My first interview has come and gone, and I am all the better for it. Going up to the door of the professional's office, introducing myself, and conducting the interview on my own is an experience that I will never forget.
I found that even if the professional that I was interviewing wasn't in the exact part of my field that I was doing most of my research in, I could still learn very valuable lessons from talking to them.
Through this first interview, I learned about some of the key methods and principles to base startups around. More importantly, I gained the resources to learn more about them since I now know which books those principles are in.
I also learned just how important research and connections are in any field. This is because, in the professional's own words, "you don't know what you don't know." Doing research and having a wide network of connections can help combat this knowledge gap by making it easier to uncover new information. It seems to me that this can be important for securing opportunities or even creating them, meaning that I need to continue to learn more about my field to gain this benefit.
During my interview, I realized that although I did a relatively good job, I could still improve on my communication skills even when I'm a little nervous. This will be really important in the future, especially for my final presentation and even in my professional career when I'm communicating in-depth ideas to non-technical people. As a result, I will continue to practice these skills so that I can increase my effectiveness later on.
The past week has truly been a huge learning experience for me, and I'm excited to see what's in store for the future.
