this point, number four (above) only applies to you once you have the hook and a lead on a time to meet in the works. By this point, you have been in contact with this professional and it is important to stay on top of your emails. If you expect for this employee to give you the time of day, it is a must that you are willing to give your time to respond in a prompt manner. Between now and your meeting, prepare. Plan where and when you are going to meet. Some ideas could be... a coffee shop, a school library, the professionals office building. And you can begin thinking of questions. What is it that you want to know?

Be punctual.

Self explanatory. Don’t forget your meeting. Write it down, highlight it, put it in your phone. Show up a few minutes early and be grateful for the time before you?

Ask questions.

Remember, this time is only what you make of it. Questions do not have to be robotic, this may simply be: what does your day to day look like? How did you find yourself in this career? Do you see growth in this field? This may be as general or specific as you wish. You will find that this is a noticeable time where a relationship will form.

Follow-up.

After your meeting, be sure to say thank you, however, be sure to send your thank you, as well. Before you forget, take a minute, pull out a pen and paper and write this person a thank you note. This handwritten note will go a long way and you will be surprised what kind of bridge this will form for a future contact reference.

I hope this serves you well and you find informational interviews to be a valuable resource for you.