Informational Interview Report

Informational Interview Report

Aya Benazizi
COM2301: Professional
Communication
Supervised by: Dr. Agnaou
Summer 2019

Table of Contents
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………... 1
Background ………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Interview Script ……………………………………………………………………………. 2
Lessons Learned …………………………………………………………………………… 3
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….. 5
Appendices …………………………………………………………………………………. 7

0

Introduction
Knowing the reality of the working conditions of my dream job is what pushed me to do

this informational interview, besides it is an assignment. Also, since I had more than more than
one dream job, this informational interview gave me the opportunity to discover one of them. It
was a good chance for me to decide whether being in this position will be always in the list of my
dream jobs, or after looking at it from a close and real perspective will make me change my dreams
and my professional objectives. Thus, the aim of doing this informational interview was to know
more about one of my dream jobs, the educational level that I need to have, the duties and
responsibilities of the position, and the steps that I have to follow in order to be fully prepared for
it. By doing this intercultural interview, I became aware of my strengths and weaknesses, and what
I need to improve in order to fit my dream position.

Background
Actually, I was and still interested by more than one field, but diplomacy and human

resources development are in the top of my interests. This is why I am majoring in International
Studies, and minoring in Human Resources Development. Thus, being a diplomat or a HR director
are both dream jobs for me. Since I could not join any diplomat for the interview, I decided to
contact a HR director. After doing a precise selection of HR profiles in LinkedIn, I contacted many
HR directors by sending them a message in LinkedIn or by email for the ones that I found their
emails address. My selection was based on the more experimented and high educated persons who
are holding that position. Fortunately, a Moroccan HR director was very welcomed and accepted
my request for this informational interview. LinkedIn was the intermediate between my interview
and I in the beginning, then I contacted him by email in which we managed to have a call interview
(because I was in Ifrane, and my interviewee in Casablanca). My interviewee as I stated above, he

1

is a HR director working at Bombardier, which is an organization in Casablanca specialized in
transportation, rail, engineering, aerospace, and aviation. Before the interview, I did more research
about HRD and the HR director position in order to prepare good and relevant questions.

Interview Script
Aya: Can you please tell me about your current job?
Mohamed: I am a HR director, and I am working for Bombardier organization in Casablanca. We
are specialized in in transportation, rail, engineering, aerospace, and aviation.
A: What is to be a HRD professional?
M: To be a HRD professional is to have multitasks; for example, advice the decision makers to
make the right decisions about HRD issues, design and develop your organization’s HR systems,
and drive your organization to a better place in the job market.
A: Is your position challenging? If so, how?
M: I believe that every position is challenging, and to answer your question, yes! To have a HR
director position is very challenging. First of all, dealing with a big number of people is not an
easy task; our position requires to direct not only the team or the managers that we are working
with, but also the whole organization because whenever the HR department is performing well,
the company is doing good as well. Also, managing the time is one of the most challenging issue
that we need to deal with it effectively in our work. The leadership investment as well is a
challenging task in which we have to make sure that we are choosing the right person that will fit
the position offered.
A: What skills you learnt and continue learning in this position?

2

M: I learnt many skills throughout my whole experience in the HRD field. The most important
ones are the verbal and nonverbal communication skills, the problem-solving skills, leadership
skills. Also, what I am still improving is time management skills and coaching.
A: In 5 years, how do you see your career unfold?
M: Honestly, the only answer that I can say is in a better position.
A: How has this position changed over time?
M: Not only this position that has changed, but also the whole HR department jobs. They have
gone through important changes over the last 10 years. Nowadays, the HR professionals are
focusing more on managing employee engagement and strengthening culture.
A: What was your previous position in the HRD field?
M: Before my current position, I was working as a HR recruiter, then as a HR manager.
A: How was your experience with this recruitment position? How did you find it?
M: Working as a HR recruiter was really one of the most important stations in my career. I learnt
from it many lessons (shared bellow) that help me in building my career and be the person that I
am now.
A: What advices will you give me in order to enter the HRD field?
M: (The advices are shared in the conclusion).
Lessons Learned

The first lesson that I learnt was the duties and the responsibilities of my dream job, HR
director. The HR directors are responsible for supervising and providing consultation to
management on strategic staffing plans, compensation, benefits, training and development, budget,
and labor relations, which makes them the center of all the HR department’s jobs. They also
responsible for developing a culture in which the employees will perform better. HR directors must

3

plan, design as well as support organizational strategic goals. In addition, leading performance
management, talent assessment, and effective labor relationships as well as negotiating and
administering labor agreements are one of the many duties of HR directors. After knowing all this
information about my dream position, I have now a clear idea about the skills that I need to improve
in order to fit and succeed in this position.

