05. Debrief: Map Your Career Journey

What Next?

Down the road, the information you've compiled in the previous exercise will be important for any cover letters you send or interviews you attend. For now, you should be able to get a good idea of how some companies in your intended industry perceive themselves. If anything seems too good to be true or draws your curiosity, make note of them. You can dig in a little bit on sites like Glassdoor, which allows employees and interviewees to post information about their experiences anonymously.

Get to Know a Company's Product

You've taken a quick snapshot of three companies. If one or more of them interest you further, your next step is to better understand their products.

We cannot stress enough how important it is to have an understanding of a company’s product when you decide to apply for a job. If the product is free to acquire (for example, an app that you can download and test out), use it for a few days and take notes on what your user experience is like. If you cannot pay for the product, or the product is inaccessible to you, search for reviews online and see what people who have used it have written. Here are a couple of things to watch out for that will help you understand the product’s role in the current market:

• How many users does it currently have? Where does it rank against its competitors?
• Have any major publications (The New York Times, Bloomberg Business, Wired, etc.) covered the product or company’s growth and development?
• Are there any major glitches, bugs, or other technical flaws that have been reported and have gone unresolved?
• In your opinion, what are the best attributes of the product? What are things to be fixed or improved?

By learning the most up-to-date information on a company's product, you will be able to speak more eloquently in an interview or to a company contact, showcasing your in-depth knowledge of the company.

Detours can happen! Detours can be for the better!

Like any journey, there can be roadblocks and detours. An opportunity can end up not working out, or you can change your mind about your destination midway through. All of this is natural. Many professionals who look back on their career say they got to where they are today via unexpected jobs or opportunities. You are likely one of these people already!

The Next Step in Career Exploration - Informational Interviews

Career and industry research will also involve reaching out to new connections in order to learn more granular information about a particular position in a company. If you don't have a concrete idea of which jobs you're interested in, informational interviews are even more helpful in giving you valuable, insider insight. Up next we'll go over how to reach out to people, how to conduct informational interviews, and how to get the most out of these conversations.