Informational interviews worth the time or a load of " "

We hear different opinions from different people regarding informational interviews. Some say they are 10000% worth it and some say that they are worthless a can cause more problems then help. After spending a week doing these interviews, mostly because I am not one to take an opinion from others with out trying it myself. I have to say I can absolutely see both sides of the argument. But for me I think they were worth while. It was helpful to see the inside of the shops, to see if there were smiles on the faces of the employees or not, to hear the whispers around the corners and to get the scoop on the way the shops work. I am not sure if I would put much more time into doing these types of interviews but the last week has been helpful and I value the experience. If you are curious if you should do a similar interview process I would say ask yourself what you want to get out of it. If you want a job from the places you are going I would say just apply for real. If you truly just want to understand more about the shop and ask a bunch of questions then heck yeah go for it.