Link Love: October 9

Last night, I watched my CNN segment air on the local news and — as I sat there cringing while the camera zoomed in on the framed engagement photo hanging on the wall — it hit me: Not only am I potentially embarrassing myself, but I’m also potentially embarrassing my family. Who wants to be associated with the slightly overweight shopaholic who lied to her husband about her purchases, eventually racking up thousands of dollars in debt!? Luckily, my family is understanding, and excited about the media attention I’ve received. My mother half-jokingly told me she thought I did well…but was glad I was identified by my married name. Thank god because, as a writer (and especially as a sex writer), almost everything I do revolves around self-disclosure.

Aside from that bit of excitement, the week wasn’t incredibly productive. I’ve been sick, and have felt less than motivated. But I did squeeze some reading in:

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Informational Interviews: Just Like the Real Thing

Job interviews can give you the jitters.

Informational interviews, however, have a lot less riding on them, at least as far as the fate of your employment status goes.

Still, when preparing for an informational interview, you should take just as much care…if not more.

Those who grant informational interviews have a lot less to gain from donating their time to you. Because of this, you should show them the proper level of appreciation, and prepare for your meeting in much the same way you would for a job interview.

I mentioned informational interviews briefly last week, as a means of gathering information about possible career paths. Now, I’m about to go on one myself.

What have I (hopefully) done to prepare?

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