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&lt;p&gt;You&#39;ve heard of the informational interview—sitting down with a person whose career you admire, and asking questions about their career and trajectory.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But what about&#160;&lt;em&gt;experiencing&lt;/em&gt;&#160;their career? Or rather, a few days of it?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shadowing an experienced professional can be a great way to get a feel for different companies and industries, and to pick up some extra business experience and self knowledge—for free!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the enlightenment will come at one cost: time. Since this exercise requires a day or five in a strange office, obviously, you&#39;ll be MIA from your own 9 to 5. If you truly hate your job, this might be worth using some vacation days for. Otherwise, it&#39;s best left to those between engagements.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Still interested? Here&#39;s your plan of attack:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Brainstorm&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Come up with a cross section of companies you find interesting. This can be for a wide range of reasons—maybe you&#39;re excited about the prestige, the game rooms, or the mission statement. Try to include a wide range of different companies, from startups to Fortune 500s. Think of it like choosing college campuses to visit: you&#39;ll want big, small, buttoned up, casual, cerebral, and creative.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Stalk!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Learn a little about each of your targets. Follow both the corporate twitter accounts and those of the CEOs (or the job title that corresponds with your interests). Check out &quot;team&quot; pages on the company website and learn a little about the backgrounds of who works there. Be sure to note any common interests or connections—sharing an alma mater with the office manager may come in handy!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Prioritize and organize&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;By now, you may have two brass rings for your company: those you&#39;re most excited about, and those you have an in with (you share a personal trainer with a risk manager!). Order these in a spreadsheet accordingly, and take down contact info for each—whether it&#39;s a twitter handle, or calling in a favor with a mutual contact.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Make your move&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ask and you &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; receive. Don&#39;t ask and... nothing will happen. While cold emails may work, you can use any medium you&#39;re comfortable with: LinkedIn, Twitter, even a phonecall. Just be sure to use the four F&#39;s: friendly, flattering, feasible, and finite. Choose specific details to mention about the company to demonstrate your interest, ask for something reasonable (anywhere from an afternoon with a person or a week to rotate around the company works), and of course, be brief!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. Let hope—not fear—guide you&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s important to keep a positive approach with this process. It may be scary to reach out, and yes, you may experience rejection. But one yes will be worth all the no&#39;s, and you may do better than you think!&#160;&lt;/p&gt;

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