You will hold three conversations with people in your target field and record what you learned.
Reading about informational conversations is easy. Having them is harder, mostly because the first message feels like a bigger step than it is. This exercise is where you stop preparing and hold three real conversations with people in your target field, then use what you learn to update the direction shortlist you made in lesson 1.4, Shortlist your directions.
Expect it to take about forty-five minutes of your own time, spread across a few weeks of calendar time while you wait for replies and fit around other people's schedules.
Pick three people from your network map in lesson 7.1, You already have a network, or people you were introduced to. Choose them at different levels, because each sees the field from a different angle.
The first should be someone a year or two ahead of you in the role you want. They remember what it was like to get in, and they can tell you what the first year is really like.
The second should be someone more senior, such as a team lead or manager in the field. They know what employers look for, how hiring decisions are made and where the field is heading.
The third should be someone who switched in from another career. They can tell you which parts of their old experience counted, what they had to learn and what they would do differently.
Arjun's three were Priya, a former teaching colleague now two years into learning and development at a hospital group; Marcus, who leads a training team at a bank; and a woman Marcus introduced him to who had moved from nursing into clinical education.
Send each person a short request, using the approach in lesson 7.2, Ask for twenty minutes of advice: how you found them, why their path interests you, and a request for twenty minutes.
Before each conversation, prepare three or four questions suited to that person's level. For the person a year or two ahead, ask about getting in and the first year. For the senior person, ask what they look for when hiring and what separates good candidates from the rest. For the switcher, ask what transferred and what did not.
During each conversation, listen more than you talk. A good rough target is that they speak for most of the time. Resist the urge to tell your whole story. A sentence or two on your background is enough for them to tailor their advice. Keep to time.
At the end of every conversation, ask who else you should talk to, as lesson 7.2 recommended. You are not obliged to follow up every name, but asking keeps the chain going. Three conversations that each produce one more name give you a pipeline of people to talk to over the next month.
Arjun's conversation with Marcus produced the introduction to the clinical educator. His conversation with Priya produced the name of an e-learning designer at a consultancy, which opened a direction he had not considered at all.
Write your notes within an hour of each conversation, while the details are fresh. Memory fades fast, and the specific phrases people use are often the most useful thing you take away.
Aim for about half a page per conversation, under four headings: what they said about the work, what they said about getting in, anything that surprised you, and names or next steps. Note anything they said about skills, because it may change your market sheet.
Here are Arjun's notes from Marcus, in brief. On the work: most of his team's time goes on designing short programmes for frontline staff, not long courses. On getting in: teachers are taken seriously, but they need to show they can design for adults and measure whether training changed behaviour at work. Surprise: almost every programme now has an online component. Next steps: speak to the clinical educator, and look into instructional design courses that end in a portfolio piece.
After the third conversation, go back to your direction shortlist from lesson 1.4. For each direction you discussed, ask what changed. Did a score go up or down? Did the biggest gap turn out to be different from what you thought? Did a new direction appear?
Arjun's interest score for corporate learning and development stayed high, but his view of the gap changed. He had assumed his gap was credentials. All three people told him it was evidence that he could design for adults. He rewrote the gap and changed his 30-day test to designing a short workshop for adult volunteers at a community centre. He also added e-learning design as a possible second direction.
When you finish, you will have three conversations held with people at different levels, half a page of notes for each written within an hour, at least one new name to contact, and an updated shortlist with a line explaining each change. Send your first request today in the activity, because replies take time.
Complete three conversations, write a half-page of notes for each, and update your direction shortlist with what changed.
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