Moreover, I learnt from my interviewee that the HR department has many functions, not
only the direction and the recruitment jobs. However, it includes workplace safety, employee
relations, compensation planning, labor law compliance as well as training and development. What
I learnt from him completed my learning in my minor classes and the research that I have done. It
was very helpful for me to have a clear idea about recruitment and selection (since he was a HR
recruiter in the past), which is one of the main HR functions. Since my interview knew that I will
be looking for an internship soon as well as a job in the future, he gave some precious information
about how the recruitment and selection process works. Thus, I became aware of how the recruiters
select the best candidate from a huge number of others, and how many steps they go through in
order to arrive at the final step. I discovered the real recruitment and selection process, and what
the candidate needs in order to be nominated. Actually, before this interview, my earlier knowledge
of HDR was very limited. I was thinking that the HRD department deals just with hiring employees
and deciding their salaries. Now, I am convinced that the HRD professionals are the invisible
soldiers of each powerful organization. Being one of them is being responsible for achieving the
biggest goals of the company as well as dealing with the most challenging problems and obstacles
that this company may face. I also recognized that in order to be one of the HRD professionals,
you have to go through many stages to have a complete and inclusive vision and knowledge about
every specific job (position) in your organization.

4

Also, I learnt that there is no way for an organization to grow and improve itself without
Human Resource investment. When the HRD department invests on training a new employee and
introducing him to a new technology, it is a long-term investment, which makes the organization
benefit from the results after. The HRD professionals choose very carefully the person for whom
they will invest in order to guarantee the profit and the positive outcomes. By making the
employees learning new and improved skills, this will turn to be beneficial for the company’s
potential, which will lead it to achieve its biggest goals. It is true that HRD positions are very
stressful since they have to deal with a lot of challenging problems and achieve many goals, but
these positions can build and shape your personality in a different and great way. Thus, the success
of any organization depends on the quality of its HRD department. The more the HRD
professionals are skillful and well chosen, the more the company has a successful performance.

This experience was very helpful for me both in terms of information and practice. It impacts
my earlier knowledge dramatically, and I learnt many new and important things about HRD. The
main impact on me (far away from knowledge) is that I become sure and convinced about choosing
HRD as a minor. The way in which my interviewee was talking about his job made me more
curious about discovering new functions and jobs in the field of HRD. Now, I strongly believe that
HRD is a huge school where you can have valuable experience, important learning strategies, and
amazing career. This is what excites me and pushes me to learn more and more about this field
and to experience new things in HRD.

Conclusion
In the end of my interview, my interview shared with me a lot of advices in order to enter

my field of interest, which is HRD. One of them was to deepened more my knowledge about the
field by doing a master in HRD in the future, and doing as much internships and training programs

5

as I can because it will improve my soft skills as well as enrich my resume. Also, he advised me
to build a good network in my field of interest and in the other fields as well because it will be
very useful for me in my professional career. In addition, my interviewee gave me some important
advices concerning the mistakes that I should avoid during job interviews, which was really my
request, and they were as follow: first, I have to think well before answering any question. Thus, I
need to take time in order to organize my ideas because recruiters usually ask tricky questions.
Second, I should not ignore their feedbacks concerning my answers, my resume, or even my
internships. He told me that I need have a “thin skin”, meaning I should be open minded and not
take the recruiter’s feedbacks personally (or even my future manager or boss) if I really want to
succeed. The third advice, which was the most important one, was that I have to be clear and
honest. Recruiters have a long experience in the field, so they can quickly catch the dishonesty of
the candidate. To sum up, I had a professional and friendly interview at the same time, and I really
enjoyed the discussion with my interviewee.

6

Appendices







7

8

9