Mission 5 Part Two Meet for Coffee

#cnc2018 #career #careerdevelopment

Last week, part one was all about the prep to getting ready for your coffee chat. This post introduced Mission 5 and the objective. It explained informational interviews and how they benefit everyone involved. Finally, you started on three action items to help you start getting ready for your coffee chat.

Today is part two of this mission. If you need a quick refresh of part one, the post is at the link below in the CNC2018 Get a Job series here on DEV. Remember if you need any help or have any questions, let us know in the chat and we'll help you out as well as cheer you on with your coffee chat.

The Night Before an Informational Interview

You have now made it to your last full day of practice. So make sure you do one final practice run of your elevator pitch and the stories we discussed the last post. There are some other things you will want to do tonight so you are ready for tomorrow:

Regardless of what you pick to wear, try it on and look at yourself in the mirror. Ask yourself the following questions below as you look yourself over. If you still are stuck on what to wear, Code Newbie recommends participants look at your contact's website. That will give you an idea of what their general style is then try to match that with what you are wearing.

a. Is it clean? (If not, clean it.)
b. Is it wrinkled? (iron it if need be or use hot steam from your shower to help get out the wrinkles)
c. Is it comfortable?

Double-check to make sure your laptop (especially for those doing Zoom chats!). If you plan on showing a project or looking something up during the chat, you might want to bookmark or put these items in places you can find them quickly on your laptop.
a. Is your laptop fully charged? Make sure you charge your laptop before the meeting or bring your charger with you.
b. Are you able to close out of applications on windows (i.e. the ones that autoplay or can be embarrassing if they pop up on the screen)? Make sure those are closed.
Make sure any projects you want to show are ready. Look over the code and check to see if a site is able to load in another tab on your browser.
Practice your elevator pitch one final time. Now you can practice as much as you want. Code Newbie suggests practicing 10 times or until it is boring. That's a sign you're ready. Code Newie encourages participants to practice their pitch when they are doing a routine task (i.e. washing dishes, laundry, etc.). This will give you a great way to practice so you will know it very well by the day of your coffee chat. Especially when you get the question "tell me about yourself" comes up.
Affirmations and positive thinking are great confidence boosters. Code Newbie recommends writing down 3 reasons why you a great hire for the job you want. You can write this down in your Notes app on your phone or jot a few things down on a piece of paper. You can put this piece of paper in your laptop bag, wallet, or purse.
You will want to bring a notebook to jot down notes during your conversation. Make sure you bring a working pen (or several).

In Person Coffee Chats

You will want to plan out your route to the meeting spot you two agreed on. So bust out Google Maps to see where it is. It is a good idea to leave 15 minutes earlier than you think since anything could happen on the day of the meeting and it is best to be prepared for anything.
Figure out what you want to wear. Code Newbie encourages participants to look like "a mature individual that is well organized and takes good care of themselves". Business casual is not a bad way to go (especially meeting with another developer). However, when in doubt, always dress professionally as you possibly can.
make sure your laptop is in a messenger bag or briefcase. If you are using a mouse or a power cord, make sure those are all in your bag too.
Are there any objectionable stickers on your laptop or bag? Double-check both items then cover up or remove ones that aren't appropriate.
you are already planning on getting to the meeting spot early. When you get there, make sure you get a great for the two of you. If you are at a coffee shop, you can order something if you are early enough. If you aren't sure if you are getting something or not, plan on getting there even earlier or look at the menu the night before. If there's a long line, ask your contact if they would like something and order it for them so you make the most of your time on the chat.

Virtual Coffee Chats

If you are meeting on Zoom, you want to make sure you have a link to your Zoom meeting ready to go and have that sent to your contact so they can login.
You will want to make sure everything is updated and working. So test your microphone, cameras, and more here too.
If you are doing a Zoom chat, wear a professional-looking top.

Coffe Chat Day

It is the day of your informational interview. All your prep is paying for this moment. Regardless if you are meeting in person or on Zoom, Code Newbie recommends taking some deep breaths.

Remember those 3 affirmations you wrote down yesterday? Before your meeting, read each of them to yourself. Doing this will remind you why you would be an awesome candidate for any job.

Post Meeting

Congratulations! You made it through the interview. Now it is time to do the last-minute steps to wrap everything up.

1. First, take the notes you wrote during the conversation and synthesize what you wrote. You are taking what you wrote during the conversation and reviewing it over, breaking it down even further. This is where you will write down things you learned, things you might have missed, or any takeways you got from the conversation.

Do this for 5 minutes. You can do this in an email or with paper and pencil. The goal here is to have bullet points of what you learned from your chat. Code Newbie put together a list of questions to help you reflect on your chat.

What do you like about this person’s job?
What do you like about their company?
What did you learn about their hiring process?
What skills do you need to focus on to be an asset to this employer?
Did any part of the conversation surprise you? Were there any deal breakers that made you no longer interested in this company? Was there anything that left you with a gut feeling of unease?
Which questions that you asked were most helpful? Make a note to ask these again in future coffee chats.
Which questions didn’t work as well as you had hoped? Make a note to skip these next time.
What was their reaction to your story? Was there anything they wanted to learn more about? Anything that made them confused or skeptical? Use this information to adjust and redefine your pitch and your three stories for the future.
What was their reaction to your story? Was there anything they wanted to learn more about? Anything that made them confused or skeptical? Use this information to adjust and refine your pitch and your three stories for the future.
What feedback did they give you about your skills? Did they make helpful suggestions of what you might want to do differently, or can work on? Anything they were impressed by?
Based on their feedback, how do you feel about your prospects of getting a job at their company (or a similar company) in the near future?

2. Send a thank you email.

Code Newbie recommends sending an email within 2 days of your informational interview. You will want to:

say your name
say thank you
mention one of the takeaways you took from the conversation.

Want an extra tip? Code Newbie advises participants to find a relevant piece of content their contact would find interesting and put it in your note. Especially if it is something you talked about during your coffee chat.

Self Care Corner

Interviewing is intimidating. It can be very scary for new developers since talking to senior developers can feel like you are talking to a coding superstar. However, senior developers feel anxious too.

Talking to new developers puts pressure on them to make sure they are giving the right information to people coming into the industry. Impostor syndrome can often pop up at these moments. So they are just as nervous as you too.

Code Newbie advises all developers to use guided meditation if they are feeling anxious. Meditation centers the mind so people feel much more present and calm. There are apps you can download to practice mindfulness for a few moments so you can get centered or you can watch videos on YouTube. Some good apps Code Newbie recommends are Headspace, Insight Timer, and Aura.

Conclusion

You should have completed your first informational interview now. Let us know in the chat how things went. Now it is on to the next interview so let's repeat the process again for the next one.

Once you have finished all your coffee chats, you're ready to put together your resume. The next mission is where you will take everything you learned and put it all together to create your resume.