I really need some major life advice. Trying to get my life straight.

here's what I mean for informational interviews - targeting people/firms that you would like to be associated with. here are a couple I've done

• PE guy who hung up his own shingle, had no job opps, but lots of contacts and was willing to point me in the right direction
• various managers at firms I'd like to work for who were fine talking to a young hungry college senior (not all were nice, but a couple were)
• employees at these firms, either contacts from my network, cold, or from other informational interviews I've done
• local professional I saw speak on campus who worked in an industry I wanted to learn more about

the vast majority of my contacts were made cold, I had a few that were warm, but exactly none of those helped me (dad's connections, friends' connections, uncle's connections), they all turned out to be dead ends, which is fine, it helped my process, but I don't want you to think that because you don't have connections it won't work.

here's exactly what I'd do if I was in your shoes

• make a list of any and all firms in your area that hire finance people (not necessarily finance firms)
• see if they have open positions
• see if they do interesting work
• find (on linkedin) the names of people that work there that have some level of experience but aren't so high up they'll ignore you (VP, associate, manager, director, etc.)
• find (on google) their phone number
• hammer the phones, tell them what you want (college senior who used to be premed, trying to meet people in the finance world to be sure you're going in the right direction, am not calling you for a job or a recommendation, just want to pick your brain to be sure I'm on the right path)

sidebar: the above is the hard part. eventually, someone will say yes. lots of people will say "call me back tomorrow" or "sorry kid, can't help" or just ghost you and leave you in voicemail purgatory, but that's OK, it happens. with enough repetitions, you will get someone that gives you some of their time. and if you do it even more times, you'll get several people to connect with. there's really no magic to this, some people are generous, others are not, you caught them on a bad day, or they hate their job. if you hustle, you'll get results.

• follow my process (from the other thread) during the meeting itself. tell them a bit about your story (keep it brief), learn their story, ask for their advice, and most importantly, LISTEN.
• at the end, this is where the magic happens. you can take two tracks: hard ask or soft ask
• hard ask, say "I know I'm not yet graduated so can't apply for this position at your company, but if it's available when I graduate, how can I improve my chances of getting it?"
• soft ask "is there anyone else at your company/network I should be talking to?" or "what would you do if you were in my shoes?"

just so you know, the first soft ask question (after many fits and starts) is what got me into my current firm, so I think it works.

good luck and godspeed

edit: I think it'd be helpful if I explain why I think this is so powerful, because it sounds like a waste of time to pussyfoot around what you really want (a job), but trust me, it works. guys like us who didn't go to UVA, Yale, Stanford have to try to set ourselves apart in an employment market that gets thousands of new grads that look just like us on paper, EVERY SINGLE YEAR, not to mention 23-25yo job switchers all gunning for the same positions. if you're a 28 year old associate tasked with combing through resumes or a hiring manager who's working 60 hours a week with a baby at home, you want an EASY solution, and another resume online isn't going to help.

here's where informational interviews come in. you do it because you want the job, but let me tell you something, you have no idea if you want the job, so these "interviews" are a great way to see if it's even appropriate. I Can't tell you how many of these I've been on where I thought "jesus I'm glad I didn't apply to this company." moreover, it shows genuine curiosity. if you take the time to call someone before you've even applied, that's what the old fogeys call gumption, and it's a desirable quality. someone with gumption goes above and beyond the job description to accomplish a goal, and does so in a respectful non-Machiavellian way. that's what they accomplish. gumption is what gets things done in the world, and it's what can get someone with a 3.0 who changed majors a job over a bunch of 3.5 GPAs that don't know how to follow up.

finally, if you do these, people aren't stupid, they know what you want (a job), but it's a low stress way to show off. you haven't applied for anything so technically you don't owe them shit and also, their defenses will be down because they may not even have a position to fill, so the entire conversation goes more smoothly. you also stand a chance at getting the golden ticket (a job that's not even posted), that's happened to me (didn't take it, but it happens). you do an info interview, and then the person says "you know, we're posting a position here in a few months when so-and-so goes off to business school, you should look at it and apply for it, I'll put in a good word." that shit happens ALL THE TIME, you just have to be seen and be hustling to get those opportunities (they're not posted online).

so the magic of informational interviews is it's a way you can improve your odds, maximize the likelihood your job will be a fit in the first place, and set you up for long term career success.