If information interviews are aimed at helping you learn whether or not a certain career or role is right for you, memoirs about careers might be their friendly cousin.  No need to schedule a meeting or prepare your targeted questions – just an enjoyable way to consider possibilities.

These books all currently exceed a 3.5 rating on Good Reads.

 Acting:

• Year of the King: An Actor's Diary and Sketchbook by Antony Sher
• As the Matzo Ball Turns by Jozef Rothstein 

Ambulance Worker:

• Blood, Sweat and Tea by Tom Reynolds

Boat Captain:

• The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain's Journey by Linda Greenlaw

Carpenter:

• Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter by Nina MacLaughlin

Cook:

• Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford
• Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton

Crime scene cleanup:

• Aftermath, Inc.: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home by Gil Reavill

Emergency Dispatcher:

• Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat by Caroline Burau

Fire Lookout:

• Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors

Firefighter:

• Report from Engine Co. 82 by Dennis Smith 

Food Critic:

• Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

Freight Transportation:

• Uncommon Carriers by John McPhee

Hotel Hospitality:

• Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky

Industrial Assembly:

• Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line by Ben Hamper

Medical Examiner:

• Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Dr. Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell

Mortician:

• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

Nanny:

• A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story by Brenda Ashford

Nurse:

• Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between by Theresa Brown 

Oyster Farming:

• Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm by Erin Byers Murray

Park Ranger:

• Ranger Confidential: Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks by Andrea Lankford

Restaurant Owner:

• Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage by Molly Wizenberg

 Teacher:

• Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
• Somebody Else's Kids by Torey L. Hayden

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Imagine your job interview is going along fine – you’re giving satisfying and well-crafted answers.  You’re 20 minutes in, gliding through, then the next question comes up, and your mind goes totally blank.  Brain freeze.
What to do?

1. Take….your….time….answering, and allow the silence.  Long pauses can actually be very effective, and give you precious moments to collect your thoughts.  A delay in response can be a powerful way to demonstrate confidence (even when you don’t really feel confident).  It relays the message that you are a thoughtful and level-headed candidate.
2. Try repeating the question back to the interviewer.  This will cause you to process the question again and may make it more comprehensible to your brain, unlocking the freeze.
3. Just say something, anything relevant to your topic.  This approach can kick start your brain back into gear and get you back on track. 
4. Be assertive by asking for more time, such as “that is a good question, may I have a moment to collect my thoughts?”  Just by taking control in this way, you’ll calm down and that will get your thoughts flowing again. 
5. Ask the interviewer if they “wouldn’t mind repeating or rephrasing the question”. Hearing the question again or just hearing it phrased differently can jog your memory, make the question more comprehensible and thus easier to answer.
6. Ask for clarification such as “So, to put it another way, what you are asking is…?”
7. Request to come back to the question later.  This approach shows you as a candidate with a strategy for managing difficult questions or situations!
8. If you simply cannot come up with an answer, explain that you have a great answer but are just having difficulty recalling it.  Let the interviewer know that you would like to follow up with a response afterwards, if this is permissible.