About “informational interviews”.

 
     I want to say something about “informational interviews”.  (These ideas come from Bolles.)  It is not a part of “learning to write”, but I feel it should be included here.  An informational interview is an interview, where you meet someone from some company, and you talk about the company, and things related to it.  You are getting useful information.  It is NOT about trying to sell yourself to the company, so they will give you a job.  Most Human Resource people will be very resistant to anyone who walks into their office, looking for a job; the pressure is on them to select or reject the candidate... and what if they choose wrong?  If you are just there to learn about the company, then the interview has much less pressure to it. 
     You may ask, “Then why have informational interviews”?  If you want to work for a company, then you should be well-informed about all kinds of things related to that company.  You can read books and newspaper articles, you can follow the company’s development through observation, and you can have informational interviews.  An informed person, who knows what the company is about, is more valuable than “just anyone” off the street, who is looking for a job, in a company they know little about. 
     Here are a few reasons why it is good for you to have some informational interviews : (a) to “gauge” the market, and see where it is going; (b) to look around in society, and see what various people are doing, that might interest you; (c) to build better relationships (“guan xi”) with various people – although this is an “indirect” consequence; (d) to gain valuable experience in learning to how to have an interview. 
 
     As before, I will say, “Happy hunting”, but what does that mean?  Not only do I hope you will write better, or find a job, or whatever; I hope that you will have a “joy in the journey”.  Life is too long to be doing something that you hate doing; life is also too short not to be doing what you really want to do.  I hope that your writing development will be about you, and not about someone else (unless you are writing thousands of “love-letters”).  I hope that the job you find will be about what you want to do, and not just be about paying off the mortgage, and feeding ungrateful children.  Life is too short for that!  Happy hunting.